Leading Horses to Water: A Case Study in Futility

In the early months of 2017 I was approached by a member of the Spalding County Pickleball Association about updating their current logo. There was a new pickleball complex being built and they wanted to update their brand to something more fitting a multi-million dollar project. Of course none of that was budgeted for design, so I took on this project pro bono, as a favor to my mom, who is one hell of a pickleball player. The requirements were that there had to be a pickleball and paddle, a peach, and an outline of Spalding County. This is the design I presented to the board.

As you have probably already guessed, it was a monumental failure. Sure I had delivered all of the elements they asked for, even the outline of Spalding County, not that I think anyone could identify it. I even thought I’d devised a clever use of the pickleball as the peach pit, but when the board saw the design they were not pleased. I went back to the drawing board to rethink my approach and figure out where it had all gone wrong.

That’s when the realization came to me that I first needed to educate the board first on what makes good logos effective and second, show them why my new design had some of those same qualities.

I wanted to start off by examining what makes a logo, and more importantly an overall brand, successful. These 5 logos represent arguably the most successful brands in recent history. Not only are the companies and/or the initiatives they represent successful, but they are instantly recognizable. You understand that the apple icon means Apple Inc., without the company name. And I’d wager that if we removed the word Nike from the swoosh you’d still know what it was.

So what do these brands have in common? Simplicity. They are not trying to do a million things at once, they are communicating one, maybe two very important ideas about who they are as companies and what their brands represent.

Lets compare this to the two previous iterations of the Spalding County Pickleball Association logo. Look at how much is going on.

These are more like illustrations than brands or logos. A peach, a pickle ball, a paddle, the county outline, the state of Georgia, banner scrolls and outlines, not to mention that the name itself is a mouthful. They are attempting to do way too much and as a result they are ineffective.

They don’t work as logos because they are overwhelming.

In contrast, let’s take a look at the IBM logo. Most people under the age of 25 couldn’t tell you what IBM stands for, and yet they are still a leader in computer hardware and software engineering. (In case you’ve forgotten, IBM stands for International Business Machines, also a mouthful, but using the acronym “IBM” makes a huge difference.)

So how would I go about creating a strong brand with a singular message that is not busy and communicates what the Spalding County Pickleball Association represents?

1. Simplify.

There is a lot to say, but I do not recommend trying to say it in the logo alone. Apple’s logo is one of the most iconic logos in branding history, but it doesn’t have anything to do with computers or technology. Neither does it reference the California as it’s base of operations. Same with IBM, Nike and any other memorable brand. Your logo is just that: your logo. You can add locations and tag lines to the design pieces you’ll be putting your logo on, like shirts, cards, stationery, etc.

2. Focus.

Of the elements they requested, the pickleball is iconic and I wanted to unclude it in the new design, but not necessarily as an illustration. And the peach reference is appropriate, as it symbolizes the south and more specifically, Georgia. My recommendation was to leave the tag line and location indicators off the logo. I posed these questions to try and understand how to best represent the association: What is special about Spalding County pickle ball? What is it that sets it apart? What will it be known for? Location is ultimately irrelevant to the logo, so what’s at the core of the organization? If I could sum up who they are in a single phrase, then I thought I could create a logo that communicates that. But what was that single phrase?

3. Sacrifice.

This is the toughest one, but it’s the most important. If the organization's name is The Spalding County Pickle Ball Association, I didn’t think they needed a map of Georgia, or an indicator of where Spalding County is, or any reference to Metro South. It distracts from who they are, and it’s redundant. If they needed a tag line, that’s fine, but not as part of the final logo and identity.

I encouraged them to think about their logo, and all of their marketing really, like trying to hammer a bunch of nails into a board with a cast iron skillet. If you hammer ten nails, they will all make a dent, but none will go in. If you use one nail, you can hammer that in easily. So it goes with a marketing message.

Create Something Iconic

The icon was only a piece of the intended branding system that I proposed, but it is the most integral.

