With so many choices available, there is the opportunity to procrastinate more than ever, you often get stuck in process, running through endless combinations, and not getting anywhere. That's if you even get started.
I read a great book a while ago called the Houdini Solution by Ernie Schenk that expounded the theory that the tighter the brief, and the deadline, the more creative you have to be. It's an interesting twist on the received wisdom that what you need as a designer is creative freedom, and plenty of it.
It certainly worked for Harry Pearce who has created a wonderful new book called Conundrums. This collection of elegant typographic puzzles constrained by three simple (self imposed) rules: one box, two colours, a single typeface. As he says “Sometimes the more cornered you are the more fun you have.” It reminds me of other great design classics like A Smile in the Mind: Witty Thinking in Graphic Design and The Art of Looking Sideways, as well as a charming little book called Words Fail Me, by Theresa Monachino.
So, next time you get a tight brief, a small budget, have to work to rigourous corporate guidelines, celebrate… you may have just got the opportunity to do some of your most creative work. And if the brief is too loose… why not set yourself some arbitrary ones. And if you do… stick to them!
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