I’m guilty of it myself—playing it safe.
Doing what’s been done before because it’s the easy road and there’s a better chance a design will clear the daunting hurdles of external (or worse) internal approval. Sometimes the clock is running out and shit has to get done—content managers need assets, developers want to move to their next task, or we just don’t think a licensor is going to approve a concept in time (if at all). So we hedge our bets and do what’s gone before. It’s easy, and we have dozens of cards to create. Or screens to build. Or ads to make. Whatever.
But are we doing ourselves a disservice by not reaching for the brass ring…even if there’s a better-than-average-chance it’s going to get shot down by a licensor or someone higher up the corporate food chain?
I ask myself this question a lot. Is it worth it? Especially with intimate design decisions (is the button red? is it blue? Is it filled in, or is it stroked and fills in when I tap it?) that many invested individuals may not care about. I mean, why fight City Hall? This is the way the client likes it, this is the way our users like it, and so on down the road.
And then I think to myself: When the amazing people at the Topps Company and those of us on the Topps Digital team decided to create a suite of mobile apps, there was an “is it worth it” moment posed to all involved. Was it worth it to create an app that offers digital trading cards to a consumer? Was it worth it to spend the company's time, money and resources into creating a globally accessible social community in which fans collect and trade digital pictures on their phones? I mean, it sounds insane, right? Wouldn’t a safer digital strategy be to build a “Facebook for baseball” social community into our website and monetize by diverting those users into purchasing physical cards through our online store? Wouldn’t a safer strategy be X or Y or countless other ideas and concepts bandied about? Everything seemed a safer bet than the projects we were calling", a concept I storyboarded by h using pen and ink, especially to an older company transitioning into the unknown mobile frontier after decades of relying on physical printing, unsure what effect it might have on it's global business.
But we rolled the dice together and made a case. We took a risk, despite the prevailing, "safe" opinion.
Despite knowing that there was a very good chance someone could come along and tell us “no no, do it like this.” Sometimes life works out. Sometimes it doesn’t.
And that’s okay.
But you’ll never know unless you try. And sure, it’s hard work and may result in extra time and late night, but there’s no triumph without “try."
I know there are times when a designer or creative is in the weeds trying to plow through creative briefs and chase deadlines. There are times when you don’t want to risk trying something to which a client may object. Every day in every way we’re fighting the clock and workload, and we're going to face a slew of decisions weighted with risk vs reward and have to decide: is it worth it?
Let me be the first to say to you (and if not the first, an additional voice to the pile): it’s always worth it.
Sure, you may get a “no.” There’s the possibility of a client questioning why you’re politely broaching a subject to which they are unused, or outright attempting something that brushes the limits of their branding/style guide or strays outside their comfort zone. Or heck, it strays outside YOUR comfort zone. And you know what? Sometimes that’s okay. A visual choice that doesn’t follow the usual choices you’ve made; a choice you aren’t sure a client or user may rally around? Give it a shot and at worst it’s a learning experience. Test it, if you want — and, in fact, should. I tell my team I'd rather they risk — bold visual choices, innovative strategy attempts, multiple styles to test what will be accepted and hopefully celebrated by the gates of art direction, stakeholders, clients and fans — than adhering to the tried, true and tedious.
Breathe the air outside your wheelhouse. Propose the potential and the potentially impossible. Take a risk, because for the one out of ten times the risk pays off, I promise you that it will feel glorious and you will feel vindicated.
We went through something like this with the 2017 line look of the Topps suite of apps. Just like with our initial version of Topps BUNT, where we sold a new experience to an older company still coming around to what mobile meant for the future of trading cards…so too did my team have to sell a new experience to fellow team members used to presenting our product a specific way, all of us together envisioning the change needed to usher in the future. It was a risk…and I’ll be honest, it could have ended in wasted time and energy. But I maintain that nothing worth having comes easy, and having calculated the time needed in case the team falls short, was it worth the risk?
Hell yes.
Look, I know this is a very general statement and there will be cases where risk simply isn’t an option (we all work for someone, right?)… and the purpose of this article is not to point fingers or suggest that you, as a creative, aren’t taking those risks now. My hope is simply to encourage you to continue and inspire those who aren’t to get experimental, as well — be bold, be brave. If we fail, we’ll dust ourselves off and try, try again. No one is going to fault us as designers, as creatives and innovators, for attempting to, y’know, create and innovate.
I’ve used this statement to my team and freelancers: “between fast and good, I take good every time.” Well “there is no triumph without ‘try’” is my new one.
I’ve used this statement to my team and freelancers: “between fast and good, I take good every time.” Well “there is no triumph without ‘try’” is my new one. Don’t be satisfied with the status quo, Team (and you are now all on my Team). Be prepared to take great leaps forward and brace for the possibility you’ll land on your hat. There’s no shame in it, I promise. I’d rather see a designer try a new layout every time — even if they ultimately don’t work — than use the same cookie cutter template when pressed for time. I want us all to feel that way — and even if you're not a creative, if you're a content producer, a chef, anyone. I want our Team to encourage one another to test the limits, even if you staunchly believe a client, a stakeholder…or hell, anyone invested in the process may say “hang on a moment.”
Be bold. Be brave. Take risks. Try new things.