It was the most consistent element from the previous two versions, and it’s a great symbol for the Spalding County Pickleball Association for several reasons. First, it indicates location. Secondly it signifies the sport. That’s a very efficient way to explain who you are. Unlike the previous iterations it is clean and solid. The execution avoids the problems of being too detailed and looking like an illustration rather than a logo. It has significant weight and is balanced, but more than all of these things, it manages to be both literal and abstract.

It captures the magic of the Apple logo and Nike swoosh while also giving a hint to the purpose of the organization.

Keep it Simple

If brevity is the soul of wit, then simplicity is the key to a successful brand.

The name is long. My best suggestion was to shorten it to Spalding County Pickleball. This name is still effective in communicating the associations purpose while also being playful with the negative space in the “C.” Look at Amazon, the little underline that’s a smile and points from A to Z. Clever, playful and memorable

I also suggested using an acronym instead of the whole name, or if they if they wanted to keep the whole name, they could use the icon as a letter (as in the second example), and while the name is still Spalding County Pickleball Association, the logo reads “(S)palding-(C)ounty-(P)ickle-(B)all.” This version really encapsulates the spirit of the association being a “Game Changer” for Spalding County, which is how the county commission described the new pickleball complex.

Be Memorable

Creating strong associations in a person’s mind makes the message you are communicating stronger because the viewer is actively participating. The “I Love NY” design is a great example. It works because it relies on the viewer to complete the phrase. This lock-up of the logo utilizes this very technique and plays off the same symbol associations that make the NY mark so memorable.

Using the Pickleball/Peach Icon creates strong associations for the viewer and plays off a familiar vocabulary. While this layout would be great for promotional usage, I would not necessarily recommend this for the final mark, but it is a memorable and effective treatment and worth considering as part of the overall brand system.

Stay Flexible

There will be no shortage of uses for this new logo. Some will be large, some small. Some will be full color and others will require a black and white or even a reversed out treatment. The trick is to have a flexible system that allows for all this variation.

Maintain Consistency & Variety

Lastly, the most difficult aspect of creating and maintaining a successful brand is consistency. All branding efforts are wasted if the logo and branding materials are different every time they are used.

This system is a singular, unified approach that can be applied across a multitude of media. It is more than a logo; it’s a brand strategy.

After submitting my new concept along with all of the above rationale and research the board decided that thy were going to go in a different direction. I was very disappointed, I’ll admit, but getting approval from committees is difficult in the best of circumstances, so I made my peace as best I could and moved on. But a few months later the association opened the new facility and unveiled their chosen mark. 

My initial reaction was was very critical. It seemed to be a generic design with little, if any, conceptual exploration. I thought they missed an opportunity to create something more memmorable with their typography and it’s lack of interaction with the pickle ball. It felt more like a header image or a web banner than a logo lockup.It wasn’t horrible, but ultimately it’s not very flexible and fell short of the challenge.

But then I looked at it again and it suddenly occurred to me, while the board rejected my designs I think at least some of the advice and suggestions I’d made in my presentation did sneak in there.

For instance, they absolutely simplified things, going with the name Spalding County Pickleball, dropping the word “Association.” And the phrase suggested by the county commission, “It’s a Game Changer,” did end up being treated as a tagline and not part of their main logo. They also kept the pickle ball as an icon and avoided anything overly illustrated or cartoonish. 

Even though the my logo didn’t win them over, I don’t count this as a failed exercise. 

Sorry, Not Sorry: 3 Reasons Being a Professional Means Never Having to Apologize.

On the tail end of a global pandemic and an uncertain economic forecast ahead, adding a new resolution to your list of professional goals might be a low priority. But, if now isn’t the time for self-improvement, then when is?

I'd like to offer a modest revision to your 2021 professional development plans: Stop saying “sorry.” That’s right—remove it from your vocabulary. Delete it from anything you type. While you’re at it, go ahead and throw out the board game; Clue is more fun anyway.

I'm serious. Sorry seems like a harmless enough word, but it really isn’t. Those five letters can bring you down and hold you back.

Let’s dive into three times professionals apologize—and why you shouldn’t.

Small Mistakes Aren’t Worth an Apology

If you’re reading this, then chances are you’re not a freelance feather jewelry designer with extra time on your hands. You’re likely already on your second cup of coffee, pushing to meet pressing deadlines while thinking about how long you can go without food before passing out. (The average is about 21 days, by the way.)

