Not because the clients weren’t great or I didn’t want the work. In every one of those conversations, I did the same thing: I consulted honestly and recommended what was actually required — not just what was initially requested.

Sometimes, that meant strategy before visuals or slowing down when momentum felt tempting. Other times, it meant naming a structural issue that a refresh was never going to solve.

That level of honesty doesn’t always move projects forward.

There’s a standard I don’t negotiate: I don’t take work that requires me to pretend a band-aid will fix a broken bone.

I’ve seen what happens when capable people invest in the wrong solution and wonder why it didn’t hold. Brands just feel heavy and messy when they’ve been repeatedly patched instead of corrected.

A sharper logo won’t fix incoherence. More polish won’t compensate for misalignment. Speed doesn’t help when the foundation isn’t steady.

So when someone tells me they “just need a refresh,” I have a responsibility. I can give them what they asked for… or I can tell them what I see.

I choose the latter. Even when the project is appealing and I genuinely wanted to work together.

Lost revenue has never kept me up at night. Watching someone invest in the wrong thing does.

Holding this standard is the reason I still care deeply about this work, almost 30 years in.