Allowing creative projects to sit

Every great creative I have talked to, and have been studying, from Lennon and McCartney to Jony Ive to Virgil Abloh has needed some time and space to just “try some shit.” To discover, to explore…to see what works.

Whatever you’re working on right now, is there enough time in the schedule for you to play with it?

Rob at PRINT Magazine asks why so much creative work turns bland. The initial answer is stakeholders demanding that the work be based on things creatives that were successful in the past.

Product design has a similar challenge. We are constantly looking for ways to move metrics, lift aquisition, activation, or retention. Sometimes we dig around in the closet of past successes, but often we recognize we have to look into the future.

A lot of time is spent cycling through ideas, testing what works, and reviewing data. However, some time necessarily must be spent mulling over ideas. We play with concepts, shift them around, share them internally, show them to users in interviews, and try to get a gut sense of what’s working and what’s broken.

Sometimes I’ll finish a design in the afternoon, with a nagging sensation that it’s not quite there. When I come back in the morning I’ll often  see the proble more clearly. That time stewing, thinking, mulling, leads to improved results.

Something about a good night’s sleep helps light up new ideas.

Via PRINT Magazine.