Primarily, design is a collaborative process. Marketing initiatives, brand development, information dissemination, and entertainment media all require interactions between a client and a designer in order to be realized. Ideas need to be exchanged. Theories need to be proposed. Goals need to be determined. Processes need to be explored. Strategies need to be developed and implementation needs to be coordinated. All of these aspects of the design process require coordinated and cooperative interactions. By having vibrant and engaged interpersonal interactions between participants, greater opportunities for investigation and development are created and the final media is much more likely to be effective and successful.

In a very fundamental way, the best design solutions come from a meeting of the minds. There is a gestalt enhancement to a design solution that only occurs when both parties are complimentarily engaged in finding a solution. This complimentary relationship is created through the mutual respect of the other party's distinctive competency. The designer needs to understand and appreciate the value of the client's products and/or services. The client needs to understand and appreciate the value of the designer's creative vision and ability to problem-solve. Without this mutual respect, the designer/client relationship tends to become either confrontational or disengaged and the resulting design solution is compromised. However, the kinds of solutions generated through mutual respect are frequently insightful, innovative, and synergistic.