Don't Go on Autopilot

“Hmmm” said my new client.

I had laid out three initial directions for a new logo for their coffee brand and he was frowning at the first one.

Finally, tapping it on the presentation board he said,

“I don’t love this”

Moving on to the second concept, he said quickly, “I don’t like much of any of this one at all.”

And then finally, on the third concept, “This looks like basketball.”

What I didn’t know, was this was round one of the longest stretch of presentations I would go through before getting to approval.

Ultimately, it took 21 rounds.

Along the way there were many opportunities to get discouraged, including one moment when, for reference, I showed the client a competitor brand and he said “I feel like if this brand were a restaurant, they wouldn’t wash their potatoes.”

The feedback was inscrutable at times. Approvals seemed impossible. But sometime after concept 20 the client suggested their own idea.

And instead of doing it we made the winner.

The lesson learned here is that sometimes you get a lot of info from a client up front, sometimes it’s a journey. Sometimes it’s feeling around a dark room for a light switch, but you get there eventually.

You get there, that is, if you keep reaching for it yourself and never switch to autopilot.

The Autopilot Trap

Client feedback can be illuminating and insightful. Just as often it can be vague, misleading and can frustrate you so much that you consider going on autopilot - just executing their requests without thinking. This is dangerous for two reasons:

1. You're not creating your best work. You're paid for what you do with your mind, not your hands. Anyone can move a mouse or pencil or camera around. They’re paying you to solve problems.

2. It likely won't lead to a solution. The client won't be satisfied with their own solutions, at least not quickly. They don't know what they want - that's why they hired you.

What you also need to understand is they don’t spend all day describing logos, websites, or photoshoots and simply don’t speak that language.

Understanding Rejection

It's easy to fall in love with a concept to the point where you're heartbroken when it's rejected.

But remember: rejection of your concepts is a matter of personal taste (or just fit in general), not an indictment on the quality of your work. Your concept can be brilliant and still be wrong for this project. Understanding this is the biggest step to avoiding heartbreak.

The Hot Cold Game

The next thing you have to do is find a way to get energized again off the new information from the client.

Sometimes the client will point directly to a goal, but more often than not they're not pointing at all - they're just ruling out directions.

Go back to the light-switch-in-the-dark-room analogy and imagine starting in the middle of the room. Your client’s feedback is the equivalent of them saying “warmer… warmer… cold.” Every piece of feedback is helping you navigate. "Cold" feedback isn’t a negative. If you think of it this way, it’s just as valuable, useful, and inspiring as "warm" feedback. It's all directional information.

When a client says "this feels too corporate" or "I don't like the blue," they're not rejecting your work - they're eliminating paths you don't need to explore. That narrows your search area.

So suck it up. Don’t be so corporate and blue all the time. You’ll get there.

Further Reading

This issue concludes our five-part series on the creative process. We've covered gathering the right information, talking through your ideas, using mood boards to get alignment, and presenting multiple concepts. These steps should help you firm up your process, and the more you can develop a repeatable process out of something as sticky and unpredictable as creative work, the more you’ll be able to adapt to whatever comes next.

Parting Thought

It can suck being told “no”, “wrong” and “I hate your work and maybe a little bit you” but it’s never personal. The thing is, doing creative work for people feels personal. Showing a client something you made for them feels like reading a parent your poem or showing a crush your creepy drawing. You feel vulnerable doing it. You shouldn’t. The client is an active participant in this and your role is to bring to life what is in their head. It’s a 50/50 game. If either of you are no good at your end, the two of you aren’t gonna win together.

Take it from Rob Base of Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock:

My name is Rob, I gotta real funky concept /
Listen up, 'cause I'm gonna keep you in step /
I got an idea /
That I wanna share /
You don't like it? So what, I don't care /

Damn right, Rob. Me neither. Now here’s twenty more funky concepts.