I read an article recently which contained some advice from retro design superstar David Carson (how very 90's of me) that said something along the lines of when sending over or presenting concept artwork for client review don't include the design you weren't sure of because that's the one that will be chosen. I think we can all relate to this and as you consign that beautiful, cutting edge concept you were 100% sure was going to be used to the studio dustbin, safe in the knowledge that you probably won't be winning that award now after all, you can't help but let off a little desperate sigh and wonder where you can swap your client for someone with limitless budget and a total empathy with your creative vision.
You are a highly trained, highly skilled, highly experienced powerhouse of creativity, what do these chumps know anyway - I've seen things these people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
At 49th Floor we like to feel part of the creative community as a whole and therefore from time to time will give something back to our fellow graphic designers, artworkers, retouchers, photographers, illustrators and whatnot. We have compiled this flow-chart to demonstrate the path to inspiration - and whilst it's not an easy path to tread, I feel that it's one that at least in part will be familiar to many.
Fortunately in my experience anyway, the path of least resistance is not the route to the greatest success and a little bit of desperation can open your mind to it's creative potential. The PDF which is far more legible and high res enough to adorn any studio wall is avaiable freely below;
Procrastination leads to inspiration via desperation flow chart PDF download
The 49th Floor is actually situated just over the road from one of Luton's finest beauty spots - Bramingham wood. Imagine it like Farthing Wood (you know the one from the animals of farthing wood) but with more chavs and illegal activities and you'll be on the right path. Years ago they sectioned off the nicest part of the wood so that only people in green or brown wellingtons could access it, but the locals don't tend to discuss that much.
To make provision for when times get very busy here and we need more work to be done over the months we have been training a team of hardened squirrels from Bramingham wood to step in when required. They're coming along nicely and once their first level ninja training is done and dusted we can move on to the finer points of logo design and type setting. One step at a time though - we don't want any Geoff Creatus incidents here!
I'd like to introduce you to Terry who is in charge of training here, he's just relaxing on his tree, but as always silently waits for his time to come.
