Uncreative People

Decorating By Tacy09 Updated 5 Aug 2011 , 3:52pm by Dreme

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Tacy09 Posted 5 Aug 2011 , 11:22am
post #1 of 14

Ok, so I just have to vent a little bit. With all my wedding so far I am finding 2 things that keep happening. 1st almost every bride I have has told me she wants a simple cake (now usually this means elaborate cake but for a cheap price, but not with these brides) I can tell you the number of white cakes with colored bands I have done, no other detail! The 2nd thing is almost every bride has brough a picture of a cake with here, and while this is fine and often helps me come up with a starting point for the design, they all tell me "no I just want this cake as is, same colors and everything" they dont want me to design anything ( I even make sure to tell them there isnt a design fee).

What I wouldnt give for someone to walk up, give me an invitation, or color palate and say create something! Dont know if anyone else out there has the same problem, but I just had to let it out before I started pulling my hair out in boredom/ frustration!

13 replies
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Claire138 Posted 5 Aug 2011 , 11:49am
post #2 of 14

I get this too, although not with wedding cakes but baby naming cakes or princess cakes. I always try and steer them into trying a new design. Sometimes I'm successful and sometimes they dig their heels in. It's annoying for me bc I am always looking to do something different but on the upside it's a compliment too!

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shaekae81 Posted 5 Aug 2011 , 12:13pm
post #3 of 14

I sooo feel you on this one! I get frustrated with that too! I also get frustrated with people who get toooo detailed with their request....trying to add elements from different cakes that don't work together or don't work for the tiny cake they requested. I'd love complete creative control with a base of colors or theme to work on.....ahhhh to live in a perfect cake world....lol

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nanefy Posted 5 Aug 2011 , 1:21pm
post #4 of 14

I am brutal - I am a cake designer, not a cake copier! If they want 'that specific cake' then they can go and ask the original creator to make it, but if they want an original cake based of some inspiration they have then I am happy to make it.

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shaekae81 Posted 5 Aug 2011 , 1:50pm
post #5 of 14
Quote:
Originally Posted by nanefy

I am brutal - I am a cake designer, not a cake copier! If they want 'that specific cake' then they can go and ask the original creator to make it, but if they want an original cake based of some inspiration they have then I am happy to make it.




we could all learn from you icon_wink.gif

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TexasSugar Posted 5 Aug 2011 , 1:53pm
post #6 of 14

Maybe they are not visual thinkers?

Me, I need to see some ideas to start pulling something together. If you gave me a blank cake with nothing else, I'd be standing there forever, because ideas don't juts pop in my head that way.

Some people like elaborate, others do like simple.

Some people want more control than to give freedom. By giving you a picture they know the cake will come out looking more like that. If they try to explain what they want, they don't always know if you will do what is in their head, since we all take explanations differently.

If you want people to think outside the box a little, why don't you ask that they bring a copy of their invitation, their colors and a list of the flowers they plan to use? Maybe you can find an invitation online, and use it to design a dummy cake and have that visible or have a picture of the two together. Maybe a dummy of the 'simple' cake with ribbon, take pictures of it, then add something to it, take pictures of that, add something else too it, take pictures of that. Take something away and add something new and take pictures of that. Then they can see how they can transform the simple look into something a little more personalized to them.

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nanefy Posted 5 Aug 2011 , 1:58pm
post #7 of 14

I provide sketches for my customers - they give me inspiration and then I make a mock up of the cake using Adobe illustrator and then free hand the elements on the cake. This then gets emailed to them for approval.

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Kiddiekakes Posted 5 Aug 2011 , 2:03pm
post #8 of 14

I am like Texas...I need a starting point because I am a visual person also....Show me an idea of what you want and I can go from there...I can't draw to save my life so that option is out.

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Leikeilana Posted 5 Aug 2011 , 2:19pm
post #9 of 14

the same here. we had a couple that wanted a white cake with ribbons. The day before the wedding we contacted her with all fingers crossed asking her if she wanted something different but it would still have her theme colors and she was happy knowing that we would do our magic, their cake would be different and it wouldnt change the cost. Today was one of those days that we enjoyed mixing and matching. We loved it, and the father of the bride, loved it as well. It was simple and elegant....and not it wasnt elaborate.....just the right amount of everything.

If we get one like this every month then we are happy...hope you all get your doze of free reign to work your masterpieces.

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usmdesigner Posted 5 Aug 2011 , 2:40pm
post #10 of 14

Here is my humble little opinion as a guy, and I'm trying to think like a bride icon_smile.gif

This girl (or guy - which I doubt) is coming to you with an expectation of what she wants at her wedding. If she says, "just do whatever", she is taking a huge risk that she may not like the cake. Then what? Will the cake be redone?

I'll agree that making a drawing would help a good bit. They can actually see the cake that has been done. But then you would most likely get into time issues.

A. The amount of time it took to draw it
B. How easy is it to edit the drawing and completely redo it. Will that be frustrating to redo 5 times?
C. Is the drawing good?

I'm sure you women would agree that everything on that day has to be perfect, and if you get a cake that shows up that wasn't what you envisioned, then how perfect of a day would it be?

