Creativity is not a faucet

I've probably ranted about this before, but I'm moved to do it again. Last week I received a request from a colleague (one for whom I don't work) to design some cover comps for a book he's written. He's already working with our External Affairs department, and they have already hired a designer. The problem is that the covers this designer has prepared are—to be kind—suboptimal.

If I were this guy, I would simply go back to External Affairs and then have them contact the designer they hired. Hopefully after a couple of iterations, provided my colleague has adequately explained what he's after, everything will be just fine. However, just because you're working with an external designer and you're unhappy doesn't mean that suddenly I'll hop to it. There was no warning, no meeting, no nothing. Just "I have this cover I'm unhappy with and would like you to come up with a version we like within the next four hours."

That kind of request/demand, aside from being unrealistic, is incredibly disrespectful, both of me and the creative process.

Creativity is not like some sort of faucet that can be turned on and off at will. Coming up with an effective design of anything requires inquiry, research, and time. I usually get cursory exposure to the first item and then never see the other two. For that reason my clients get what I like to call "lowest common denominator" design. It's good enough. Sometimes if I'm lucky enough to feel inspired in the confines of their often unrealistic timeframes, I'll come up with a piece I would actually include in my portfolio. More often than not, though, I don't. I prepare a piece that keeps them sufficiently happy and away from my door.

That's not how I'd like it to work. What I would really like would be to develop and implement an integrated branding and identity system for my group. A system that would tell the outside world that our products and services consist of high quality and a high level of design. This requires buy-in from the higher-ups, buy-in that I am unlikely to receive. I've been in meetings where I've been discussing an aesthetic and/or functional part of a design solution only to hear one of the management team openly scoff at my point. That is a discouraging response, but it wouldn't be the first time I've heard it or something like it.

Design is not valued by my clients to the degree it ought to be. Rather, it's an afterthought. Instead of incorporating the designer in the development of the product from the outset, the branding and overall presentation is the last item on my clients' agendae. Hence their tendency to bring me into the process close to the implementation date, which does not allow for a full exploration or treatment of their product's design requirements. It's incredibly frustrating.

Not more than a few days go by when I don't hear words to the effect of: "Your job must be fun. You get to work with pictures all day." Would that that were the case. O, would that it were. That's not to say that I hate my job. I love design, but I get annoyed when it's not given the respect or consideration it's due.

I have a few colleagues who read this blog. They may or may not recognize themselves here. If they do, maybe that will be a useful thing all the way around. Perhaps it will result in some awareness of the requirements of the creative process. It would benefit everyone involved. Everyone. Even them.