The point is: People are counting on you in this imperfect world. And things go wrong all the time. When they do, don’t let “sorry” creep into your mind. If you were late to a meeting, spilled coffee in the break room, or left the cover slide off your TPS Report—again—ignore the instinct to toss out a meaningless apology and move on. If it’s your fault, admit it, take ownership of the mistake, and don’t make it again. If it’s not your fault, you shouldn’t be apologizing anyway.

Giving grace is critical—with each other and with ourselves. Practice saying, “Thank you” instead of, “I’m sorry”. As in, “Thank you for helping clear that up” versus “Sorry I misunderstood.” It not only squashes the blame game mentality; it shows appreciation for the other person in the situation.

Even Big Mistakes Become Water Under the Bridge

What about when you do mess up or a project you’re working on goes sideways? It’s ok to beg for forgiveness then, right? The answer is still no.

Even if you’re the lead on a job, small setbacks are almost never solely one person’s fault. Apologizing may seem like an expeditious way to smooth over the mistake and calm tempers. In reality, it makes you the epicenter of everything that’s gone wrong. Now that you’ve thrown in the “I’m sorry,” you are the sole face of the problem, taking 100% of the responsibility.

Don’t back-pedal or hide behind an overdone apology. Instead, acknowledge the issue and its impact and then be ready with solutions. In the end, most people don’t care why something went wrong; they just want the problem to be fixed.

Sorry Is terrible small talk.

Say you are in the hot seat, and there are mistakes to answer for; don’t succumb to the pressure of the moment or attempt to fill that awkward silence with a string of repentances. Own the problem and stand behind your work.

And don’t throw team members under the bus. Jumping on the blame-train puts you in a terrible light with peers and supervisors alike. Let the buck stop with you. Run at the problem and be confident in your ability to get things back on track. If you need something to talk about, try the weather. Or traffic. Or better yet, talk about the solutions you deliver.

“I walked by a dry cleaner at 3 a.m., and there was a sign: "Sorry, we're closed" You don't have to be sorry, it's 3 a.m., and you're a dry cleaner! It would be ridiculous for me to expect you to be open! I'm not gonna walk in at 10 a.m. and say, "I walked by here at 3 and you were closed - somebody owes me an apology!"

-Mitch Hedberg

Locking & Unlocking the “I’m Sorry” Vault

Knowing when to express honest regret or when to stand your ground, can be tricky. As a professional, it’s important to not use empty apologies as a crutch or to save face. Own your mistakes, big and small, and immediately begin fixing them.

But, as in all things, there is an exception to the rule. Saying sorry is acceptable, and expected, in a few settings: when someone has experienced a tragedy, you spill coffee on someone, or you find out a coworker is a Patriots fan. Otherwise, lock it in the vault and only bring it out when there’s absolutely no other option.

The Quit Quiz: Three questions that will help you decide if you’re in or out

At some point, we all ask the question. It is inevitable. Should I quit? It’s like tossing a coin to break a tie. You don’t know how you truly feel until that coin is in the air, and at that moment when you realize that you’re stuck with one or the other, you know the answer. But what if it’s not that simple? After all, it’s a bigger decision than you may realize, and it merits some consideration.

So before you take a dump on your boss’ desk and send that email to all of your coworkers that you’ve had in your outbox for 8 years, take this short quiz and find out if you’re about to start your second act or if you’ll be taking out a second mortgage.

Under Compensating

Let’s get right down to it. The touchy-feely stuff can wait until the remaining questions. Are you paid? Adequate compensation can be measured in many ways. There is data online for various salary ranges based on position, years of experience, and region. If you’re more analytical, this might be how you answer this question. If you’re more of a gut-feeling person, you can look at other indicators. Are you meeting your basic requirements? Do you vacation? How’s your savings account? Do you still live at home? Do you want to still be living at home?

However, you evaluate the answer to this question, ask yourself this: Am I paid as much as I think I should be?

