So really, I think it’s good to concentrate on your clients a lot of the time, but also to invest some time in your own organisation.

The most dangerous situation is when you’re working client side, under the client’s manager, and they don’t have any motivational or management skills.

My biggest problem is always the expanding application requirements.. Day 1 its x and y by the end of the week its x, y, z.. and so on..

This effects both design and dev..

Thats my 2cents..

I spent 3 years doing the rounds of agencies in London and while the work was interesting and exciting it was stressful and money was tight. Most small to medium sized agencies seem to work on very tight margins so they need quick turnarounds with the minimum of manpower.

On the flip side, working on product apps has been a whole different experience. The working ethos is very different, with the emphasis on employees instead of output. The work can be as rewarding but treading the same ground can be frustrating.

It’s a toss-up! A mix of the both is probably ideal…

Maybe it’s the company I work for, but I actually find that it’s easier to work for external clients: they know exactly what they want before they ask for it, they have deadlines in their own mind, and a rough idea on just how much they want to spend. Whereas, internally, we get ideas thrown at us that are “urgent” when they’re far from it, and most of the time, they’re badly thought out. I think having a team in-house has led the bosses to become much more compacent as to their attitude to web development and design…

But I agree with you Mark, it’s a good experience to have under yer belt, especially if you go freelance on a full-time basis, which is something I’m within spitting distance of now. Thank God! Or should I be frightened!? ;o)

So I would say that client side work makes for better commercial designers.

It was only after moving to agency side (and currently running my own agency), that I realised how rewarding being on the client side could be. I have a couple of clients that I would love to do more for, and have loads of ideas for how we could improve their site, but they don’t have the budget for it. Barring doing free work, we have to temper everything to fit, and I really wish sometimes I could just spend all day every day making their site better, instead of watching the clock and stopping short.

I’m sure a good six months of it and I’d be looking for variety again though!

For a client to have it’s own internal design resource, they are usually of a certain size. With that size comes the multi-layered management structure and the subsequent farting around where making decisions is concerned!

Doing both is a great position to be in. It really does span a massive chunk of working in this industry. I’m just not sure, as a designer, you (meaning designers generally) can effectively adopt both working practices at the same time.

Jeff: You’re right. It all depends on which client you’re working for. The BBC were great, and they do some incredibly daring stuff. In fact, industry defining stuff. However, I guess my gripe was more to do with working practice than who the client was.

Rob: Oh the brand! Working with one brand, I found, was a bit of a killer. Yes, I got to know the brand really well but found it incredibly difficult (especially when you’re dealing with a brand with as much baggage as the BBC), to push it in any direction.

I think my overall experience at the BBC was a positive one. There were negative aspects to working client side, but like you, on reflection working agency side is preferable.

1) I feel like a small gear in a big machine</stong> – I feel like what I do doesn’t make a difference. I don’t feel I’m appreciated either. This could certainly happen on the agency side too, but when you work client-side its typically for medium to large corporation and the more people, the more likely you will be underapppreciated.

<strong>2) It gets boring easily – Working on the same website all the time can get rather boring. Things get stale very fast and that could hinder your creativity if you don’t watch out. Working agency side, the projects change on a regular basis and you get to start fresh on something new.

3) There’s a bureaucracy for every decision – I don’t even tell anybody my ideas anymore because they get shot down or they get lost somewhere in the shuffle. I’m too cutting edge for them I suppose, for the lack of a better phrase, this company is so “web 1.0.”

I will jump at the first chance I get to go back to agency-side. I love working on different projects and there’s a lot more room to exercise innovation.