- Nod affirmatively - Pull up the budget - say nothing but stand prominently in front of your bookcase of animation awards. The situation will resolve itself.

If a situation like this arises, in around 70-80% of the time you are in quite early in the project. The visual of the script is slowly taking shape. Here is the perfect time to explain your creative vision for the project, listen carefully to the client's concern and evaluate and explain how the differences (if any) are impacting the project. In my experience most of the time these differences are, just a product of varying perspective. On very rare occasions, you have the final delivery and the client questions the output, please stick to your guts, and start looking out for previous communication over email and WhatsApp, which are in your favour

En el mundo de los VFX y Motion Graphics, las diferencias creativas con los clientes son inevitables, pero también pueden ser una oportunidad de mejora. 🔹Escuchar más allá de lo que piden. Cuando un cliente rechaza una propuesta, lo que realmente necesita es otra forma de comunicar su idea. Entender la intención detrás de su feedback es clave para encontrar un punto intermedio. 🔹Mostrar en vez de explicar. Las palabras a veces no bastan. Prefiero presentar ejemplos visuales, pruebas rápidas o alternativas para demostrar por qué una decisión creativa funciona mejor. 🔹Equilibrar creatividad y funcionalidad Busco soluciones que mantengan el impacto visual sin perder claridad, asegurando que el resultado final cumpla con ambos objetivos.

I’d thank the client for their feedback, ask for specifics on their concerns, and tie it back to the original brief. I’d explain our creative choices, suggest focused adjustments (like style tweaks or story edits), and flag any timeline/budget impacts. Then, I’d confirm next steps to keep us aligned and moving forward collaboratively.

When working at the professional Studios it was easier to embrace feedback and changes. There was respect for those that had responsibility over us. To the extent that those who supervised us lacked industry experience, or waffled back and forth, that respect was diminished. Since then, working as a freelancer with clients that span the spectrum of knowledge, experience, and just downright management skills, this can become one of the most difficult things to navigate. Do your best to maintain your professionalism (see Ali's comment). There comes a time when you may have to avoid working with some people. Avoid a fixed rate situation, then at least you know that you're being paid to make the changes.

Para manejar los comentarios de un cliente sobre la dirección creativa de tu animación, puedes aplicar estrategias que equilibren su visión con la integridad artística del proyecto: ✅ Escucha activa → Comprender sus preocupaciones y expectativas antes de responder. ✅ Claridad en la visión creativa → Explicar las decisiones de diseño con fundamentos sólidos. ✅ Flexibilidad sin perder esencia → Adaptar elementos sin comprometer la identidad del proyecto. ✅ Pruebas visuales → Presentar opciones para que el cliente vea cómo los ajustes impactan el resultado. ✅ Negociación estratégica → Buscar puntos en común para lograr un equilibrio entre creatividad y objetivos comerciales.

As a creative professional, it’s essential to establish clear communication and expectations from the start. Before beginning a project, define how you’ll develop the initial idea, addressing the client’s needs and offering alternatives early on to allow for adjustments. Create a diagram outlining the project phases and feedback rounds. This ensures your working method is clear from the start, and any additional aspects can be renegotiated. A professional client will appreciate this structured approach and recognize you as a direct, meticulous, and organized person.

Clients have the full right to question the creation direction of the animation process, unless we follow their pipeline or workflow. It depends on what type of agreement we have with the client, if we agree to use their existing animation process or animation service support then of course we must follow their guidelines, else the agreement in no way adherent to their existing process, we must create from scratch and we agreed to deliver only the animation outcome, I will acknowledge their input, then reply that the creative direction, workflow is based on my companies pipeline, resource and strategy the end result will 100% match their need, their input on the process will deviate or slowdown the outcome, So no Thanks.

Speaking from a medical animator's perspective, If you're sharing creative materials along the way, this should be a rare problem. This is why a solid preproduction package with clear storyboards, mood boards, and animatics is so important. Protect yourself with a strong contract that clearly stipulates the amount of revisions you'll do for the agreed-upon fee. Of course, be polite and open to suggestions and change, but also be firm and clear about a new creative direction requiring additional work and an additional fee.