organisedconfusion.co.uk

The first thing I do after being assigned a project is schedule information-gathering meetings with your key staff. I am interested not only in scheduling, budget and job specifications but also in your preferences, target audience, and objectives. I will want to know all the user features and benefits of the product or service. Although this process is somewhat time-consuming, it is crucially important. It will help you sharpen your focus and objectives, and it will help me to ensure that what I produce is not only creatively excellent but also strategically targeted.

DEVELOPING THE RIGHT IDEAS:

Despite popular misconceptions good creative work does not often come in a flash of inspiration; usually it comes from lots of trial and error. This is why I also need to take the time to consider several approaches (concepts), work them through and try them out. If necessary, revise them. In addition, there are usually some practical and functional ends I need to tie up before submitting my ideas including subcontractor availability, production estimates, scheduling requirements, etc. All this, plus the need to schedule my workflow in a business like fashion, means that I normally ask for up to two weeks, depending on the job’s complexity, before I submit my ideas (concepts) for your review. However, if you have an urgent project or deadline pressure I can adjust my workflow, timeline and fees accordingly.

It is my experience that it is best if I first present my rough concepts to your project manager and just one or two others. This ensures that we all stay focused on the problem and are not distracted by too many personal opinions. They are adequate to convey what I believe is the best approach to take, taking into consideration your budget, schedule, objectives, and preferences. On the other hand, they are not so well developed as to have wasted time and effort if we need a course correction.

After presenting, feedback will be taken. The more objective and specific you can be the better I will be able to respond. Comments are my input for revising the rough concepts into a finished one. Revision normally takes me about a week and I schedule a second presentation shortly there after.

From the input at this second presentation meeting further minor refinements are made as necessary. I also finalise the production timetable, the scheduling of additional services such as photography, illustration and filming.


ENSURING YOUR SATISFACTION:

I recommend the finished (layout) (copy) (illustration) be routed to the appropriate decision makers, for fact and detail checking only, reserving stylistic and subjective decisions to your project manager. To avoid costly confusion it is also important that all communication with me comes from the project manager. During the course of the project I keep your project manager informed of my progress. Activities that will affect the schedule or budget are identified in writing. My goal is to keep your project moving ahead quickly, smoothly and cost-effectively: Allowing me to deliver better results than anticipated.

In most cases designers are only as good as what you give them to work with. That’s why the creative brief you provide is of paramount importance.

The creative brief marks the point where the speculation stops and the work begins, and at all stages in the design process it’s the point of reference that both designers and clients can go back to for clarification. Remember that good design is a sound business investment. As befits something of this significance, it’s not to be dashed off in half an hour on the basis of a few back-of-the-napkin scribbles. Ample time spent on a thorough creative brief will be rewarded with a smooth-running project and worthwhile outcome.

What To Include, What To Leave Out

A brief should set out:

What you want to achieve: rather than how you want to achieve it – give goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-related.
The issue you face: be it new competition or falling exports, not the new products or services you want to launch as the solution.
Apparently obvious but nevertheless crucial information on what kind of business you are, what you do what your competition is, predicted market evolutions/changes, what marketing you do and what your target markets are.

Just going through the process of putting these fundamentals down on paper can expose and resolve a host of hitherto unexpressed differences within your organisation about what everyone took for granted before.

When you’ve tackled these areas, move on to more specific information, including:
Technical requirements: manufacturing and distribution details, pending legislation that will affect you, and environmental issues; could all throw up constraints for the finished design.

Project management: include timescales, budgets, resources, arrangements for formal reviews and the make-up and roles of your own project team.
It is also essential to establish now, at least in outline, who will own the intellectual property rights to the material being produced by the designer. While a creative brief should be concise and cogent rather than rambling, it’s also a good idea not to assume any knowledge on the part of the designer, and it’s better to provide more detail, perhaps in the form of appended documents or signposts to other sources, than to leave possible question marks.

Go Beyond The Board
All aspects of a creative brief benefit from input from as wide a range of people within an organisation as possible, not just a select few. Consulting widely means you’re less likely to overlook important issues and details that could complicate the process later on, while the resulting brief will have ‘ buy-in’ from people who feel they’ve been involved in creating it.

Clarity Counts
Don’t be afraid to communicate emotively in a creative brief if you think it will promote a shared vision or passion about what the outcome should be. For instance, saying you want an exhibition that ‘stops people in their tracks’ may be more effective than asking for ‘an installation which communicates attractively and engagingly with it’s audience’. Although it’s not an absolute requirement, there are benefits to the designer actually helping to construct a detailed creative brief, not least the greater likelihood that both designer and client will sing from the same proverbial hymn sheet. Design input at this early stage could also give you a valuable new perspective on your perceived problem before your thinking on it becomes too rigid.

Don’t Fear Flexibility
It’s possible, once a project is underway, that a brief may need to change. This doesn’t make it a bad brief, and provided changes are fully discussed and agreed they won’t undermine the core brief.

I love the financial success my work brings to clients. I enjoy collaborating with like-minded people, showing mutual respect, talking through problems and working together to meet business objectives in effective, creative ways.

I'm a creative problem solver, so I love ideas that make a difference to my clients and their consumers.

Organised Confusion is not only our name, but also our methodology. We are defined by our passion, process and reputation for solving business problems, emerging from our deep desire to explore, understand and create effective solutions. We support our clients throughout the whole creative process, pursuing ground-breaking ideas that make a difference.