Clients Vs. The Hairy Arm

We’d noticed that this archival piece from the greatly missed 1099 magazine was being passed around a lot lately: Lawrence San’s “The Theory of the Hairy Arm” and after reading it, we now know why. It’s a great, funny little piece on working with your clients who feel they need to make a change every time they look at something you’ve made, and how to fight back.

“Well, when I made a photostat, I would ‘accidentally’ have my arm intrude into the picture area when I snapped the shutter. Then when I presented the client with the stat, there would be the image of my hairy arm on one side, partially overlapping the ad. The guy would look at it, and he’d say, ‘What the hell is that hairy arm doing in there?’”

Joe grinned at the memory and went on. “I’d say, ‘Arm? Oh, that. I didn’t notice that.’ And he’d say, ‘Get that arm out of there! You can’t leave a hairy arm in there!’

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