Had a customer in Knoxville ask for a 'rustic' finish on a set of fireplace tools, then get mad when it actually looked like old, pitted iron. He said it looked 'dirty'. Where do you draw the line on interpreting a client's vague request?

3 comments

3 Comments

Wait, he wanted rustic but called it dirty? That's the whole point of rustic! It's supposed to look worn and lived in. Did he think it just meant "brown"? People have these Pinterest ideas in their heads with zero connection to the real materials. You gotta show them physical samples or pictures of the exact finish, no exceptions. Vague words are a trap.

emma_jones211mo ago

That "vague request" thing is EVERYWHERE now. I see it with food orders where "spicy" means totally different things, or when people ask for a "natural" look on a photoshoot and then hate the actual sunlight. It's like we all use the same words but have completely different pictures in our heads.

jakewhite1mo ago

It's the same with music or movie tastes. Tell someone you want "something chill" and you could get ambient soundscapes or acoustic folk, totally different vibes. We skip over the tiny details that actually matter, assuming our personal definition is the universal one. The gap between "a little feedback" and a full rewrite at work is another classic.