It started with a cheerful email.
"We’re launching a new product and need you to design the packaging. The brief is attached. Excited to work together!"
I was excited too. Fresh project. New client. Let’s call him Mr. Kapoor. He wanted something “modern yet traditional, sleek yet full of character, minimal but with vibrant colors.”
You know… the usual “please make a unicorn but also a tiger” kind of brief.
The First Disappearance
I spent three days pulling ideas together. Mood boards, mockups, a little extra love sprinkled on top. Sent it off.
Crickets.
I followed up the next day. "Just checking in for feedback." Nothing.
Two days later, still nothing. By day five, I was googling “Is my client alive?”
The Return of Mr. Kapoor
He finally replied - three weeks later.
"Hey, sorry for the delay. Got busy with other things. Anyway, I’m thinking we should go in a completely different direction."
And by “different direction,” he meant… the exact opposite of everything we had discussed.
Colors? Changed. Style? Changed. Product name? Changed.
It was like I’d been designing for a completely different company this whole time.
The Feedback Rollercoaster
We started the revision process. And by “revision process” I mean:
I’d send a design. He’d disappear. He’d reappear two weeks later with a brand-new idea that made no sense.
At one point, he asked for “more luxury” but then sent me a reference of a neon street food cart. Another time, he wanted “something subtle” and attached a photo of a gold disco ball. I was living in a design fever dream.
The Breaking Point
By the end of month two, we had gone through 14 concepts, 37 emails, and a spiritual journey that I did not sign up for. At our last call, he casually mentioned he was “putting the whole project on hold” because he was “rethinking the business.”
Translation: I just wasted two months designing for a product that may never exist.
The Lesson (and the Laugh)
I’d love to tell you I walked away with wisdom and clarity. Mostly, I walked away with a twitch in my left eye.
But if there’s one thing I learned, it’s this:
If your client keeps disappearing, you’re not working on a design project - you’re starring in a season of CSI: Missing Feedback.