Nika Worlund (00:00)
the execution names, would
sound something like bold vibrancy modern elegance, know, something that is very clearly describing the style, the aesthetic. On the contrary, when you're talking about a brand idea or a concept idea, you on how it connects back to the brand story, how it answers the client.
brief, how it answers the consumer
need.
Nika Worlund (00:28)
Welcome to Design Bigger, the podcast for designers and studios ready to think bigger, design bigger brands and land bigger projects. I'm Nika Worland, an Exbig agency brand strategy director who took her blue chip client expertise and built a freelance career helping independent agencies around the globe. This is the podcast where I share the tricks of the trade for lean design thinking to set you up as a world-class creative talent. As a translator between business and creatives, I'll show you how to speak client, hack top agency frameworks and think like the best studios out there.
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Nika Worlund (01:03)
Hello creative directors, designers, and.
independent design studios wanting to be strategic. This is going to be a fun episode. It's going to be about mistakes. I feel like I talk a lot about how to do it in the ideal world, but nothing really teaches you more that knowing not to do. And this is what we're going to be talking about. So I see this with
Independent agencies. also see it with junior strategists even in agencies, you know, when you work with somebody and you're like, hmm, this could have been done better.
So I have six, probably should have gotten for either five or 10, but I could think of six mistakes that designers who are not strategic make all the time. And that's how clients know that you're not a strategic designer.
So let's jump straight into it, you're a busy bunch.
Let's start with an easy one. Okay, I feel like everyone is guilty of that.
And it is, and I'm going to use the words that strategists hate.
which is intro slides. Yeah, cause have you heard this is what we get offended by is when a client or a designer say, can we have some intro slides before the design? And it just breaks our hearts because we're not just intro slides, okay? This is important thinking here, but I understand why many people think that.
But mistake number one is skipping those intro slides. So whenever I see a presentation that starts immediately a design concept, I know that, whoa, whoa, whoa, we need to rewind and go back and this is not gonna end well, this presentation. So always recap the brief, always recap the work that's been done to date, always explain.
what feedback has been taken on board, what hasn't been, what insights you've gathered throughout the process.
I think very often the brief is skipped because you might feel that why does the client need to hear that they gave it to us, right? But it's very important to take the client's brief and reinterpret it in your way. This is how the client really understands that you've heard them and you're both on the same page. In fact, very often the first client presentation
or the first step in the process at big agencies is called reverse brief. So that means, hey, client, you gave us the brief, we read it, this is how we understood it, we're gonna recap it for you, we're gonna play it back, but focusing on the things that we find most useful. And this is how you find agreement, right? You understand that, okay, we're aligned totally on the goals of this project. So yeah, recap the brief.
If you're in the middle of the process, it is so easy to get lost where we are in the process. So always show, okay, we're in stage 3B. This is what we have already covered in the first five presentations. And now we're here and here are the next steps, right? Do the signposting.
so this is the first mistake, is to skip all of that thinking, hoping that the client really cares about the design, which they do, but it's so important to know where you are in the process. So the second mistake I see all the time is when designers present executions instead of ideas. And the difference between the two is,
when you share your design, it's packaging design, brand ID design, web design, whatever it is. And I hear designers talk through it and all I hear is design. So I hear a creative director talking about the color palette and the typography they picked and the kerning and the...
illustration style.
So then
the execution names, would
sound something like bold vibrancy modern elegance, know, something that is very clearly describing the style, the aesthetic. On the contrary, when you're talking about a brand idea or a concept idea, you on how it connects back to the brand story, how it answers the client.
brief, how it answers the consumer
need.
you will probably show.
the insight that you've uncovered in your research, maybe, know, it will be like, hey, consumers are seeking healthy foods these days, but 63 % of our calories come from processed foods. And so that's why this concept brings to life this feeling of organic farm market, okay? This is an idea versus if you presented it and said, hey, this is a...
This is a rustic elegance route. And we opted for natural textures and natural color palette. You can still say all of that. You can explain why you chose this execution, but you have to start with a brand idea. And so whenever I hear designers sharing their work and really only talking about the design aesthetic and palette and typography and kerning and layout,
I understand that they're not strategic and they really need to work much closer with the strategy department to get to the point. And then the clients know immediately that, oof, I need to really work much harder here to ensure that whatever they design, even if it's beautiful, really answers my brief and delivers on my business goals.
because if designer is not thinking about it, I have to think about it I have to micromanage everything, right? That's what client thinks. So that's the second mistake.
Now the third mistake is when there's no rationale for your choice of design element. So for example, you're suggesting a color palette because it looks very good. And when the client asks you why you chose it, You can say these two colors really go well together and they have a good standout.
