Blank Slate
Today I am faced with one of the hardest design challenges of my entire career. I have an ad, the size of a business card, to be designed for one of the bitchiest, pickiest, and most critical clients ever.
Me.
I finally made the commitment to advertise, (and when I say commitment, I'm talking CONTRACT, legal & binding) and I only have one shot to get it right because once it's done, it's DONE for an entire year and there is no way to change it. There's only one other designer with an ad, and it's very simple, small, and tastefully done. My ad will be bigger and fall in front of hers, so the pressure is immeasurable. Do I go for techey, or classic? Color or white space? Do I list everything I do, or just put my website & hope they'll come? ARRGGGHHH! Add the pressure that the other three designers here are looking ("Sure, Kristie, it looks great!" & then they turn to each other with that OH MY GOD look), and I really am starting to understand why other designers send in a blank slate & tell me to design their ad. It seems like sacriliege; letting another designer design YOUR ad, but I swear, it suddenly makes sense! Of course, his will never be perfect either, but at least when someone comments on it you can be catty & say, "Oh my God! That piece of crap? I was just SO BUSY with all my REAL work that I let some poor little designer do it for me...."
Funny. That poor little designer is me!
Me.
I finally made the commitment to advertise, (and when I say commitment, I'm talking CONTRACT, legal & binding) and I only have one shot to get it right because once it's done, it's DONE for an entire year and there is no way to change it. There's only one other designer with an ad, and it's very simple, small, and tastefully done. My ad will be bigger and fall in front of hers, so the pressure is immeasurable. Do I go for techey, or classic? Color or white space? Do I list everything I do, or just put my website & hope they'll come? ARRGGGHHH! Add the pressure that the other three designers here are looking ("Sure, Kristie, it looks great!" & then they turn to each other with that OH MY GOD look), and I really am starting to understand why other designers send in a blank slate & tell me to design their ad. It seems like sacriliege; letting another designer design YOUR ad, but I swear, it suddenly makes sense! Of course, his will never be perfect either, but at least when someone comments on it you can be catty & say, "Oh my God! That piece of crap? I was just SO BUSY with all my REAL work that I let some poor little designer do it for me...."
Funny. That poor little designer is me!
posted by Kristie at 8:35 AM
2 Comments:
Do two. Slave over them for an entire day (or as long as you have, but no longer than a day), do you best on each - make them as different as you can.
Then put them up and sleep on it for at lesat one night.
In the morning - after coffee - get them out and look at them with fresh eyes.
You will be able to make your decision and any small revisions more easily.
Doing you own stuff SUCKS. I've left a pathetic splash page up for 2 years because I just can't get my brain around designing a "real" one. Sha.
Good luck!!!
Geeze, I am the queen of typos this morning.
Please accept my apologies for the massacre.
YIKES!
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