It’s 8:14 AM and I’m sitting here in jury duty waiting for our initial instructions. As a small business owner I find that one of my biggest challenges is loss of time. OK, maybe there’s a bit of Type A personality sprinkled in there but I’ll let the psychologists among you decide that. I thought it might be a better use of my captive time to draft an article or two. And to keep with the theme, “time” will be the topic.

We don’t know how much but we all have a specific amount of time in this life. A specific number of waking hours that get doled out to work, play, recreation, learning, family or what ever else you choose. There are endless books written about how to squeeze more accomplishment out of each minute. And I have to say; there is an adrenaline buzz from getting more done in less time. Just like finishing a house project, sitting back (just for a minute to two) and saying “I did that.” A sense of pride from accomplishment simply feels good.

In creative businesses it gets a little more complex. I’ve laughed at myself when in my business, a phone call or email comes in and it suddenly feels like “OK, create something brilliant right now.” Yet, the creative process is initially one of relaxed observation, analysis, thought and development. The concept of “more widgets per minute” is often counter-productive to a better creative solution. Demanding immediate creative solutions usually results in the predictable, the expected, the boring… and as a result, the less effective. Time is needed to think through a “challenge” and get past what has been done by the competition. After all, if I’m being hired for a marketing or design solution it better not be just a quick grab from the bag of the known. As a visual species, humans love, and I might even say need surprise, the unexpected and to learn something new. Time is needed to deliver a visual message that 1) supplies these things, 2) educates and motivates an audience, and 3) sells a product or service well as a result.

Ahhh, but there can be a flip side. Well, actually, two. Just as day has night, just as hot has cold, the time needed for creative processes has it’s antagonists as well… budgets and schedules. They initially seem like they would rigidly oppose the free flowing creative process, but more accurately, they actually just add more needs and challenges to solve. I’ve often said, “If I wanted to avoid these aspects of the creative process I’d be making fine art for myself, not designing and visually communicating for businesses.” Service for others is one of the enjoyable parts of this career. Like any service or product, even custom created ones; the ability to do almost anything within a budget and on time can lead to success for both the buyer and the creator. There are probably two main things that contribute to this efficiency in the marketing and design industry… technology and experience.

Technology

Aside from the periodic software updates which slow productivity to a crawl until all the related program conflicts get worked out and one’s learning curve gets back up to par, technology over all allows us to do more work in less time. When I started my career it didn’t occur to me that a mouse and keyboard would be the tools of the trade. But a sound knowledge of these tools (and of course the software that they empower) speeds this profession and maybe more importantly opens the doors to new visual ideas and new ways to communicate.

Experience

The down side of technology is that the focus is quickly put on “How” things are done, the production methods, the software, the tricks, etc. Experience is what keeps an eye on the “Whys” of the business. “Why” is this the best concept to reach this audience? “Why” is this color combination not working a well as it might? “Why” does this headline work… or not? And it is experience that saves time by making the process of determining all the “whys” of every project an efficient one. Less trial and error, more correct decision making.

On a quick side note… I never watch daytime television but it’s on here in the jury waiting room… There is some really BAD daytime television.

So to conclude, in some ways the design and marketing profession is similar to other custom created products like architecture, cooking, even surgery to some degree, knowledge and experience allows one to create a consistent track record of delivering the best quality… efficiently.

In a checkout line at Lowes the other day I looked down and saw the above image. The guy in front of me was complaining about a price or something so I had a little more time to think about my little box of Snickers candy bars. What looks pretty simple is actually a courageous and brilliant marketing message. Not only is it entertaining and somewhat funny to see words like Bored, Princess, Sarcastic and Hot Mess on the front of their labels, it shows that they have successfully branded their product so well that they no longer even need the actual name of the product on their candy bar. No matter what words are on this label the consistent font use, design and color automatically deliver “Snickers” to the audience. Kudos to a branding job well done.