One of my clients once said that they literally thought I was going crazy when I presented the first sketch round for their event rebranding. This particular part of the branding and design process is my favourite. It takes courage to leap to the unknown and design the future today. That’s definitely not an easy thing to do but when it happens, it’s so worth it.
Almost every client starts the brief by saying that we want something unseen, something outside-of-the-box, something absolutely mind-blowing. But when that mind-blowing, outside-of-the-box is presented, almost as many backs up and starts to hesitate.
“Is this a bit too much?”
“We are not sure about this, it seems a bit odd.” “Maybe we should do more similar than we used to do?” “Can you make it a bit less intimidating?”
When we see something for the first time, it looks different than when seen again. Human brain loves similarity and comfort and tries to avoid the odd by default. (It might be dangerous, yells the caveman inside your head!) Repetition and time help the brain to adjust. Good example are all those trends that look so odd at first but the more we see it, the more we get used to it and eventually it becomes mainstream and normal.
After several sketch rounds, also the client got used to the odd design and we continued to develop it further. Still, just before the final launch of the website we have been working for weeks, there was some hesitation. What if people think that this is too much? What if they think we all are crazy?
Focus on the future
Yes, it is too much, that’s the point of outside-of-the-box design. Yes, it’s scary but that’s part of the process. If I design something that looks nice and familiar today, it will look already seen and old tomorrow let alone next week, month or year. The design process itself already takes months before the whole thing is even launched so we really need to focus on the future and not be stuck in this particular day.
Horrible or genius?
For the client I told that if someone really thinks it’s crazy, it’s only because we actually managed to do something really hard. To design the unseen. After the launch we got a massive amount of great feedback. One I still cherish after all these years is the guy who told me that he was struggling to tell if the design was absolutely horrible or absolutely genius. And that is exactly the place where I want to stand as an Art Director and a designer. Right on that sweet spot between those two.
Learning new skills and developing and discovering yourself is mainly privately done hard work but sometimes it helps to find some spark and inspiration from someone else too. I have taken several different workshops and courses during this year and last one and I think those might inspire you too.
I always wish I had more time to DIY stuff and my Pinterest and notebooks are full of ideas I never have time to actually do. This time I decided to go for it and we ended up having so much fun with my daughter on this small but lovely project.
Find your creativity, gain more focus and just easily manipulate your brain (and ears) to function in specific ways? Besides just doing the work (which I highly recommend, stop procrastinating now!) there are several tools you can use to make it more efficient. My recent experiments have been with binaural beats.
Instagram stories have taken over if not the whole world, a major chunk of Instagram users and the time used with the application. Photos, videos, memes and yes, all those awesome stickers to add! The temptation to do your own ones if you’re into GIF making is enormous. So this Social Media Monday is all …
Ugly today, brilliant tomorrow
One of my clients once said that they literally thought I was going crazy when I presented the first sketch round for their event rebranding. This particular part of the branding and design process is my favourite. It takes courage to leap to the unknown and design the future today. That’s definitely not an easy thing to do but when it happens, it’s so worth it.
Almost every client starts the brief by saying that we want something unseen, something outside-of-the-box, something absolutely mind-blowing. But when that mind-blowing, outside-of-the-box is presented, almost as many backs up and starts to hesitate.
“Is this a bit too much?”
“We are not sure about this, it seems a bit odd.” “Maybe we should do more similar than we used to do?” “Can you make it a bit less intimidating?”
When we see something for the first time, it looks different than when seen again. Human brain loves similarity and comfort and tries to avoid the odd by default. (It might be dangerous, yells the caveman inside your head!) Repetition and time help the brain to adjust. Good example are all those trends that look so odd at first but the more we see it, the more we get used to it and eventually it becomes mainstream and normal.
After several sketch rounds, also the client got used to the odd design and we continued to develop it further. Still, just before the final launch of the website we have been working for weeks, there was some hesitation. What if people think that this is too much? What if they think we all are crazy?
Focus on the future
Yes, it is too much, that’s the point of outside-of-the-box design. Yes, it’s scary but that’s part of the process. If I design something that looks nice and familiar today, it will look already seen and old tomorrow let alone next week, month or year. The design process itself already takes months before the whole thing is even launched so we really need to focus on the future and not be stuck in this particular day.
Horrible or genius?
For the client I told that if someone really thinks it’s crazy, it’s only because we actually managed to do something really hard. To design the unseen. After the launch we got a massive amount of great feedback. One I still cherish after all these years is the guy who told me that he was struggling to tell if the design was absolutely horrible or absolutely genius. And that is exactly the place where I want to stand as an Art Director and a designer. Right on that sweet spot between those two.
Where do you want to stand?
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Learning new skills and developing and discovering yourself is mainly privately done hard work but sometimes it helps to find some spark and inspiration from someone else too. I have taken several different workshops and courses during this year and last one and I think those might inspire you too.
DIY bath bombs
I always wish I had more time to DIY stuff and my Pinterest and notebooks are full of ideas I never have time to actually do. This time I decided to go for it and we ended up having so much fun with my daughter on this small but lovely project.
What are binaural beats and how do they work?
Find your creativity, gain more focus and just easily manipulate your brain (and ears) to function in specific ways? Besides just doing the work (which I highly recommend, stop procrastinating now!) there are several tools you can use to make it more efficient. My recent experiments have been with binaural beats.
Social Media Monday | How to get your own stickers to Instagram Stories
Instagram stories have taken over if not the whole world, a major chunk of Instagram users and the time used with the application. Photos, videos, memes and yes, all those awesome stickers to add! The temptation to do your own ones if you’re into GIF making is enormous. So this Social Media Monday is all …