This article was written from Four51's perspective, but it's good advice for hiring and working with any internal or external creative services team.

The not-very-surprising rule #1 is: do your homework. Be clear with yourself. Hash out all the issues internally first. This will save you endless frustration and heartache later.

Here are four positions to consider when working with designers:

1. I know what I want. Bring your vision. Bring in your folder of typefaces, images, style guides, copy. Be specific. The more you paste it up and sketch it out, the more likely you'll get exactly what you were hoping for. Bonus: this helps Four51's tech team make sure there's a functional fit as well as a design fit.
    
2. I'm not sure exactly, but I know what it rhymes with. Put together a scrapbook. Find examples from other industries. Does your client want an ordering site that looks like one from a large tech firm (IBM, perhaps) or a direct marketing rummage sale? Don't tell the designer what to do, but be really clear what you want to remind people of. 
    
3. I'm not a designer, but I understand state change. Do you want this work to increase trust? Desire? Confidence? Urgency? Who's it for? What's it for? If you can be really clear about what the work is for, you'll help the designer. But understand you're introducing some ambiguity.
    
4. I'll know it when I see it. AKA "Just make it look cool." Please don't do this. Guesswork is inefficient and creates hard feelings.

HT to Seth Godin for this perspective.