The Creative Process

If you haven't heard of the design blog, designworklife.com, do yourself a favor and check it out. There was a post on Monday about designer Alex Merto, of whom I had never heard of, including a few examples of his book covers (which are fantastic). What is more great about his work, is that he shows examples of the different designs he developed during the creative process, leading up to the final product (above).

As designers, we all know that there a million different ways to approach a project, and after careful consideration, and a lot of research (well, most of the time), we dive head first into an idea/concept that we consider the "perfect" solution. And alllllll too often we find ourselves staring at the screen, sometimes screaming at it, when the direction of the design that we thought was going to be amazing starts to look, well for lack of a better word, like sh**. (You all go through this too, right? Or am I alone here....)

Point being, I think it is incredibly important to realize that the "perfect" design is likely not going to come out of your first attempt. And probably not after the second, or even the third. The creative process is just that, a process. The final design is sometimes the polar opposite of where you began, and that's OK! What we need to remember, is that in order to develop the best solution for whatever project we are tackling, we must be patient with ourselves. "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again" (thank you 1st grade). If you feel that a design isn't working, or could simply benefit from a fresh approach, put that small piece of blood sweat and tears aside, and open a new document.

ALSO remember that there is often more than one good solution to the design. It is just a matter of which solution is the best for the project. This is why it is extra important to give yourself options, and to share those options with a fresh set of eyes, be it classmates, co-workers, clients, etc. I think that Alex Merto provides perfect examples of how there can be multiple "good", even great, solutions to a project.

To see more of Alex Merto's work check out his website alexmerto.com