But what the client wants to hear is we pick those colors because none of the competitors are using them because It links back to your brand story of being a natural brand. So we opted for the colors that are found in the natural environment of your city, for example.
So you might think, well, Mika, this is contradicting what you just said, right? You just said not to talk about all of those things. So that I don't want you to talk about it. You need to know why every single element was chosen, but that's not what you lead with. If you're being asked, why did you opt for a serif font versus sans serif?
You need to know why, right? But when you're presenting that, that's not the detail that really makes client lose their sleep at night.
And so that takes me to the next mistake, which is you take 10 minutes to describe your design.
The client knows that you have worked really hard on your design concept.
But describing the design is not helping the client understand it better.
I have sat through like literally five, 10 minute descriptions of like one label. And I believe that design is very self-explanatory. Also design is pretty much system one thinking. It's very intuitive. And so if the client doesn't get the messages you want them to get just by looking at the design, and if the design needs 10 minutes of description, I immediately think, wow, that's this bad design because
You know, as we know, our consumers and shoppers and customers only have three second attention span. So if they can't get it immediately, we need to work harder on this.
So recap your idea. If you're being asked about a particular design element, share the rationale, but
don't feel like you need to share everything you've learned in design school. That is not what makes you look like a professional designer. Knowing that this particular design solves a client issue is what's gonna make you look professional, not the fact that you know.
the color theory.
Okay, the next mistake, what are we on? think we're on mistake number five, is that you might come back with three concepts or five concepts, which I think five is too much, know, briefs are different. Sometimes you need five. But for example, you go with three and you don't help the client understand why you chose these three. What really helps them understand is when you say, we looked at these three ideas,
and we have laid them out on a spectrum from safer, more evolutionary ideas to more revolutionary daring.
and unexpected solutions, right?
then the client knows that, okay, the first couple are gonna be okay, the third one is gonna be very different, but I'm not gonna freak out because I've been warned, right? That's the exercise they're doing. You're trying to understand how far can we push this client, right? Or sometimes it's not a spectrum, sometimes it's brand territories, for example. And you say,
So we have three different concepts that explore those trends. Then the client understands that, okay, there are multiple trends out there. These we know are our top three. And so we're going to see a design that explores each in detail. Cool. If you don't tell the client that there is some sort of a structure to the concepts you shared, they will always think,
Well, why didn't they explore more? Why didn't they explore this one? I always liked this competitor style. Why didn't they explore this one? Once you create a framework for your concepts and say, okay, these are the three on a spectrum. These are three different territories, or maybe it's a mashup between, you know, consumer need and category codes, then they can understand why they shouldn't be asking for more options, right?
and they are not gonna go crazy or feel scared if you push it too far because they have the safer one.
they can see that you have a system. Those are not just some random ideas that fell into your head. No, these are the three or five you have considered very carefully. You've explored them because there is a rationale behind them.
And then the final mistake is very simple and it's sending your work instead of taking time to present it. I understand, especially if there's brand strategy involved, you might feel inclined to just email it, but I highly, highly recommend to always present the work. Because even if you think that you have done an amazing job explaining all of the rationale,
There's so much thinking that hides between the lines. And also very often clients don't really read through absolutely everything. They look at the designs, they skip through the intro slides, they see the final result. They through all of the thinking. They don't understand the solutions and they're unhappy. So just take your time. Even if the client says we're busy, we don't have time,
You can always find time to do it right. What is that saying? That we never have time to do things right the first time, but we always find time to redo it, you know? So, just do it right.
the first time. So that's it. Those are the six mistakes that I think immediately give away that you are a designer who doesn't think strategically.
The next time you present,
Make sure that you start by recapping the brief and all of the work you've done up to date. Make sure that the client understands where you are in the process. Play back all of the feedback and insights that they shared with you that you find important.
Make sure that you present ideas and not executions. Make sure that when you talk through them, you focus on how it links to the brief, how it answers the consumer need, how it's different from the competitors instead of standing there for 10 minutes talking about
what green means from the point of view of color theory.
When you share your ideas, make sure that there is a system that the client understands so they don't wonder why you haven't explored some other options and asks you to do more work.
And finally, always present it. It's so easy right now with Zoom. You don't even need to go to the client's office. Just quick Zoom.
I've even sent client some zoom recordings where they weren't able to attend and I would just like record it, send it over and then they watch it.
So hopefully that will help you to ace it next time. If you want more tips and tricks like this, go to my website, nikowarland.com and sign up for my emails. I'll share all of the goodness of these podcasts, some templates, some trends and other thoughts, upcoming classes, lots of good stuff there. Until next time, go create something big and beautiful and remember the best designers are always strategic.
