It’s often difficult to get a clear understanding of what someone else is really looking for. Someone can say he likes a certain style, but that doesn’t tell you what aspect of that “style” is the germ of the appeal for him: is it light or dark wood, or shiny finish, or ornateness or a “clean” look? It stretches my imagination and gives me a different point of view, to try to understand a client’s perspective and desire. It puts my ideas against the customer’s parameters. And I have to learn to create an effect in a different way.
I think it’s not as important to be able to duplicate a known style, as it is to come to an understanding of what attracts a client to a certain style, and then be able to incorporate that in a piece made for that client.