In terms of presenting to clients, I am definitely guilty of underselling myself- not being confident in my skills or my work- and apologizing constantly for the faults that my work has. Something I did differently in the last interview I had for a paid internship, was prepare extensively, and attempt to craft a "brand" for myself that was not ashamed or hesitant- that I could present to my potential employer . When the interviewer asked me point blank to take a look at their website and tell them how I would improve it, I took a deep breath (and some courage) and was honest and open- not flattering- and told them the truth. When doing student work, I would say the professor is considered the mock client- unless there is a theme or intention behind the project (say, a fake conference)- in that case, there is an imagined client (who has certain qualities and demographics). I would say I had a basic idea of most of these- after presenting to a few clients (internships), I've gotten a basic idea on how the client- designer relationship works. However, a principle that I can strive towards working through, and doing a better job at, is #12- guiding the feedback loop. Learning how to walk the client through seeing why it may not matter that they don't like what they see (because they are not their intended audience)- seems like something that will take much practice to accomplish. I do agree with the author of the article, and I like his practical, brutally honest (even a bit snarky) approach. I think that, in design school, especially at SPU, we are a bit babied and coddled- and the real world of design is not warm or welcoming or forgiving, and as graduating seniors, we need to buck up and learn quickly how to adapt and thrive in this environment.
