Oct 22
Deadlines sometimes affect inspiration
2007 at 03.23 pm posted by Veerle
It seems that my deadlines article has sparked an interesting discussion. One of them being an article entitled ”The Tao of Deadlines” by Andy Rutledge. To be honest I had to look up the meaning of Tao (Taoism) to understand its true meaning. Hey, I’m just a simple girl and don’t believe in making things sound smart or fancy job titles as those aren’t making you a better designer. The strength lies in what you create and not in what you call it :)
First I want to make clear that I have nothing against Andy Rutledge and I respect his work and opinion as fellow designer. So don't read anything other than that in the tone of this article. It's just that I think Andy sees things too black and white and I want to show that circumstances differ from project to project. There are different kinds of deadlines, like I sometimes set myself up for one. The pressure of such a deadline doesn't have the same effect as a client's deadline. A client's deadline that is unreasonable kills the creative aspect, because my focus is mainly on the deadline rather than solely on what I'm creating. The truth lies somewhere between extremes I think, too much isn't good and too little makes you procrastinate. I agree that the title of my first article was somewhat misleading and you might got the impression that I hate deadlines. That’s not the case at all. I think, just as Andy, that projects need deadlines. You need to set a time frame, even if it’s only just as a guidance. Deadlines need to be doable and reasonable that’s all and that is where talking about it comes into play.
The way I feel about things
Let me start with the beginning and respond to what Andy had to say.
Veerle Pieters recently wrote an article entitled, “Deadlines Kill Inspiration.” This title is quite inaccurate, as deadlines can have absolutely no impact on inspiration or creativity.
This is where we already disagree as I believe that deadlines do have an affect on inspiration. This point was very well made by a reader called Daniel Reeders in the comments of the first article and I couldn't express it any better
Sorry, Andy, but at the level of neurophysiology, when you dial up the anxiety levels, it is significantly harder to concentrate your attention in the parts of the brain responsible for creativity.
I am not talking about *all deadlines* here but I think it's safe to assume that working under a lot pressure will affect your creativity. It takes time to learn to deal with that and I can say after being in this design business for a long time I sometimes still struggle on certain projects to be on my best and deliver top notch work. There is no golden rule that sets everything in stone. Hell it can even work the other way around that a deadline suddenly gives a sense of clarity and kick starts the creative process. It all depends on what you are doing since certain design tasks are easier than others. Logos for example are such tricky matter. It can very well be that my first sketch is a hit or that I am staring at a blank canvas for hours, even days. When you don't have anything to show for after such a long period and a deadline hangs above your head it will not have a positive effect on the outcome. Let's take another example and imagine two clients, one that says create me a blog like Andy Rutledge's and the other clients wants you to create one like mine. Both clients set the same deadline. When something like that happens it's your responsibility to let the client know that the one like mine will not be doable in that same amount of time because it requires more work. If you try you will under-deliver and creativity will suffer because of the amount of stress it brings. Creativity is such a strange creature and requires a relaxed state of mind in most circumstances. So always be honest upfront and warn the client that he is being unreasonable in demanding the same deadline for a job of that size.
Another sentence that I completely disagree on is the following Andy Rutledge said:
To be clear, problems with deadlines almost always come down to one root problem: poorly managed business. I hope you can agree that professionalism requires a designer must never miss a deadline.
That's too harsh and certainly not true. You are not doing a lousy job if you have trouble with deadlines. If I look at my personal track record I missed a few deadlines and I think my business isn't doing that bad since I've been around for 15 years. Yes, a professional designer strives to meet every deadline but missing one doesn't make you unprofessional. On the contrary sometimes it's necessary to make a judgment call to miss it if you are not 100% behind what you created. I consider that being a pro because a client pays you to get the best. It wouldn't be honest towards the client if I rushed it just to meet some deadline. This is of course not something I take advantage off, but it has happened more than once that the end result was so much better by doing so. It's my task and responsibility to let a client know that and most will appreciate the honesty.
Design is never easy and I'm not running my business like an automobile assembly line where production is of the up most importance and you have to reach an everyday target. My motto is quality over quantity and I have difficulty to let things go because I obsess over details. I consider that to be an asset instead of a flaw. To be honest I've thought about it to lower the bar a bit and start thinking that I could earn more by finishing things more quickly but that's just not me. Personal satisfaction is really important and it helps in bringing out the best in you.
No client ever caused a designer to miss a deadline. If you believe otherwise, you’re laboring under a grave misapprehension (not to mention that you’ve got a victim-mentality).
