We always start out with a stack of ideas. Some good. Most average. And then somewhere in the jumble, there are always a few little sparks just waiting to be lovingly fanned.
Before we show anything to a client, these ideas are kicked around, tested, and whittled down to a few we think will work best for them. Or rather, and more importantly, the people that they're looking to attract.
This last week we took an unusually long time to settle on an idea.
Why?
Simply put, we took a long time to say "Yes!".
"Yes, let's try this.", "Yes, let's build on this.", "Yes, let's see where this goes."
As soon as we said "Yes!" to a single idea, and stopped looking for 'THE ONE', our design process instantly changed tack and our small spark exploded into better things – with great excitement, creative work we’re looking forward to sharing with you very soon.
Obviously you can't say yes to everything. And applying critical thought to any process is certainly advised. But ideas are fragile. Nitpicking, groupthink, more time or rehashing more ideas in desperation rarely (if ever) helps.
As the marketing guru Seth Godin said: "The art of good decision making is looking forward to and celebrating the tradeoffs, not pretending they don't exist."
Or you might prefer this from Tina Fey: “The fun is always on the other side of a yes.”
So.... where does that leave you when it comes to choosing the right look and feel for your brand?
Our advice is to allocate a fixed amount of time and money, pick the best idea and move on.
If your job is to build a brand that matters, try saying "Yes! Let's make this work." – and see what happens next.
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