Dream a Little Dream.
The great part about having clients that encourage you to take their ideas that are in an beginning stage and build upon them is that you get to really show them your process and how your brain works.
One of my more recent projects all started over drinks at a party. My friend, a lawyer, had been in the process of redesigning his office suite. He mentioned to me that he may want some new photographs to hang around the office but especially in his conference room so it also felt like a gallery. Right away an idea started forming in my mind but if you are anything like me you already know I didn’t sleep much that night because my brain needed to process basic ideas and work out what exactly I would propose to my friend the next day.
Here are the things that I knew about my friend that I was basing my thought process on:
He is an attorney.
He lives a colorful life.
He is an accomplished martial artist.
I’ve never seen him back down from an argument.
While we already discussed new headshots we knew that the conference room would need something different and if it was all just prints of him it would come across more like a shrine rather than something that is interesting to look at but not singular in it’s design or intent. So I devised a plan to tie the things I knew about my friend together into a Light Painting print series for the conference room. By using LED Light sticks and having him practice a few of his routines with an open shutter we would be able to capture his motion while also not creating a shrine. Most of the prints are named after a legal term that someone, such as a lawyer, could draw inspiration from while having a meeting in the room.
Behind the Scenes footage
As promised, the next day I presented the concept to my friend and he loved the idea. Fact is many clients will come to us as artists but we have to remember that they may not have the same understanding of the what the possibilities are that we do and that is completely fair! If I had to go to court I would have no idea what some of the possibilities are that a lawyer would. We each have our professions. So the question we should always be asking ourselves when a potential customer approaches with a concept is “can I help them improve upon this concept in any way?”. Sometimes it is perfectly fine just to document their idea the way they presented it but if you want to be remembered and gain client then give them some options that they may not have considered…..show them how you dream.
I am very happy to say that my client loved the final images and when I get a chance I will take and share a picture of the conference room they will hang in.
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