How can creatives produce top-notch work in a hurry while adhering to increasingly strict deadlines set by brands?
The speed at which we all produce and expect things in 2014 is incredible. Most of us no longer have the virtue of patience. But then why do we need this when most things in the 21st century are instant? It has been found that 47% of consumers expect a webpage to load in two seconds or less and up to 87% of us will abandon a site if we experience this full delay. It seems we can't spare seconds, let alone minutes.
Similarly with design, creatives are no longer cutting and sticking letterforms in the dead of night in order to send them by post the next day. Of course not, we have Macs, CMD+Z and email. But not only are we expected to design more quickly we're expected to produce killer ideas and concepts faster. The question is, what's the effect of a speedy outcome?
A while ago I listened to a talk by Paul Smith at the Design Museum, where he's currently holding his exhibition: Hello I Am Paul Smith. That evening it became clear just how he had got to the top – and stayed there. He isn't greedy; he isn't narrow-minded; he simply loves what he does. Everything inspires him – a bird, a building, a binman, you name it. He thrives on experiences and capturing moments on camera you know, instead of Googling them, and he understands people – his designers, his customers and the people he collaborates with; and that's because he gives them time. He works in his office every weekday and in his shops every weekend.
We live in a world of thinkers and makers. Thinkers tend to produce at speed because they want instant growth and profit. They are the ones behind bands such as JLS, for whom there was never a long-term plan. There didn't need to be, as bands such as these can be reproduced easily. The only problem is, they start from the top and work their way down.
Makers, on the other hand, are all about doing what they love, not for the money or recognition, but for pure joy and contentment - people like Paul Smith.
Unfortunately, time is not an indulgence creatives are afforded. Because of consumers' increasing impatience, brands are under pressure to deliver everything quicker – including content and campaigns. Over the past few years the rise of social media and reactive campaigns – such as Oreo's campaign in response to the blackout at the Super Bowl, has started to slip into regular campaigns. Brands now expect creatives to deliver at a similar pace.
Processes have had to change to enable creative departments to keep up with the expected pace, and there's always going to be the odd job that needs to literally be thrown out of the door and couriered, but what about the jobs that have far too much potential to rush?
I picked up a book a few weeks back called Do You Want It Good or Do You Want It Tuesday? by Ruth Artmonsky. This hit the nail on the head. Of course I can deliver this deadline, but there's going to be compromises, and what's the point in that? Inevitably, doing the right work takes time because it relies on feedback to grow, and is a team effort. To ensure longevity in a design – or indeed anything, you need to work with people to grow from the bottom up.
Emma Benyon is a junior designer at creative engagement agency Rufus Leonard.