Sometimes the idea sucks.

An area that I find creatives struggling with is the topic of good or bad.

Just for example sake, let us look at creating a brand, writing a story or creating a piece of music. That way we have a breadth of "creatives" to talk to since we have all been there...no matter what you do creatively. Knowing if what you are doing is good or not.

My best piece of advice is to make it public, publish it, show it on the internet...exhibits etc. No one gets to decided what is good or bad. People/consumers...aka the market, gets to decided what is a good/bad idea.

You could create the most beautiful piece of art, music, what you think is awesome logo or creative writing piece. But if no one else likes it...is it actually good?

This is where we start to dance around the bigger question of...are some creations inherently good regardless of what people think. Yes and no.

Just the same...just because a lot of people likes something does not mean it is good.

"But you just said..blah,blah,blahblah."

I know, it is a bit of both.

I do believe that certain creations...stuff that is truly unique, things that changed the way culture does/sees things...something paradigm shifting. Those have inherent qualities for whatever reason that will forever make it good and very hard to slip through the cracks of the market. Mozart's music, The Mona Lisa, Evard Munch, Shakespeare, Hemingway, Socrates, Dickens, Picasso, Einstein etc. These people have created unique things, ideas, positions, art that never existed before them.

"So just because it never existed before and now it does means it is good?"

No, of course not. But those same people also had the market on their side. Not only did they make something new but that new thing was wanted/needed.

This is why I say we do not get to determine what is good and bad. It is up to everyone else to let us know if sucks or not.

So we must make our work public and get as much feed back as possible. That way we can determine if the idea/thesis sucks.

The hardest part about this is patience.  Sometimes the timing is poor and the market doesn't like it or need it now but maybe they do in 5,10,20 yrs. Sometimes it takes awhile to get enough eyes on it. So waiting, learning and understanding feedback is very important.

Now some amazing stuff will slip through the cracks. Shit happens and the chance you are next ground breaking artist,musician etc is slim to none (sorry).

The hardest part for many of us is simply putting our stuff out there in as many spots as we can and getting feedback to know if we can hack it. This is all up to you and what you do. Learning how to feel things out etc.

Keep making awesome stuff, keeping publishing and let the market decide what is good.

Stop overthinking the logo.

One of the best parts about working with businesses to design their logo, brand and identity is taking part in the big picture. Often many people are pretty short sighted and think that getting an awesome logo will fix their issues and it is all up hill from there. But that is often, as many of us know, just not the case.

Something that as creatives, we often struggle with finishing. I published a blog earlier about why perfectionism is killing you. But this theme often has big implications in the quality of the product. We struggle with completing a job and saying that it is indeed "finished". This constant fear is what keeps us back from growing and essentially getting more (and important) work.

The constant need to nitpick, change kerning, colors, types, adjustments here and there in order to make it perfect. But this over-analyzation is not what is important.

One of the most recognizable logos on the planet is the Nike Swoosh. That icon can be seen around the world and even if some pretty far off corners and everyone still knows what it stands for. But the question I often ask is. "Can I (or you) make that?"

Am I able to make a logo like that. Now there is nothing incredible special about the check mark. Is the check mark so good that it helps Nike sell billions of dollars of product? Sure, a solid logo always helps. But is it the only reason they are so successful? Surely not.

Many designers are perfectly capable of drawing the swoosh or coming to a similar solution. It is not, technically speaking, a difficult logo to create. Nothing that makes the mark inherently impossible at a skill level for someone to come up with it.

The power of a mark is often found on the other end of things. The business and marketing aspect of what makes the company great. Does the company tell amazing stories? Offer incredible value? Impeccable customer service? Top of the line products? Etc etc. These are the things that make a company great and in turn make the logo have value.

This is why I encourage many designers to finish. If you have any chops you are able to make a good logo. Now, will it become as powerful and well known as the swoosh? That is up to the company and how they use the mark. Plenty of businesses are started every day and have fantastic logos. But poor execution and a million other reasons dooms them for failure.

This type of thinking leaves us designers open to be more valuable if we have the know how to help those companies get the most usage out of their identity. This valuable relationship helps us become more then just pixel pushers.

It doesn't need to be perfect, don't overthink something that just needs to be good enough.

Just enough is more.

Everyone has heard the old say, "Less is more.". There are some amazing truths and things to take away from that statement. Not just as creatives but as people in general.

Now as much as I tend to lean in agreement with that statement. Since there is a beauty, a refinement and elegance of designs that are simple. Showing ultimate refinement and control over computational elements. Apple being a quintessential example of how simplicity and restraint is used boldly and elegantly at the same time to communicate effectively. That thesis is pervasive in everything they create.

After reading an essay by the great Milton Glaser. He is quoted as saying, "Just enough is more." He understands that not every solution out there requires the bare minimum of elements. There seems to be a misunderstanding that just because something is"busy" it does not mean that it cannot show refinement, elegance or restraint.

Sometimes you need to open the flood gates open more. The voice and the message is what is important, what is trying to be ultimately communicated. Communication is not always clear, it is often noisy, cluttered and disorganized. Rough around the edges...often having a hand crafted appeal that makes communication so individual. (Why I think hand lettering and styles as such are growing in popularity.)

It only makes sense that some people will have different voices and in need of having to say their message differently. People often have a hard time disseminating aesthetics elements from gestalt principles. For example, lets look at a grunge or punk band. Aesthetically speaking, they will look as such. Loud typography, tons of texture, clashing colors/patterns...this type of look often doesn't please the vast majority of people (which is good). It is lacking the restraint and refinement of Apple. Often times, these aesthetics are still well designed, great organization, hierarchy of computational elements and communicates very effectively. But....what if they still broke those base guides?

Then maybe that message isn't for you. I believe it is very ok to understand who you are trying to talk to and communicate with them how they like to be. It is expected as such in marketing 101 kind of way.

After all, who decides what is good and bad design? We create and build something that fits the need. They public/consumer gets to decide what is good regardless of "our good tastes."

Use enough elements to say what you have to say, not the minimum amount...just enough.

Perfectionism is killing you.

I always thought that with my creative projects that I was a "perfectionist". That everything had to be just right in order for me to call the project finished. Embracing it as some kind of quirky creative character flaw that seems to follow most people in this community.

As I started growing in my understanding of self, I found out that this perfectionism was killing my growth and was simply an excuse to not ever finish work and start more.

Perfectionism is fear.

I will draw this example to show you what I mean. Let us take a fine art piece I begin working on. I start getting to the fine tuning end of the project, the final details so to speak. I used to not be able to stop picking at it and call it "done". Tons of creative artists never "finish" projects. When you call a project finished, that means that it is open to review...open to criticism. Most of our egos are pretty fragile and we like to keep it as safe as possible.

By not ever finishing anything and when we run into criticism, we can simply say, "Well it isnt finished yet...." This protects our ego's from the stones of opinion that get tossed at our work. Work that often we pour differentiated levels of ourselves into. The ol' blood, sweat and tears.

We want to take this thing that we have created and protect it...protecting ourselves from the reality of what other people think.

This inability to deal with 3rd part influences or criticism keeps our growth at bay, from truly tapping into something great that we have to offer our community.

It is our duty to finish our work, whatever it may be. Mark it and label it as finished, that way we can send it off into the world for further review. Maybe everyone hates it but then again..what if they don't? Often times, the success is more daunting than the failure, since failure is often expected and success isn't.

Finishing work lets you get started on more and repeat the cycle. Increasing your chance of finding something that is worth doing, something that matters.

Stop making it perfect and finish it.