As creatives aiming to make a real impact, we need to understand the system we're working within. This starts with knowing our comfort zones, which are our creative sweet spots. We have to ask the right questions to get to the root of the issue at hand. Digging into the root of the problem helps us define the need and find the best way to deliver a solution, whether it's a big innovation or just a Facebook ad. We need to consider every project constraint—budget, timeline, past work, future goals, and everyone involved.
Knowing our target audience is crucial. We need to understand who they are, what we can offer them, what we expect in return, and how we fit into their lives. This insight not only helps solve most problems but also brings us closer to meeting their needs. Recognizing what's familiar to them helps us introduce something new. The perfect creative idea finds a balance between the familiar and the novel. Getting immersed in the creative brief and mastering the specific language of our field is essential.
In this phase of the process, creating mood boards for different elements of the project helps visualize our direction. Examples of these elements include typography, photography, grid layouts, lighting, feeling, and design lockups. In the next phase, we will need these mood boards to start exploring directions.

After immersing ourselves in the ecosystem and inching closer to understanding the need, we're likely left with a plethora of information. Mood boards, questions, ideas, and concepts might be scattered around. Now, it's time to curate these elements. The most effective strategy involves categorizing our findings into buckets divided by craft, concept, or medium. For instance:
(Past B2C client):
'There's More Than Meets the Eye': What if we unveiled the overlooked details or behind-the-scenes processes? We could use typography (reference mood boards), animation (provide examples), and even make our YouTube and Facebook ads seem candid or in-progress.
The buckets can vary from brilliant to mediocre. The real challenge lies in identifying the gems, structuring them, and preparing for the next phase. The curation phase can last anywhere from hours to months. Exercise caution when involving stakeholders - their comfort levels may hinder progress.

Now comes the fun part - playing, breaking, imitating, blending, and meshing. After identifying our needs, understanding why they exist, and curating our findings into digestible chunks, it's time to collide ideas. This is where we repeatedly play the 'what if' game. It's crucial not to discard ideas at this stage. Instead of deleting, duplicate and build upon what you have. Confidence in this phase is built not by precision, but by evidence. While "less is more" holds true in many cases, here, more is indeed more. It's far better to have 100 ideas with 30 good ones than 10 ideas with only one good one.

Finally, it's time to present our creations to the stakeholders, a vital step before moving on to the next phase. Despite its challenges, communicating ideas effectively is crucial. Start with the 'why', our anchor, which informs our 'what' and 'how'. These anchors - targets, needs, compelling ideas - need to be clear. Whether verbally or through a pitch deck, simplicity is key when presenting ideas. Make it so straightforward that even a 5-year-old could understand. Remember, our audience is busy, and we must cut through the noise quickly.

Once our ideas are pitched, it's time for reflection and refinement. Even if we're only left with a direction, that's progress in itself. We now enter the clarity stage – the 'good to great' phase where we fine-tune our ideas, ads, or campaigns. During this stage, we take into account the feedback from stakeholders, identify potential pitfalls, and enhance our ideas before their global launch. It's crucial to stay open to criticism – it's not a personal attack but a tool that helps us improve. Our goal is not just to make sense to ourselves or our stakeholders, but most importantly, to our target audience. Their understanding and engagement with our idea is the standard of our success. While it's easy to get lost in overthinking or personal preferences during this phase, always remember to keep the target front and center.

Now we've reached the final stages of the creative process – the critique. This phase can often be the most challenging as we might find ourselves losing energy or overlooking details. Our creation is clear, concise, digestible, and on the brink of launch. At this stage, it's beneficial to bring in a fresh pair of eyes, preferably someone who hasn’t been involved in the project. Ideally, this person would be part of your target audience. They can provide a new perspective and catch any anomalies that we might have missed. Is there any specialized language that sticks out? Is the grammar correct? Are the marketing channels appropriate? Have we prepared the files in the correct formats? Patience is key here; these details can make or break the project.

The completion stage is one of the most critical stages in the creative process. This is where we dot the i's, cross the t's, and tie up loose ends. We organize the files meticulously, send them in the correct formats, add the bleeds, clean up the layers, and tidy up our workspace. Finishing strong is essential and often what separates the amateurs from the experienced. Resetting our environment for the next creative endeavor is incredibly important. Completing a project to the end will not only make the process easier for your vendors, clients, designers or project managers, but it will also build trust with them. You have made their jobs easier; you ended well. This is the mark of a professional.