Sam Hox

My gardener surprised me with confusing pricing today. Freelancers do the same thing to their clients all the time. 🌿🧠🔫 Today wan't a huge deal in the scheme of things, but it was annoying and confusing. Why? Because it's an anomaly. He broke the pattern without telling me why. He's been charging $27/hr for everything, and then today he charged me a lump sum for the planting, "because it requires digging, which is harder." This sounds sort of cuckoo, but I've seen so many designers, devs, copywriters, and others do this same thing. Agencies and freelancers alike. “Oh hey client, I didn't tell you—when we do X, it's 150% the normal price. Because it's hard.” WTAF?😱 If you're an agency, you should have to hire agencies to be a client sometimes.If you're a freelancer, you should have to hire freelancers. It's like being a restaurant server. Until you've been one, you can't know what an absolute pain in the ass it is at times. Once you've been a server, you'll treat every one you have differently for the rest of your life. When I asked my gardner why he charged that way, he said: “That’s how I always do.” 😵‍💫 Which is kind of like saying: “You should’ve read my mind, bro.” Spoiler: I cannot read minds. If I could, I would wear a cape and carry a staff and grow a long-ass beard and totally fuck with people for fun—in the nicest way possible. 🧙🪄 The point is: he’s never priced this way for me before. It’s new to me. It’s confusing. There’s a point at which I have to weigh out whether the confusion of doing business with him is worth the value he creates. I’ve had this same thing happen with home contractors. They assume I know what’s normal. But what’s normal for them isn’t normal for me. It's asymmetry of information. I assume they’ll explain what’s important to me, their client, because you know, logically... WRONG. They know that a wooden cabinet door made of panels is going to warp. I do not. It’s not my skill. I haven’t been developing that skill for 25 years. They have! But they build the doors anyway because I asked for paneled wood doors, and then it warps. And I’m frustrated. And they tell me, “Oh yeah, wooden panel cabinet doors are impossible to keep straight over time,” as if I’d know that on my own? Here, take this spoon and scoop out my eyeballs because that would make more sense than this. But again—we do this to our clients. Why do we behave like assholes? Let’s stop it, okay? Please? Our work isn’t just the thing we make. It’s the experience our clients have while we make it. We need to design that too. Design the experience. Craft that shit! Ask better questions. Pull everyone's assumptions to the surface. Designers, who the fuck cares if you name your layers? That’s tiny compared to whether or not you’re communicating thoroughly with your clients in a way that creates relief instead of confusion. Lord of layers? Cute. Lord of Words? Dope as fuck. It'll get you a 👍 from the client, and a happy client refers you to more clients, and you get what you want! Say the obvious stuff. Say the boring stuff. Say the repeat stuff. Think out loud, and ask them to think out loud. Despite what you think, clients aren’t dumb. They’re just new to the thing you’ve done a thousand times. It's your responsibility to have a great project, not theirs. You're the driver. They're the passenger. ---- ps. If you got anything from this, ask me a new question about something else you think I should riff on, or something that you regularly stumble on with your projects.

Sam is one to follow. One of my favorite brand designers.

Incredibly cool to see one of my favorite brands I've ever directed land at the New York Stock Exchange. Looking good @decodingbio & @bunsenstudio Great work from @secondeight_ brand @kiel_m motion @bentenwoodring layout

Decaf sucks. Today I’m unsucking it. I'm hella stoked to introduce Wimp Decaf wimpdecaf.com. Jump on that waitlist! Most decaf drinkers are tired of sacrificing taste and quality. Most companies use low-quality beans and toxic decaffeination practices, leading to bland results and an unhealthy lack of choice. Delicious coffee should be enjoyed any time of day. It should be as dialed at 8pm as it is at 8am. Where are the great tasting healthy options?? Beer and water industries were facing similar issues. Now look at Athletic Brewing and Liquid Death. Decaf is another underdog and coming out to play with the cool kids. Welcome Wimp. We choose our beans with craft care. Our partners in Guatemala, Colombia, and beyond grow pure, clean, and wildly sophisticated beans. We use safe, flavorful methods like Swiss Water, Ethyl Acetate (a naturally occurring reaction in fermentation processes), and Carbonic Maceration (coming from the wine industry) for decaffeination, ensuring clean and delicious decaf. “IDK what wizardry you are doing but this is definitely better than any other decafs that I’ve had.” Jeff Sheldon (@ugmonk) Wimp is more than just coffee. It’s a posse of people shaking off hustle culture. We’re choosing to enjoy life, work out loud, and have fun. Calm as fuck is a common reply to “how you doin'?” around here. We’re building Wimp in public, embracing every awkward misstep and pro move. It’s like a reality show, but with less drama and more coffee. Why call it Wimp? Someone once said decaf was for the weak. Whatever, dude. We’re owning it, and making decaf the underdog hero. We’re turning what culture says about hustle on it’s head. We're about enjoying great coffee any-freaking-time you want. Join us at wimpdecaf.com and be part of the relax revolution. (too much?🤣) No more chemical-laden, tasteless brews. We’re here for quality, clean beans, and heaps of fun. Stay tuned for more of my personal story over this coming month as we move toward our full launch.

Sam is one my favorite brand designers I've ever worked with. His creativity constantly shakes me up and asks me to rethink the boundaries of what's possible.