Why? Why do we put ourselves through it?

You get the brief and your heart sinks but then - there! There it is! Something in the deck that looks so terrible that someone else, surely, must have thought “glad we’re revisiting that.”

Ok, ok, it’s not going be something that turns into a ‘sweeps the awards board’ of an opportunity, but you’ll take it. 

Everything the brand says screams ‘this needs more love’. It deserves more love. 

So you sink a little bit of yourself into it. 

And yes, selfishly. But also, just maybe you think some stuff deserves a bit more attention, and better-designed speaks to its audience. It says ‘here’s a bit more respect accorded’. 

Problem is that now you’re invested. 

And likely as not the only person who is. 

You’re left facing an invisible wall of not-here, not-now, too-many-people-to-convince, which manifests as a simple ‘just update the colour, Richard, yeah?’

If you read this far hoping for some profundity, I’m sorry. 

Sometimes some stuff just ends up staying looking crap. Problem is that when you’re always looking for coal you’ll never see diamonds. You however, should always keep your eyes open because few other beggars are.

And keep your own Salon des Refusés folio because one day it’ll find your audience.

Excuse the rather rubbish header image, but I found my 1981 edition of Bob Gill's book 'Forget everything...' etc. This page caught the mood.