Creative Advice: Learn To Go Beyond Trusting Your Intuition
I suppose I have pretty much based my design career on my intuition. Through trial and error I have pretty much stumbled upon a set of concepts that work. While this has served me well, trusting your gut can only get you so far in the business world. If you really want to have an impact you need to supplement the intuitive mentality with concepts that can be appreciated by people who aren’t interested in trusting somebody else’s gut. And let’s face it, that is pretty much everyone. When paying thousands of dollars for an advertisement, a logo, or a website there are very people in the world who would be satisfied by the rational of “take my word for it.” I believe that is probably the biggest reason for the disconnect between “creative” and “non-creative” professionals. You can create a masterpiece logo, but if you can’t communicate why it will be effective, you will be sent back to your desk to execute client requested tasks that you know will make the logo worse.
Many designers are happy with this arrangement. Endless client revisions translates to more hours, which translates into more cash. It is easier to accept the destruction of your work if you can cash bigger checks as a result. Some designers can’t handle the hypocrisy and either drop out or become the stereotypical designer making fun of the clients behind their backs.
Luckily there is an alternative besides occupational hypocrisy and pessimistic burnout. The answer is to entrench yourself in the psychology and research behind what powers your intuition. Trusting your gut is important, but it isn’t enough. Your intuition works for a reason, and you can learn to explain why. If this type of thinking appeals to you, I urge you to read a few of the books I have been enjoying recently. They are:
“Universal Principles of Design” is organized into 100 principles with explanation of why design works. I feel like this should be mandatory reading in design school, although I don’t know if I could have appreciated it back then.
“Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” is a great look at why people are fooled by marketing. I think that too many people assume that the public is dumb, when in fact people are amazingly consistent and intelligent creatures. This book comes to conclusions that you couldn’t arrive at if you simply trust your intuition.
“Predictably Irrational” is a book I am just starting but I am already hooked. The problem with trusting your gut is that it makes mistakes because so much in the world is counter-intuitive and irrational. Learning how to predict the irrational is a great skill to have.
Here is some practical advice if you are trying to supplement your intuition. Study your reactions to marketing, art, and design. Sensitize yourself so that you can take mental inventory of things that you see that “work” and what doesn’t. Question everything you see. Never take anyone’s word for anything. Filter everything and never accept surface level answers to questions that seem straight forward. As you carefully study your own responses to your surrounding as well as the reactions of others you can start to apply the things you learn to your work.
