Things have calmed down since last the chaos last couple of weeks. I’m back to making and  placing t-shirt orders for clients of the store. We usually take orders via email when it comes to making custom shirts but personally I like talking to clients on the phone and hearing their ideas out. I write notes as they talk and try to capture their enthusiasm in the design as well as staying true to the message they want to portray. For example, I made a phone call to a gym that wants a cancer fundraising shirt designed to raise money for a brother-in-law of one the jiu jitsu blackbelt professors that is struggling to pay medical bills. I was curious to learn more about the school and the reasoning behind coming up with this idea of a fundraising shirt. As I spoke to the professor, not only did I learn about to go about designing the shirt but I learned how tight-nit the fight community is. We began to talk more about jiu jitsu and his gym and was even invited to train with him if I was ever in town. Communication is key not only to help personalize a design but as humans we need to speak to someone in order to articulate feelings, hopes, and emotions that us as designers can translate into a solid design. Through doing this and taking that extra step, I’ve noticed that clients take the company a bit more serious and appreciate the call. This drives them to leave something as simple as a good rating or review can be such a great help to a small business in the long run. The shop strives on customer service and receiving good feedback is REALLY good for business.