Comments on: Is Your First Draft Your Best Draft?

By: Hans

Hans — Sun, 13 May 2007 12:49:46 +0000

I don’t think that this type of one-shot trial works for all occasion, take blogging for e.g your first draft would be shit, like Hemingway said lol. Writing needs editing, and re-editing to make the point as clear as possible.

While design may not need such over-trial process, perhaps all the fresh ideas come first and due to a lack of ideas and inspiration, further drafts get worse.

I particularly design around a minimalist approach so my greatest motto is : is there anything to remove? lol perhaps my further design drafts would consist of this, removing and removing less important details

I really like reading Bokardo for this reason

By: Paul Enderson

Paul Enderson — Fri, 11 May 2007 01:12:47 +0000

I’m definitely a “go with the gut” kinda gal…

The only problem I run into sometimes is telling a client that I feel the first thing I did is the best, only to have them insist of using something else – and the client is always right, right?

By: Sham

Sham — Wed, 09 May 2007 09:32:16 +0000

Hi,
“Back when I was in high school I always did better on tests if I just went with the first answer that came to my head” I can related to that! Sometimes I still do that with my exams ..MCQ
I guess the first one come’s off as a “fresh” idea as opposed to the ones that came later. I saw the designs and like most of them!

Sham
http://enhancelifethinktank.blogspot.com/index.html

By: Phil

Phil — Wed, 09 May 2007 06:48:50 +0000

All through school and university I have gone with my gut (my current work doesn’t really have me making decisions as such).

I felt bad about it, especially in exams. I never even checked my work after finishing an exam, I was either out of time or finished so quickly it couldn’t possibly be wrong!

Still, it’s got me to where I am now, a degree and a job, so I can’t complain!

By: Adam Kayce : Monk At Work

Adam Kayce : Monk At Work — Tue, 08 May 2007 16:01:06 +0000

I have to say, I’m an editor. Or, I should be.

I used to just go with the first draft (still do, most of the time), and doing so worked. I put out pretty good work.

But I’m finding that the more I edit, the cleaner and cleaner it gets. Some of this, I think, is due to becoming a better editor â€” I know what to change, and what not to. That’s the expertise of discernment that grows with being open to editing my own stuff (which took a while!)

At the same time, because I’m more open to editing, I’m also writing & producing a lot faster in the first go-round. And that’s a good thing, because I resisted editing for so long because of the extra time it took.

By: Robert Hruzek

Robert Hruzek — Tue, 08 May 2007 12:51:36 +0000

I tend to love the first version of things, myself. But… it has been my experience that if forced to come up with an alternative (for whatever reason), I can often come up with something I like better! It may be built on the original, or not.

Maybe the added pressure causes the creative juices to flow better?

However, if I have one good idea, and too much time, I’ll pick it to death. I’d rather just deliver it and move on.

By: Randa

Randa — Tue, 08 May 2007 11:18:41 +0000

Sometimes giving a client two inferior options can make it easier for them to choose the best one. I think it’s easier for a client to choose the best one from several than to make a yes/no decision on just one design. I tend to go with my gut when it’s my own stuff, but when I’m doing something for someone else, I almost always give options unless it’s a full blown web site. It takes too much time to do multiple mock-ups of a site, so it’s good they paid for all of them.

By: Char

Char — Tue, 08 May 2007 10:07:26 +0000

Basketer – welcome to the go with your gut club.

David & Tara – I’ll try to get them scanned in at some point today and share them with you. They are very basic layout sketches, but hey, they are sketches.

It makes life so much easier when the client likes something the first time through.

By: Tara

Tara — Tue, 08 May 2007 08:23:59 +0000

I would like to see the sketches too!

I agree with you, my first idea is generally the best, but that doesn’t always mean the client picks it. On numerous occasions clients have picked in my opinion one of the weaker designs.

By: David Airey :: Creative Design ::

David Airey :: Creative Design :: — Tue, 08 May 2007 08:02:00 +0000

I am proud, Char.

Now, where are those sketches?

That’s great your client was happy with one of your options. That’s half the battle sometimes.