The Pursuit of Happiness

Now we start digging into the existential questions. Why am I here? What am I doing? There are a million rabbit holes that one can get lost down while chasing the answer to this one, so let us keep it simple. Three are a couple of ways to measure how happy you are at your current position. Do you like your coworkers? I mean genuinely like them? If you feel like you’re managing your workload and not underwater, that’s good. If you complain about your job while you’re not at your job, that’s not so good.

Happiness is harder to quantify in a workplace setting, so use this as your tiebreaker. Do you look forward to the Holiday Party?

Free at Last

When all else fails, you have your freedom. Unless you don’t. This isn’t something that one considers very often in their working career, but I would argue that it’s the one that stings the most when you realize you don’t have it. If you do have freedom, most likely you don’t know it. The trust of your boss to handle your work and deliver on time. The respect of your coworkers to count on you and look to you for leadership and guidance. These aren’t things we appreciate daily, but they are key to maintaining a level of freedom at work.

If you want to know how free you are, ask yourself, how comfortable would I be asking my boss to work from home two days a week?

The Results.

Sadly, if you answered no to two or more questions, you should probably quit. This is not scientific, but I would wager if you took this quiz at all seriously, that’s a bad sign. There are better jobs out there where you can get more money, happiness, or freedom. Don’t waste any more time waiting for things to change.

If you only had one no, maybe it’s a situation that you could improve. Can you ask for more money? Maybe apply for that new position in another department. Your company might provide flexibility around working from home. One NO isn’t the end of the world, but it would be nice to have them all be YES.

That being said, money’s not the key to happiness. Being creatively fulfilled might not be something we all get to attain at work. And as long as you need that paycheck to live the life you built, is there such a thing as actual freedom?

You might just need a raise.

The ABC’s of Client presentations: How to show up and show out for your next client pitch

Whether you’re pitching your butt off or just presenting your new campaign launch strategy to a client who’s been with you since the beginning, you need to bring your A-game. So we have come up with a couple of things to consider when planning your next presentation. 

Assemble the team

A fairly simple place to start for sure, but you need to ask the tough questions. Not just who needs to be there but who can actually pull this off? Who adds value to the presentation? That doesn’t mean just looking sharp and talking pretty, though you’re gonna need some eye candy and smooth talkers in the mix as well. I'm talking about who’s going to do the work? They need to be in on this from the beginning not only for context but they must meet the client so they know moving forward who’s on the other end of the line. If you’ve got the room think about looping in people who are good in a crowd, comic relief, young faces who remind us when we weren’t crotchety old farts, and human encyclopedias, all have their upsides as participants. Gather your squad and start preparing.

Be yourself

It’s easy to go into a first-date mode when presenting, especially to a new client, but remember, they’re not investing their business in your presentations, they’re investing in you. It’s you they are going to be dealing with and that means they’re going to have to want to work with you. Then need to like the team personally as well as professionally, but that doesn’t mean you should be someone you’re not. Be yourself. Don’t set aside manners or professionalism and start droning on about your college years and how you were almost cast as the Joey character in the pilot of Friends. Be honest and charming. Shake hands, ask questions and listen to the answers, but definitely, don’t hide the warts. That’s what makes you special.

Cover your bases

Now it’s time to chop up the workload and start eating that elephant. There’s a ton to cover, and your CEO can't do everything herself. Timelines, budget, account management, Creative, legal. It’s all going to be covered so figure out who’s doing what and make sure that the people who will be in the presentation are doing most of the work. Get a game plan that includes a hit-list and deliverables before everyone splits up to get started, and make sure you check in with each group throughout the process. You don’t want to show up at the first internal regroup with any surprises unless they’re cupcakes, then I’d say go ahead and bring them. You’re gonna need something to eat once you start the next step.

Don’t skip the rehearsal

Run-throughs are your friends. As soon as you begin to pull together the content of your presentation, sit in a room with the team and go over what you’re going to say while you’re figuring it out. These real-time sessions are invaluable to how the team understands the material. This is where people can add input, voice concerns, and hear what each other is saying so no one says the same things or wildly different things. Treat this like a table read, and practice organically conveying the information. Then bring in a third party. You need a hole poker and that’s their job. See if they understand what you’re saying and explain it back to you. What don’t they understand? This is where you will see the last nit-picky issues in the presentation. Get comfortable with the presentation then stop rehearsing. Over-prepping can be taxing mentally and lead to stiff or nervous presenters. Trust that you know it and move on.