I would think these girls are going with what they see, and know that is exactly what they want. This day isn't going to happen again for them. It isn't a birthday that they can redeem themselves next year. Pictures will cost a ton along with the wedding cake, and those pictures will remind her of that day forever. If she hates the design, then she'll always have horrible feelings towards that part of the wedding.

Maybe I'm thinking to much on this, but I know when it came to MY wife, this is a VERY accurate description of her and her thinking.

I wouldn't call her uncreative, I would call her "safe".

(And this isn't being negative towards you, I'm just throwing out another opinion about how others might be portraying this situation as a "bride")

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Claire138 Posted 5 Aug 2011 , 3:07pm
post #11 of 14

Don't get me wrong, I have no creative imagination (I was thrown out of art class for wasting the teachers time) and can't draw tuppence ha'penny worth, but when I see a design I like & I know I can do something based around it that's when I offer a difference but as usmdesigner wrote, most people go with something they have already seen to be on the safe side.

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nanefy Posted 5 Aug 2011 , 3:11pm
post #12 of 14

I think this is all down to marketing and how you want your business to run. The good thing is, is that not every baker wants to have the same type of business. I do not do sheet cakes and novelty cakes and I market myself as a cake designer, it's a completely bespoke service. Other bakers are quite happy doing exactly what the customer wants. It's swings and roundabouts really, you need to decide how you want to carry your business forward - you either take on business that doesn't really stimulate you but you get the order and thus the money or you risk losing out on some orders so that you can do the kind of work you want to.
For me, I purposely started my own business so that I could decide what I did and didn't make. It doesn't take me long to make a drawing and if I had to redraw it 5 times I would just play it by ear - if I felt the bride was just being a right royal pain the butt, then I'd just let her know that I wasn't the right person to make her cake - however it doesn't normally happen this way. I like to think I'm creative and good at what I do, so I rarely have someone tell me they don't like my design.

Sorry I had to laugh at that art teacher comment!!! class!

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Claire138 Posted 5 Aug 2011 , 3:27pm
post #13 of 14
Quote:
Originally Posted by nanefy

I think this is all down to marketing and how you want your business to run. The good thing is, is that not every baker wants to have the same type of business. I do not do sheet cakes and novelty cakes and I market myself as a cake designer, it's a completely bespoke service. Other bakers are quite happy doing exactly what the customer wants. It's swings and roundabouts really, you need to decide how you want to carry your business forward - you either take on business that doesn't really stimulate you but you get the order and thus the money or you risk losing out on some orders so that you can do the kind of work you want to.
For me, I purposely started my own business so that I could decide what I did and didn't make. It doesn't take me long to make a drawing and if I had to redraw it 5 times I would just play it by ear - if I felt the bride was just being a right royal pain the butt, then I'd just let her know that I wasn't the right person to make her cake - however it doesn't normally happen this way. I like to think I'm creative and good at what I do, so I rarely have someone tell me they don't like my design.

Sorry I had to laugh at that art teacher comment!!! class!


Laugh away - my friends all do! It's funny really bc now I am in a metier that is artsy of a sort but I still can't draw!

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Dreme Posted 5 Aug 2011 , 3:52pm
post #14 of 14
Quote:
Originally Posted by nanefy

I provide sketches for my customers - they give me inspiration and then I make a mock up of the cake using Adobe illustrator and then free hand the elements on the cake. This then gets emailed to them for approval.




I do the same for my clients as well. I try and sell myself as a custom cake designer to the bride, that each cake is made just for that bride and no one else will get her design. It makes the bride feel special that she is getting something one of a kind just for her. It helps build her trust with me.

During our consult I try and ask questions that are geared more toward creativity. I try and set it up where the bride is thinking outside of the box. For example I may ask her how she feels about color; how much she is comfortable with on her cake. I try not to ask her specifics of where the color to is to be, I like to control how I will design the cake for her. I may pull a cake up from my database of saved cake images from the web and show her an example of different ways to use the color. I watch how she reacts to each design, and take into account what i'm getting from her personality. It tells me how far I can push it with her as far as color in my design concept. I have yet to go as far with the brides as I would like to go.

My big problem is budget and a leash. Budget stands in the way of my full potential. Well that, and the bride who can't get past a simple ivory cake. (I feel like ivory is too traditional and and some colors just don't pop with it when doing certain designs. A little part of my heart sinks when she tells me she wants the base of her cake to be ivory. Sigh...boring). I have yet to meet a bride that I can really go all out with. I really just want to make a cake that average person would never consider. Cakes that are pieces of art. Ones that make statements where people stare at it like its a painting or a sculpture with meaning. Like crazy out of the room where the box is, type of cakes. Crazy like Salvador Dali or something. Could you imagine a tall cake that is an elephant with stilt legs (like the Temptation of St. Anthony painting)? I want a client that will let me pull that off. I need to be let off the leash. I look forward to going outside the fence one day and taking off my artist straight jacket. LOL

Ok i'm going off topic a little bit, but I completely understand how the OP feels.

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