The knife cuts both ways and both parties have to be responsible and understanding. It's not necessary to make beginning designers doubt themselves and believe it's all their fault if they miss a deadline. This isn't a perfect world and sometimes shit happens and my experience tells me that most deadlines are missed by clients not following up on things as set out in my original timeframe. It's my task to point it out that such behavior will have consequences and the deadline will shift with the amount of time lost. If you work for really big corporations you'll notice that a lot of people are locked into the process and that normally translates to a slower progress. I also believe it's not the designer task to be on the clients case all the time to get things going even if you are project manager too. Most clients will know it's on their end and will understand that this has consequences. Communication is the key here but it also doesn't mean you push them every hour by calling. Telling them once will suffice.
There aren't guidelines that always guarantee success
Andy has some great tips in that article, but there isn't a magic bullet. Each project is different and each client is different and the same goes for each deadline. Yes deadlines are a very important aspect of a project, but sometimes they have a negative effect on inspiration. The best advice that I can give is to treat each project different and try to guess how long it will take you to finish it. If your timeframe crashes with the client's deadline let them know upfront and explain why it's more complex than they think. Missing a deadline doesn't make you unprofessional when it is for the right reasons. Remember, it isn't all black and white and there are so many variables that influence things. Be flexible and honest that's what is most important I think.
25served
1
As a designer this might not come in handy…
Right! I always want to try out new and innovative techniques. I start every project by doing some research in order to get the best out of it. When the deadline is very, very short I tend to freeze and cut this phase. Result is a project that still looks fine but has no heart.
Deadly wrong! Clients are most of the time the cause of missing a deadline and the most frustrating fact is that they know this damn well.
And why do they know this so damn well? Because I give them a deadline too. If they don’t deliver me the things I need from them, in order to finish the project, before a certain date, my deadline expires.
And maybe this is the one thing I can agree with. If you built in systems and regulations, like giving the client a deadline too, the chance you miss a deadline becomes smaller.
That is why a plane never crashes. That is why Jordan never misses a shot. That is why you must never use the word never! A human is not like a Mac after all.
Nuff said
2
Hey Veerle, I would have to agree with much of your response…
Regarding Andy’s comment:
I might side in the middle of both of your stances… I agree that a designer needs to do whatever they can to make a deadline (in reason), but Andy’s additional note makes me question his footing:
Having been part of projects large and small, that have been the victim of scope creep, I would say 95% of the time I still strive to meet the original deadline, but I’ve found that part of running a good business is being honest with yourself and your client.
Your clients needs to understand that you’re trying to run a “real” business too. You have a “real” life and despite their delusions, you also have other clients, and other deadlines. If every now and then a deadline needs to be pushed, I don’t think that’s a mark of a poorly run business – I think it’s a mark of a well run business that clearly understands it’s capabilities and limitations… Clients that don’t understand this, should be quickly shelved and forgotten. I’ve pulled enough all nighters to know that it is not worth it, plain and simple.
I will clarify that by saying that some extra time and the odd all nighter seem to just be part of the business and for many good clients I would gladly put in the extra time, I just think that making the deadline a mark to “die” for is ludicrous… Stuff happens.
3
I know for certain that the lack of a hard deadline is the doom of many personal projects.
When I was running CSS Reboot, the deadline of May/Nov. 1st was the most often cited reason for success by participants, i.e. “I never would have tried so hard or finished in time without the deadline of the Reboot...”
This is the reason I recently started Design Deadline—hoping to help designers launch new designs first Tues. of every month starting Feb. 5th ‘08—the “non-Flash design world” was, in many ways, missing a deadline and I think that’s resulted in a creativity lull the past several months. But, we’ll see.
4
I don’t want to dogpile this author, but I had can’t let this one alone; as a semi-designer and frontend coder, I find that it’s very difficult to stick to deadlines when clients change the parameters of the project. Many times, it’s difficult to lay the blame on the client for doing so--their spec may not communicate their ideal--but every time the vision changes, and the deadline stays the same, the pressure ramps up. As pressure goes up, quality can sometimes go down.
Generally, I see work as a spectrum between doing things the ‘Right’ way and doing things the quick way. The quick way gets the thing done, but isn’t maintainable. The ‘Right’ way takes a long time and leads to a product that’s spilling over the original scope. Neither is desirable, but the Right way is generally easier to work with. As pressure goes up, the desire or necessity to move toward the quick way increases geometrically.
Okay. Slashrant.
5
I don’t think you all have really comprehended Andy’s article.