Everyone in the pool

Chekov's gun is a fundamental principle of theater which states “One must never place a loaded rifle on the stage if it isn't going to go off.” 

That is to say, only have elements in your story that are relevant. If they are unnecessary, they should be removed. And so goes with presentations. Everyone in the room has a role. You made the trip for a reason. The good cop. The Bad cop. Comic relief. Eye candy. Whatever it is, know your role and get involved. There’s just no room for wallflowers. Rehearsals are your crucible. They will reveal the strengths and weaknesses of your presentation. If in you rehearsals someone is extraneous, cut them. Deadweight is just that. They’ll drag you down. You need closers, not posers.

Say Hello to the Meeting Bouncer: Your New Best Friend and Worst F#cking Nightmare.

Try this at your next company meeting. Before anyone speaks. Before the projector is turned on, appoint someone as the meeting Bouncer*. Seriously. They are now your referee. They have the job of keeping the meeting on track. You know how it goes, first, you’re talking about projected sales goals and new marketing initiatives and one thing leads to another and you realize you’ve been talking about Netflix Documentaries for the better part of an hour. That won’t happen with a bouncer. As soon as things go off-topic, they shut it down. Any digression is cut off. Asides curtailed. Most importantly, when useful info has ceased, instead of sitting in silence, restating the previously stated or talking about how cute cats can be, they ask the same question: Have me done what we came to do, if so, meeting over. 

It’s not the craziest idea when you think about it. In fact, in some Japanese businesses, there is an actual office role called the Loud American. It’s exactly what it sounds like. Having a member of staff whose job it is to challenge the norms or say out loud what the rest of the staff won’t. Second-guessing the boss, asking hard questions, making a stink when necessary. Having someone willing to call BS on the higher-ups is exactly what keeps bad ideas from moving forward.

We don’t propose you go so far as creating the position of the Loud American. A meeting bouncer, however, well that’s just the ticket.

The responsibilities of the meeting bouncer are three-fold:

1. Checking ID

They are in charge of who gets in and who doesn’t. The criteria are simple, “are you necessary for this meeting?” Are you providing information that anyone needs or are you there to learn and discuss what is being presented? It’s about having engaged people in the meeting who have a stake in the discussion and will benefit from what is seen and said. If you are not completely essential in one of those areas, well, sorry. You’re not getting in.

2. Keep an eye out for Trouble

After the meeting agenda has been set the onus now lies on the bouncer to keep the participants on task and moving forward. Any conversations that stray into non-agenda territory are quickly squashed and everyone is reminded why they have been gathered. This can be prickly as sometimes those who head off on a tangent are more senior in stature, but everyone is equal in the eyes of the bouncer. No special treatment, even for CEOs. Respect the agenda and things will run smoothly.

3. Shutting things down

The basic tenant of effective meetings is t start on time and end early, so when all useful information has been provided and everyone had their say, it’s closing time. When you start hearing protracted silence from presenters and repetition of familiar information it’s safe to assume everything that needs to be said, has. No milling about or breaking into one-on-one conversations should be tolerated. Flick the lights on and off and announce quite loudly “The meeting’s over people. You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here.” Do t longe enough and they’ll get the message. 

The final job of the meeting bouncer is to make sure that everyone got what they needed from the gathering. Go around the table before everyone disperses and make sure that all who attended have the info they came for, and know what they need to do next. If anyone doesn’t meet one or both of those requirements, lock the door and take a seat. No one leaves until everyone is on the same page. It’s like a reverse Thunder Dome situation and it’s critical. Once you’re sure that everyone is in the know, you can set them loose and relinquish your title as bouncer. If you’ve done your job, you’ll most likely never get to be bouncer again.

