We just wrapped dinners with design founders and senior creatives in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney.
One thing came up in every city: the clients of even the most senior, experienced people among us are being asked not to meet …
they just want designers to send a PDF.
If you’re newer to this or working solo, take some comfort: you are not alone. One of the most naturally extroverted, personable people in the room told us his client still refused — repeatedly. He resorted to sending PDFs too. Sometimes there’s no trick. A client just says no.
But a few things still help.
Research from Up to the Light What Clients think research found clients want insight, proof you understand their market, not a generic pitch. So if you do get a shot, frame it around a specific problem you’ve noticed, not an open-ended “let’s catch up.”
And if the direct ask keeps failing, stop making the direct ask. We’ve written before about the value of simply turning up: industry events, community activities, anywhere your ideal clients already are. No formal meeting request to decline. Just proximity, repeated, until trust builds on its own terms.
Here’s the twist worth sitting with: is this actually a loss for everyone?
The mature designers at our dinners lamented the relationships of the past — but notably, not the processes.
What they missed was getting together, not how projects used to run. Meanwhile, the graduate designers in the room told a different story entirely. They’re not necessarily using AI more than anyone else, but they’re fearless with technology, comfortable sending files and solving problems entirely behind a screen. There was no lament in their voice about missing face-to-face contact because for many of them, it was never the default in the first place.
So maybe meeting-avoidance isn’t purely a client problem. It might be generational, and it might be here to stay. If that’s true, the designers who thrive won’t be the ones fighting for the old model, they’ll be the ones who get exceptional at building trust without ever needing the room.
Relationship still wins — the designers who do get face time report bigger, more loyal, more complex problems to solve. But “just try harder” isn’t the whole answer anymore. The real skill now might be building relationship at a distance, on a generation’s terms, not yours.
And one solution to sending a PDF? Record a loom of yourself scrolling through the PDF. Don’t assume clients understand your thinking.
As always, happy to discuss further, just email.
Carol Mackay
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