Does this sound out of line?

[iphdesgin]

I have a client who has me work in his office and sits over my shoulder for the 8 hour day and has me be his code/photoshop monkey. He freaks about how long things take and controls the process, despite the fact he has no experience with design. I am typically very good with working with difficult clients and explaining what I am doing and why I am doing it, but this is something extreme.
I wrote message below, and I am curious if it sounds out of line. Could you let me know if it sounds reasonable?
Ok.
I value input from you and it is a very important part of creating something that meets your expectations.
That said, I only want to get the best results; I aim to give you the best return on your investments.
I have a decent amount of experience with design and building sites, and have developed a process that may seem confusing to someone who has not done design or web development for work. In my professional experience I have learned design standards, tools, and techniques to come up with solutions to presented problems.
In the midst of developing ideas, it may be difficult to understand where I am going, and I understand it could cause frustration or worry.
However, trying to redirect a design at this point can sometimes end in a frankenstien look to the work. The cohesive idea and hierarchy of a solution can be lost in the final presentation.

[Paulie_D]

I wrote message below, and I am curious if it sounds out of line.

Firstly, don’t send a message.

Messages/Emails can’t convey your message properly. I saw an article somewhere a while ago that the majority of person to person communication is non-verbal.

Body language and facial expression conveys so much more that what you are actually verbalising.

You need to say this face to face. Ask for a private meeting and make your point clearly and calmly. A good point to make is that s/he’s not getting your best work by micro-managing you.

Telling someone that they don’t understand what it is you are doing (your process) is NOT (IMO) a good way to start.

Perhaps you and this person need to get together and really clarify what it is s/he wants from the design and come up with mutually agreed design process with staged review points.

[nixnerd]

I would definitely have a conversation in person but I have a few initial observations:

1. I hope he is paying you SILLY amounts of money. You deserve to be compensated for that torture.

2. Don’t ever work with him again.

3. Don’t ever work with anyone who gives you a similar vibe again.

4. Yes, I think it’s out of line.

5. I would probably quit the project.

[nixnerd]

I agree with @JoshWhite. Come up with some really clearly defined finish line, get there and be done with it. Clients are not your boss… they’re a customer. They shouldn’t be telling you how to do your work. He clearly hired you for a reason, so he should trust that you know what you’re doing.

To quote Roger Sterling from Mad Men:

“…this is the greatest job in the world except for one thing: the clients.”

[iphdesgin]

Hey thank you all for the input! Hmm, yeah I’m not sure how it got to be here. there were plenty of warning signs, and I should have been more assertive in letting them know the way I work from the start. I will likely just set an end date and not return to this client.
Part of me wants to push through warning signs, one of my best clients requested the ‘free test’ and seemed very broke, yet now he is one of my best clients, and pays very well.
Here it seems to be partly a trust issue and partly a control issue. I guess I was hoping I could build the trust over time, but it seems hopeless at this point.

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