Confident that you can fly by the seat of your pants?
Are you - like me - the sort of person that jumps into a new project with both feet and not a lot of planning?
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but this approach doesn’t always serve us well. We can spend a lot of time doing great stuff only to find a few weeks down the line that it’s irrelevant great stuff. So - while at all costs I want to avoid turning into that person who makes such detailed plans, they become too paralysed to take action - I’ve discovered there IS a happy medium. In this post I’ll show you how to quickly set clear objectives for any creative project - even your artwork - so that you’ll:
How I got hip to Objectives
Following the advice of some top design sites, before starting the COMPLETE redesign of my branding and website, I wrote a list of objectives for the project.
(I’ll be sharing these a little later in the post.) I hope you’ll agree that the result is a really coherent, effective and resonant design. But that isn't the only benefit. I also found my process was a lot more organised and straightforward than it usually is for big projects. Having a clear reference point meant that at every stage, I was able to check my actions against the goals I’d set for myself. I’m now such a convert to project objectives that I want to create them for every project I do! So how do you create objectives without going down a planning rat-hole? It’s a lot more straightforward than you think. Grab a pen and paper - or your favourite digital notebook - and let’s go! Define Your Project1. What IS your project?
Surely this is obvious? Maybe not.
Complete the sentence: My project is... This was mine: “My project is to redesign my branding and my website.” Whoah! Doesn’t sound grammatically correct does it? Although these were part of the same ultimate goal, I actually had not one, but TWO projects!
It’s similar when I’m making a new Artist’s Book. The processes for making the cover and the pages are so different that they’re essentially two projects. By clearly defining our projects like this, we immediately understand the scope of the work involved. “My project is to make a 7 page hexagonal artist’s book with a textured cover, which unfolds to hang on a wall.” So go on, write that deceptively simple little sentence down:
My project is...
If you have multiple projects - or multiple aspects requiring very different processes - list them separately (and in order if that’s relevant).
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