Clients often think that they could have it all – control of time, affordable cost and a superior quality design output; thus setting high expectations from the graphic designer.  In this regard, the FGD opened up this concern leading the respondents to identify a “designer’s trilemma” or the constraints in time, cost and quality that clients fail to recognize when availing of design services. The trilemma is another wall to communication because it is aggravated by client’s poor empathetic understanding of designer context. This may disengage the graphic designer from doing business in the first place, thus further negotiation will no longer pursue

 

When time is limited, freelance graphic designers could refuse a job order or charge a fee for rushed requests, yet admittedly, they believe that the quality may be affected and tend to be less satisfactory.

 

The case of employed graphic designers, although they do not negotiate on pricing, they express the same worry of being undervalued. They question their compensation, career opportunities and the social perception about their profession which influence their motivation to perform effectively at work.

 

 Lastly, designers cannot assure quality work with a hectic timeline at a minimum cost. Clients often overlook that perfecting the quality of a design output goes beyond transactional processes of production (e.g. fulfilling contract stipulations). To expect good quality is to put into account the working hours of constant thinking and rethinking, consultations and revisions in finalizing the output.