Your Biggest Creative Confrontation

26 posted on October 26, 2009

POSTED IN: Blog Posts, Creativity

As you know I’ll be facilitating a workshop tomorrow at Cultivate with Michael Buckingham. We’ll be exploring the creative process from design to delivery. But, as you know, there are often many steps in between design and delivery that us creatives don’t like to talk about. They usually involve some kind of combination of the following:

writing scathing emails to our boss or client and then later deleting them
screaming obscenities as we struggle to force every creative muscle in our body to use that font
sticking pins in little voodoo dolls that curiously resemble our boss
scheduling emergency phone appointments with our psychologist…3 times….in one day
Curling up and rocking slowly on the floor in the corner of our office while trying to convince ourselves to get back up and finish that project

Creatives are known for having very thin skin. We have a difficult time taking any criticism, let alone the stupid kind you get from people who wouldn’t recognize something creative if it were screen-printed in neon Pantone colors on their face.

I’d like to share a few stories during out sessions at Cultivate tomorrow so this is where you come in.

Tell me the story of your biggest creative confrontation with your boss, co-worker or client and how did you end up resolving it?

I recognize that you may need to post your comment under creative anonymous names such as “Confused Creative” or “$#@%$ Frustrated Designer” in order to protect your identity. So go ahead and get that story off your chest.

[photo by xgravity23]

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This entry was posted on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 10:45 am and is filed under Blog Posts, Creativity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Comments

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October 26, 2009

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1 i almost walked out said:

I started a new job this summer marketing for a small business. I was told that every piece of marketing material had to have a picture of our building on it because people can’t find us. We are right on the main drag in town. I explained over and over that people can’t find us because they don’t care, it’s a branding issue, blah blah blah, but whatever. I kept designing things without the picture of the building and after pouring blood sweat and tears into it, they’d always force me to add it.
They’d also force me to add neon “dayglo” colors to attract people’s attention.
As well as multiple fonts.
And as many words as they can cram on a quarter page ad.
And then they’d explain to me why my ad was ineffective, ’cause they read a book about it.
I went to school for this.
Now I just do what they want and take their money. That’s the worst part about clients: sometimes they are so head strong about something you know is wrong and you have to fight the moral fight. Do you take the money and let them screw themselves, or try to help them?
I did what I could. Now I just take the money.
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October 26, 2009

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2 Jason Ruggles said:

Hey brother,
Too bad I wont be there. Rock it!
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October 30, 2009

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3 Reba said:

Ooohhh so many to tell. I am living one now where I finally had to tell a client that I could not do any more changes and we have to launch the site. I am still in the middle of it and feel stuck and frustrated.

Wish I could hear this talk….