Annoying Client Likes Horrible Design

[rhodesy22]

Hey all,

I'm amazed I've only just found this place but it looks great

I hope someone can help as I'm in a bit of a sticky spot!

I'm designing a website for a company that makes clothing items primarily for the british army and other military websites.

I first created this design as it kept to his greens, reds, and golds requirements (even though not exactly the colour scheme I would have gone for) and I thought it looked pretty good...
http://geniewebltd.com/Order%20-%20Colour.jpg


But he didn't like it at all and I've ened up with the following which looks absolutely awful:
http://geniewebltd.com/JSClothing%20Lame.jpg

The thing is it needs to look in keeping to the http://army.mod.uk/servingsoldier/index.htm colour scheme but I can't seem to get a decent design out of it.

Can anyone offer any advice as to how to make this look decent!

Thanks

Luke

[saltedm8]

i think the 'lame' one matches best, maybe its just me

[rhodesy22]

hey, thanks for responding.

I agree that it matches the style of an official army look but the problem I have with it is that it looks like it was designed 5 years ago compared to more modern designs.

I've come up with the following which luckily the client likes
http://geniewebltd.com/JSClothing2.jpg

I'm not completely happy with it so any constructive criticism would be appreciated but I feel it definitely looks better than the 'lame' one.

Thanks again...

Luke

[saltedm8]

i understand the concept of 'you want to keep it to web 2.0 ' but the customer is the boss at the end of the day, - i don't think it looks bad, imo i think it looks good, and professional,

sometimes ( very rare ), web 2.0 need not apply depending on what you are creating.

web 2.0 ( large text for example ) is a designers game, and the army don't care about design, they are into uniform ( excuse the pun ) - smart, neat etc, and that site covers that description to a tee

[Rob]

I have to agree..... the 'lame' one isnt so lame and best fits the company imo.

[Ducky]

is it just me or does the latest one look a bit like Panic's Design

[motormaniac]

i do like the first one better but the second fits the site much better, the first one is good but not for this type of site

[D3niss3]

Well, it's the client that will be followed and not your own will even though sometimes we as artist knows much better than what they want.

But as they say, customers are always right! lol

[frinkky]

One thing to bear in mind - they know their business and customers better than we do.

[The Matt.]

Personally prefer the second one, I think it looks more army/regimental influenced.

It is rare to find a client who will completely trust your direction and won't try to influence the design with their own little idiosyncrasy's. Sometimes its a good thing as it helps you take a step back and consider the design objectively.

Other times it can be a nightmare - I remember doing an interior design site a couple of years ago (one of my first posts here I believe actually ) and the client relentlessly insisting on using the most terrible images for the header.