*The Bouncer should never be the boss. The bouncer needs to be someone with a stake in the project or discussion, but not so senior that they want to digress into various avenues of conversation. In this meeting, the bouncer is in charge. They are, for all intents and purposes, GOD. First year employees tend to be excellent at this and it is actually great for the tables to be turned a bit. As long as everyone keeps it relatively civil and no one gets their feelings hurt, it’s a great role swap exercise that doesn’t need a safe word.

The Brand Guidelines, Guideline

5 simple rules for creating brand standards that will ensure brand consistency but not leave you redesigning them every two years

Brand standards are a great way to explain your brand and its components to vendors and help ensure that the creative work you get is not only effective but consistent. But there’s many a slip betwixt the cup and the lip, and all too often we as creatives encounter brand standards that work against their creators’ intent. If it’s too restrictive you can end up with the same thing over and over again. Too open or loosely defined and you have no idea just what you’ll be getting. Either way, the consumer is impacted and so are your strategic goals. So we have put together a cheat sheet for brand standards. A guideline for your guidelines if you will, that can help you steer your brand standards away from some of the hidden pitfalls of brand identity.

1. Explain yourself

Mind-blowing I know. But remember, take some time and think about who you are, what your brand stands for, and what makes you unique. How does your identity reflect that, and why is it important to reinforce those perceptions of your brand. Write a vision statement. Establish some core values. Think about not only who you are and what you do, but what your brand represents. If your brand was a dance, what would it look like? OK, maybe that’s a little too far, but you get the idea. Define what drives your brand and get it on paper. And once you have that down, bring that idea through every aspect of your brand guidelines, from the typography to the imagery. For every design decision, ask yourself, how does this element or decision tie back to the brand story?

2. Cover the basics

Now that we know who you are, what are you made of? It’s time to take a peek under the hood. This is where you take who you are as a brand and translate that to the individual components that make your brand what it is. This isn’t just a forensic accounting of all the required elements. It’s a look at your components and an explanation of what they are, what their function is, and how they reinforce the brand. What does your logo mean? Why is the official typeface the only typeface to represent your brand? What are your colors and how are each one of them designed to work in harmony with everything else? It all comes back to who you are as a brand (see step 1). It’s also helpful to include a quick reference guide, so individuals using the standards get a snapshot of all the elements before diving into the meat of the document. 

3. Spare the rod

The tone is a huge part of communicating to designers and creatives. Believe it or not, the guidelines will take on the attitude for the language it contains. You want to be firm and confident, but polite. Assume nothing about the audience other than they are looking for insight into your brand and how to use it effectively. Be helpful and not patronizing. The language should be aimed toward what they can and should do, not what they can’t or should never do. In fact, no isn’t all that helpful in this regard. Try to use it as little as possible. Instead explain your brand, why these guidelines exist and how to use them effectively and you’ll have a much more compliant audience.

4. Leave out the kitchen sink

There are certain things a brand guideline has to have, like logo standards, clear space rules, typeface identification, and official color palettes. Then there are the things that might be in there, like photography and image examples or tone of voice for copywriting language. Then there are the things that you rarely see like uniform requirements or layout specs down to the centimeter. You want to make sure you cover as much ground as possible with your standards, but you can create a huge problem if you try to envision every possible usage in the future. Aside from the time, it would take to create or read the guidelines you’re boxing yourself into a corner that will restrict where you might be able to go in the future. You can’t count for every possibility, so don’t try to. Be flexible and remember that if you’ve done a good job defining your brand and how the elements support it, the audience should be able to apply those principles to new situations or materials appropriately.

5. Show me don’t tell me

We can talk all day about brand statements and language, but the most effective tool at your disposal imagery. If you want to explain clear space, show me what it looks like instead of defining it and writing out math equations. What I shouldn’t do with the logo, why not include some actual examples instead of the laundry list of things I can’t change. Visuals are a great help for on-the-fly references, but they also serve to help explain why they are not preferred. The audience doesn’t have to be told why it’s not as effective because they can see it themselves. But again, don’t go overboard. There’s no need to dream up insane, impractical examples (as fun as that would be). Keep things simple and clear. Don’t forget, after an initial read-through this document will most likely be used in a quick-reference format, so make it as user-friendly as possible.

