When Your Boss Becomes Your Biggest Design Challenge

Boss: “Make the text bigger.”
Me: “If we go any bigger, it’ll be unbalanced.”
Boss: “I don’t care!”

If you’ve ever worked as a designer under someone with zero design knowledge, you know the struggle. You spend years honing your craft—learning about contrast, white space, and typography—only to have your boss suggest using Comic Sans because it “feels friendly.”

The Eternal Battle: Logic vs. “Just Make It Pop”

Design is about balance. It’s about creating something that not only looks good but also works. But when your boss asks for “more pizzazz” without any explanation, you’re left interpreting what exactly that means. Is it color? Animation? Glitter? Should you just set everything on fire?

You explain why adding five different fonts is a bad idea. You try to communicate why stretching the logo just a little makes you physically ill. But sometimes, it feels like they see design principles as unnecessary roadblocks to their vision.

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The Art of Translation

Part of being a designer is learning how to translate vague feedback into actionable changes. Instead of screaming internally when your boss demands, Make it pop! try asking:

“Do you want more contrast? Brighter colors?”
“Are you looking for more emphasis on this section?”
“Would you like movement or something that draws attention?”

By narrowing down their request, you take control of the chaos and guide them toward something that actually makes sense.

Growth Through Frustration

As painful as these interactions can be, they also make you better. You’re forced to defend your design choices, explain concepts clearly, and work within constraints that challenge your creativity. You may not win every battle (RIP to all the beautifully minimal designs ruined by unnecessary drop shadows), but you’ll become more adaptable, patient, and persuasive.

So, designers, stay strong. Keep educating, keep pushing for good design, and remember: every time you successfully talk your boss out of adding a rainbow gradient to the company logo, you’ve won a small but mighty victory.