Knowing When to Say When...

The title of today's' posting is a catchy advertising slogan that has, for many years been about what it was traditionally created for and about-drinking.
For me, knowing when to say when, has never been about alcohol. My formative years in design and the creative process were fine tuned at Landor Associates where as a freelancer -and working on a job, possibilities and explorations for logo art were a never ending creative free for all. Churning out one idea after another and continuing until, not unlike those tests in grade school, someone finally said 'OK, time to put your pencils down'.
Today's' question...when to say when, when it comes to concepts - or with clients who are never satisfied.
I realize that there are situations in the advertising and design world where this would be a virtue- not a liability, but for me in the present, I find myself at times, on a limited budget and overworking the time I should be putting into a job. I've discussed this with a few other designers and they say, 'well I just limit my designs to three ideas and that's it'.
When a client is still not happy after three to five options, I'm only too happy to keep on working on designs, bending over backwards with passion and perseverance. My people pleasing genes kick in and I'm a runaway train, often giving them so many possibilities, making a choice then becomes a challenge.
This was driven home most recently by a client and an assignment I was working on and really enjoying ...and thought I had come up with some elegant and nicely designed solutions. Please click here for my designs.
Then the email came in, one of her vendors had created something for free that she was going to use instead. Please click here for her choice.
Simultaneously I have been working with another client, reworking some design elements of her website, a banner with photographs, creating some simple buttons, and next an opening screen for her site. She is just a delight and a joy to work with, couldn't be happier, or easier to please.
It motivates me to continue to do the best I can, which I believe is what it all comes down to in the long run.