Every set of brand standards is unique, because every brand is unique, but if you can keep these 5 rules in mind when you design your guidelines, you have a better chance communicating your brand story successfully to the audience. 

Snakebit: Bad Omens that your new design project might be doomed, and ways to bring it back from the dead.

1. The Ominous Open Deadline

It sounds like a dream right? It’s due whenever you’re finished. Finally, you can take all the time you need and all the time you want. Waste hours on theoretical explorations of rain clouds. Get lost in the intrigue of the letter “q.” Only it never works like that. After 6 or so months of moving it back on the schedule when you do finally feel ready to tackle the never-ending project, you’ll find that your motivation to work on it is gone. And your client, the one who gave you all the creative freedom you’ve ever dreamed of, well they’ve forgotten about it as well, or they’re wondering why there’s been no progress on it. Either way, you’re destined to fail and all because of one simple thing: we need boundaries. Deadlines represent order and the absence of which is total chaos. Do yourself a favor and set a deadline, even if it’s an arbitrary one. Keep it open if you want, but start talking about dates. Reviews, approvals, revisions, etc.  Future you will thank you, I promise. 

2. Partner Approval Limbo

Just when everything seems to be going well and your project is on its way to completion you hear those horrible words, “I love it. I just need to run it past my boss.” That’s it. Your project is now a dead man walking. DOA. It never had a chance. And it’s not because Tim’s boss is a total tool. She’s actually a pretty nice person. No, it’s because you didn’t make sure that all the decision makers were not involved from the beginning. You need everyone’s buy-in to make things work. If your contact has a boss, they need to be in on the ground floor. And while committees are where good designs go to die, you need to make sure you understand each and every person who has a vote and what to do to get them involved. If they haven’t seen anything until the big presentation, you might as well set your work on fire and toss it out the window, because the battle is lost. Remember, get everyone with a stake in the project involved as early as possible.

3. It’s quiet. A little too quiet.

We all love it. That moment when the client says the magic word, “approved.” It marks the end of a long and hard-fought road and announces that it’s time to crack open the Zimas and tell the team to start the celebrating. But hold your horses. Approved with no comments? No feedback? No nitpicking or curveball questions? I don’t know about you but I don’t trust that kind of approval. When there are no comments, something is wrong. This almost never happens. It means something was missed. It was too fast, too painless, too easy. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Inevitably while you’re breaking it down on the conference room desk, popping and locking all over the pace you’ll get a call from the client. The verdict is in. LOTS of edits. If you ever get approval without comment, double-check. Ask if EVERYONE has weighed in. Don’t move a muscle until you are sure that it’s a go. 

4. Execution by Examples

Many is a time you’ll get an email with a Pinterest link to some other equivalent stack of images from the internet that says something like “here’s a few examples of what we like.” Translation, I want you to rip this off. Of course, you can’t just say no outright. You need to handle this diplomatically. Inspiration is one thing but plagiarism, or in this case, copyright infringement is a whole other deal. And assuming that you have a strict moral compass and more integrity than sense, here’s how you handle it. Reassure the client that you will absolutely look to these examples for inspiration, but make sure they know you will be showing them something unique, specific to THEIR particular project, that might not look anything at all like the examples. For their benefit (legally as well as creatively). Talk about how it will be in a similar “tone” as their examples or it’ll reflect the same conceptual values. And more importantly, there will be nothing out there like it. 

5. Working Title Tragedy

Let me be frank: working titles are harder to shake than student loan debt. You have to spend as much time killing the working title as you do creating the new amazing name that they have hired you to create, and in the end, they’ll go back to their working title anyways. It’s inevitable. They’ve been living with this name for months, maybe years. It’s just in there. It grows on you, like Toby Maguire, and you couldn’t stand to see poor Toby just discarded, could you? Here’s what you do. You have a funeral for the name. At the end of your Kick-Off meeting stand up, bow your head, take a printout of the working title, lay it on the table, put some coins over it’s eyes and announce that it has passed. Invite everyone to say a little something over the body. Then toss it in the trash, gently. It seems silly, but it’s a great way to take that name off the table and give everyone a chance to say goodbye.