I was hoping to get some opinions on an issue I am having with a person over design issues.

A long time friend recently approached me about going partners with him for a web hosting company. I already own a hosting company, but this friend wants to make me a silent partner. Everything seemed straight forward with this business venture. I agreed that I would create the website for the business. Everything "seemed" fine.

I basically created the design for the website, which this person liked. The site needs an image for the front page which we need to agree upon. In my opinion I think an ideal image would be a business person, or other human photo. I have found a few images that I think would work nicely.

Now this is where me and this person have a major conflict. He thinks the ideal photo would be...get this "a cactus" or "a flower" - for a web hosting company...:eek: When I heard this I was outraged, to me this is by far the dummest idea I have heard in a long time, if not ever heard. Is it just me?

Now I am some what flexable on an image, but this person is not. He says it must be a cactus or a flower. And not just any flower or cactus - he says he will take a picture of a cactus or flower that he has in his kitchen! :rolleyes:

At the moment I have invested my own money and time into this business. Before we got started we both agreed upon basically everything. Now I am stuck between a rock & a cactus - :D Personally my blood boils at just the thought of having a web hosting company that I designed with a flower or cactus on it. In all honesty I am simply disgusted by this. To me this is starting to look like a nightmare.

He claims he has a major designing background, so he thinks he is right.

I was wondering if any of you can share your opinions on this - am I right? or do you think I am being to harsh, and that a cactus or flower from this guys kitchen is acceptable to slap on the front page of a web hosting company? Thanks for any opinions.

as a silent partner you're way out of line

lol - :D Good point, a silent partner is supposed to be silent but I cant be silent in this situation. I will never see a dime in profit, in my opinion. We also agreed between us that we must agree on the look of the site. Beyond that he can run things.

Putting a business person or other human on the front page is cliche. Using a cactus/flower is not. If you want to stand out in a crowd you have to be different. But one man's art is another man's garbage.

It's a unique idea...It really depends how he wants to implement it though. I think you're overreacting... ;)

Why dont you trial out both ideas and see which makes better sales...

...or scrap your current ideas for the image and choose another one

Thanks for all your comments. I do agree that some of the images I suggested may be well over used - a cliche. For the design I have made so far, I just do not think the images he suggested would mix well with it. Because of all your comments though, I will let him send me his cactus & flower images to try them out. :D I am open to having unique images on the site that would set the site apart from others, but I personally do not think either a flower or cactus are the answer. I will try it out though...something I would not have concidered yesterday. ;)

Personally I think an animal or maybe a lizard would be better choice than a cactus or flower. I now have his agreement that we will test out a few images and see which looks best. Thanks again. :)

As someone else said, try split testing if you can.

Failing that, you can just have a banner rotation script that splits the difference down the middle. :)

Personally I think an animal or maybe a lizard would be better choice than a cactus or flower. I now have his agreement that we will test out a few images and see which looks best. Thanks again. :)
The split test would be of great help to you in the case as someone already pointed out, but I personally think your idea to have an animal/lizard is much more interesting in the case (I suggest the results might prove it). Who ever these days uses a flower, or what is worse - a spiny cactus? I can't believe it.

What is more tough in your situation is that these major differences would inevitably ruin the collaboration with that fellow, so I guess clearing out the whole mess (let's say - putting your position straight) may be of some help? Maybe you started as a silent partner but it is high time you turned into a louder one?

split test? No
if you wanna split test it then why not create two companies. The cactus Ltd. and sole proprietor - business man.

you should find a mutual idea to work on. Forget the flower business man. Try smth. new apart from these two ideas.

create something that will attract your clients. Otherwise they will click on the dreaded "back" button.

I think that the choice flower/cactus is just coming to show you have some major misunderstandings with your parner, so you'd better solve them out (if possible) before getting the hard road of your mutual initiative.

All our solutions might be absolutely inadequate since you don't share same thoughts on basic principles in your work.

Thanks for all your suggestions. For a joke, and to prove my point to him I showed him how dumb those images looked for a hosting company, in which he actually agreed which is a good start. ;) I did have a good talk with him, and it seems he now understands where I am coming from which is a step in the right direction.

We most certainly need to be working together in a more constructive way, as these issues can become huge problems down the road. He told me that he likes to get his "fingers in the pie", but at some points it seems like he has his whole head in the pie. lol :D I am currently trying out some alternate images now, so I am hoping we can find something we can both agree on. Thanks again for all your opinions. :)

There are plenty of design/hosting companies who focus on non-traditional images for their brand... aside from it being a photo not taken professionally, I don't see an issue with the idea of using a cactus or flower - or anything for that manner. I would have reserved judgement until I saw what he had in mind.

We most certainly need to be working together in a more constructive way, as these issues can become huge problems down the road. He told me that he likes to get his "fingers in the pie", but at some points it seems like he has his whole head in the pie. lol :D I am currently trying out some alternate images now, so I am hoping we can find something we can both agree on. Thanks again for all your opinions. :)
@Zwolf, it's so nice you are going in the right direction. ;) Your friend looks like a very amusing guy, though, and he obviously loves pies :D Hope they will work for your mutual initiative. :stickout:

I think that if you are 2 in this you need to settle down, leave any passion aside and judge the cool facts. Try to reason WHY does he want that image and why you keep your own idea. And in the end, even that cactus, if used nice, can offer a unique looking site with a good branding. I don't think we can talk about stupid ideas anymore. A lot of advertising seems stupid at first glance and then we realize they were quite ok. The best ad campaigns are those "unexpected". Maybe this unique idea will surely set you apart from others ...

