As a designer, this article is aimed specifically at other designers who have felt my pain! And if you're just breaking into the industry - understand that no matter what you do, you won't be able to avoid the inevitable "Clients From Hell". Here are a few of my experiences...

"I want this bit to be red and this bit to be green"
No, you don't. That would look stupid. It still amazes me how much non-designers will fight for their opinion, despite it being wrong. While I agree that opinion is of course just that - an opinion - when something is barely legible and looks frankly horrible, that opinion *must* be negated.

"Drop shadows always look good!!1"
If used correctly, and subtley, they can indeed bring an extra dimension to a piece of work. Use and abuse them, and they will bastardize your baby into a mish mash of horrendous, amateuristic rubbish! I think drop shadows perform well when they are small, light and placed only on objects that *should* cast a shadow. Don't go dropping them on every button on your page, and every piece of text that you think needs to stand out.

"3D - it's the future innit!"
No it's the past. Using 3D objects to illustrate elements of a web page has been done to absolute death. Hints at 3D - gradients on buttons for example - is a more modern technique, which you will see on most Web 2.0 websites, but even these are beginning to appear dated.

"Can we make that a different colour?"
This seemingly innocent request is probably one of the most difficult challenges faced by the designer. Changing a colour could very well impact the entire site - meaning you will be trawling through PSD's, exporting new graphics, editing your stylesheets... all for the client to then say they preferred it how it was.

These are just a few issues that web designers must tackle. I find that the best way when starting a project is to steer the client into your direction of thinking, but allow them to have their own opinions also. 99% of the time, you know best, and unless you are controlled by the companies branding policies, you are well within your rights to argue "No, people can't read small grey text on a whitebackground very easily". Unfortunately, the client does have the FINAL SAY, but as a designer you are obliged to point them in the right direction as much as possible.

Matt Saunders
Space Clothing