Question about the new design trend that's just a photo with a big word on it

My whole project for a local coffee shop fell apart when the client saw my mood board and said, 'This looks like my niece made it in Canva,' which forced me to scrap two weeks of work and start from scratch with a completely different style guide.

3 comments

3 Comments

mia_park8d ago

That's a brutal way to lose a project (I've been there). @vals38 nailed it about the high-end execution making all the difference. Clients just don't see the work until you show them the real thing.

vals3823d ago

What gets me is how that style went from looking cheap to looking expensive overnight. It's all about the small details now. A photo with a word slapped on it is one thing, but using a custom typeface on textured paper with perfect lighting is another. That client probably saw the bad version everywhere and got sick of it. The trick is showing them the high-end execution, like a luxury brand ad, not a social media template.

wesleyburns23d ago

Wait, did you say custom typeface? @vals38 that's the part that blows my mind. People will see a font on a free website and think it's the same thing, but a real custom lettering job costs more than my car. It's like the difference between a printed t-shirt and hand-stitched silk. That's why the cheap version flooded everything first, because anyone could copy the basic idea. But you're right, the second a client sees that textured paper and perfect shadow, they finally get it. They're not paying for the word, they're paying for the feeling.