I think that if you are 2 in this you need to settle down, leave any passion aside and judge the cool facts. Try to reason WHY does he want that image and why you keep your own idea. And in the end, even that cactus, if used nice, can offer a unique looking site with a good branding. I don't think we can talk about stupid ideas anymore. A lot of advertising seems stupid at first glance and then we realize they were quite ok. The best ad campaigns are those "unexpected". Maybe this unique idea will surely set you apart from others ...
Dojo, it seems we share one and the same opinion with the only difference you've explained it much better than me. Cactuses may attract the attention really, who knows? ;) Leaving any passion aside and get room for some fruitful discussion - great tip. :agree:

I most certainly like unique ideas, and having some unique images I do beleive can do very well. The main problem that I had with my friend, most especially is that he wanted to use really lame photos that came from plants in his kitchen that he took. The quality & lighting were terrible & the plants were very ugly looking as well. They didn't even look like healthy looking plants. While photoshop can fix a lot of imperfections, nothing was going to make these images look good. :D I would have to rename the site to: uglydeadlookingcactushosting.com or something similar. :D

I do also beleive that it is definatly possible to make something work, possibly even a cactus, if it is the right image. When I think of a cactus I think of a large healthy looking cool cactus, maybe in the desert with mountains in the back, a nice orangy sun - to me something like that would be unique, and might work.

The main problem I have with my friend is, while he likes to help, I simply am finding that we don't see eye to eye on design ideas, and really we are far off.

We are still seeking the right image to this day. I have shown him many images that I think would suit the site well, but he does not like them. I told him to search for quality images that he likes, and he keeps presenting me with images that I don't like. He is now showing me sculptures from museums etc, which I can not fathom.

While I am not saying I am perfect, or that I am always right, I honestly feel that I have a better understanding then him when it comes to web design, as I have been doing this for years, and he has never designed a website or ran a website business before. But to him it means nothing. He keeps saying that he has a major designing background, although he has never shown me any examples.

When it comes to ideas on how the business should be run, and how important customer service is, and pricing formulas, me and my friend agree on basically everything. But when it comes to design, I am feeling really set back, as it almost seems that the only right image to him is something that he chooses. In all honesty if he presents me with something that would work, I would not have a problem using it. So we are basically back at the drawing board once again, and I am starting to feel that going into business with friends may not have been the greatest idea unfortunatly.

Before we started we seemed to work together nicely when it came to ideas, but now I feel I am seeing a different side of him, that I had never seen before, basically to me, I am dealing with dr jekyll & mr hyde. :(

Hi back, Zwolf,

I think I see now a little clearer what you mean when writing that you experience "major design differences" with your friend. From what I read I somewhat figured one possible solution out - keep on stating your position as refers to images and the like. You probably need to be straightforward with him - tell him that from your point of you the images he proposes are not suitable to your website vision (or something of the sort). As you share common views on the other major issues probably you need to be patient on the image part and lead him slowly but consistently on what you have in mind. Hope this difficulties between you will soon be over. :agree:

Zwolf,

Do you see any light in the tunnel, in the end? I am just wondering what do you as a possible solution in the case.:confused:

Its not a matter of cactus or a flower. Its a matter of noncooperation and non-compromise.

I suggest you end this partnership rightaway. There would be more of these standoff issues in future, and they might not be trivial like this one.

by Amalia
you need to be patient on the image part and lead him slowly but consistently on what you have in mind.

I am definatly trying my best to be paitent in this situation. And the keyword is Slowly....Because that is how this site is progressing very slowly unfortunatly. Thanks for all your opinions. :)

by Vex76
Do you see any light in the tunnel, in the end?

Not at the moment unfortunatly. I have designed websites for some really picky customers in the past, and have never had these types of problems before. Technically if a "customer" demanded some really horrid pictures, I would not care. I would advise against it, but if thats what they want then in that case I would not care. The main problem with this is, it is a business investment for me, and a horrible looking site would affect me personally.

by unity100
Its not a matter of cactus or a flower. Its a matter of noncooperation and non-compromise.

I suggest you end this partnership rightaway. There would be more of these standoff issues in future, and they might not be trivial like this one.

I am starting to feel this way forsure. There is no doubt that this matter is trivial. I normally find it fun finding the right images, but this is definatly not fun. I am able to cooperate and compromise on things, but he is not. It seems it is his way or the highway. If I listen to him, we will likely win an award for the worst looking site on the planet. lol. I had seen his skills as being able to manage the site, handle support and the rest. We had originally agreed that he would handle that part of the business, and I would handle the design portion. Now it seems like he wants to reverse the roles.

At the moment I am simply going to put things on hold. I own several other internet businesses that I need to devote my time to, and if he wonders what the delays are I will tell him. Two actual web designers, I think can have some differences, and in that situation I think I can confidently say that the finished product, once they agree on something will be truly great, but in this situation things are not looking good. If things dont improve the only option may be: "I suggest you end this partnership" - I am definatly having second thoughts at the present time.

Thanks everyone for all your opinions & advice. :)