Creatives and how we roll.

I found this post today from Elevation and it is probably one of the best posts on this subject I’ve seen. It’s written from someone who totally knows how we function. Here’s the article

The Creative Department at Elevation Church sometimes wishes it could scream “Wiiiiiiizard” and get some kind of magic help when it comes to being creative.

For example, our in-house designer actually said this today, “I suck, I need to figure out how to get punched in the stomach.”

Translation, “I am struggling right now with how to be innovative. I’m past the point of wanting to come up with anything fresh and creative and I just want to get this project done.”

For any of you wondering how to work with Creatives, here are a few pointers:

If you need them to create something for you, let them create. If you just need them to produce something you’ve already created in your mind, let them know on the front end. It’s a different process for them.

The very worst thing for a designer is to not have direction and then be told they didn’t deliver on what you wanted. If you can’t set someone up to be successful at first, that’s okay, but just be patient. It’s lame to not give good direction and expect the world with the first pass. Most of the time you’ll get out of a project what you put into it.

Creatives don’t work like you do. If you walk by and see your designer (or web developer or motion graphics designer or video editor) surfing the web looking at YouTube videos, making weird sounds to themselves, playing air guitar or air drums, eating unhealthy amounts of any kind of candy or laying on the ground staring at the ceiling…let them do it. Sometimes that’s what it takes to get to where you want them to go. (Disclaimer: If they never hit any deadlines, maybe you need to reel them back in a little bit. But if they deliver, trust them to do what they need to do to be their best.)

Don’t stand there watching over their shoulder. That’s bad and annoying.

Give them clear deadlines, not something like this, “I’d like to have something by the end of the week.” When you say that, they hear, “I’ll get you a rough draft by Friday at 11pm.” A better approach might be, “Can I get a rough draft by end of day Wednesday? I’ll give you feedback on Thursday. And, I’d like a final version by Friday at noon.”

Love on your creative people, they need it.