And I think in some instances, Veerle, you teeter on putting words into Andy’s mouth:
Andy said nothing about cheapening quality. His point was that you can run your business and you can structure your contracts in such a way that your end of the deal is separate from the clients. He draws a distinction between client responsibilities, designer responsibilities, and project deadlines, and claims that it is unprofessional for the project deadline to be affected by you missing your own. His is not so much a rebuttal as it is a clarification.
6
This was a very interesting post. Looking at this issue from a possible client’s perspective it poses some issues. If the client is sensible, they will understand that deadlines may have to be broken for good reason. I for one believe that if the product is not as good as you expect, that warrants extending the deadline.
I couldn’t agree more with regards to your point about an automotive assembly line. We’re not talking about assembling widgets and placing them on an automotive assembly line. We’re referring to the creation of art. This is not something that can be quantified in my opinion.
From a client’s perspective, the client should only be concerned about one thing. Getting the best design.
Sticking with the automotive them. It’s interesting that the automotive companies that are struggling (GM, Ford, Chrysler) tend to request unreasonable deadlines and pricing points from their parts suppliers. The result is a poorer quality vehicle. Companies like Toyota, Volkswagen, Honda, Nissan and so on tend to have a partnership with their suppliers that stresses quality first.
From a client’s perspective it would make me feel very good to know that the person that is creating my design is obsessing over the fine details.
Everyone is different, some people want the best quality and some people want to adhere to deadlines. I think if you want the best, deadlines may have to be broken.
7
I agree completely - it’s the idea of a 4-day work week.
If you go to work, and decide to have a four day work week, you will try harder to get everything done. If you know you’re going to be at work for 5 days, you spread things out. It’s human nature.
8
Huh? I regularly have clients submit their materials/assets two weeks later than the agreed-upon date, while still expecting their deadline to hold firm. The lack of commitment, and professionalism, on behalf of clients can clearly impact deadlines. I don’t get Rutledge’s absolutist perspective.
Again with the absolutism.
Yes, they can have no impact - but often they do, and it’s negative. I saw Jeff Sutherland (SCRUM) give a talk on this subject and he compared pressure that is put on software developers to studies that have been done on a variety of animals - the result in all cases was a mental meltdown, not a creative ephiphany. His philosophy has proven that frequent brief meetings can alleviate all kinds of creative pressure and get projects done long before their deadline - it’s all in the timing.
9
What really is going on with all of Andy’s work is his attempt to build up a reputation for himself and his business as being the one true design professional(s). I read Andy’s work all the time, and sometimes agree with it. Personally I find it refreshing to read his tone whether I agree with it or not. He is like the Rush Limbaugh of design, some of his opinions are nearly unbelievable and can always stir up controversy. Although after following his process for so long I am starting to see the “true” purpose of his rambles. In the end, it is all about self promotion. Sometimes I think he is trying to convince himself more than he is trying to convince others. All the articles are centered around clients reading them and his new firm getting at least an upront reputation as a place that knows what they are doing.
This is where it becomes the most obvious. Andy’s work is okay, not terrible by any means, but hardly as pretentious and extraordinary as you would think from his attitude in his writings.
In the end, I almost hate to even comment on him or his writings or his work… but I did.
10
Colin Williams said:
I’m not putting any words into Andy’s mouth but I was reffering to him saying never miss a deadline instead. This is connected to the quality aspect and when you obsess over details you sometimes miss it on purpose to create something better instead. The thought had crossed my mind to lower this standard a bit to have jobs move faster but like I said it didn’t feel right for *me*. I just have another opninion on the never miss a deadline part because deadlines aren’t the most important part in my process but the end result is.
11
Quality comes with a price, like all services and products today.
The time you need - as a designer - to produce quality has to be explained to clients, because a lot of clients will not understand that good design needs time to mature, unless you explain them.
Good designs always survive because of their creative aspects and unique look.
12
I tend to agree actually. If you are still waiting for creative inspiration to hit when your deadlines start rolling in then you have either wasted your time or not given yourself enough time to begin with. Which brings us to. . .
Andy states time after time in his writings that a well thought out agreement with a client will include stipulations for the client to provide their materials in a timely fashion and to not make drastic changes late in the game. He also states that when these provisions are broken the deadline will be necessarily delayed. His point is that if the client is causing a missed deadline, the real problem is that the contract/agreement was not structured properly to begin with.
I just re-read the comments and Colin made some of the same points. Good to know someone else actually read the article.
13
R.A. Ray said:
I always have inspiration but it isn’t always what it should be, so sometimes stepping away from it brings better results. It depends on who you are and how hard you are on yourself to be glad with what’s in front of you. More pressure has an effect on this and it’s not a positive one.
I wonder If you actually read mine because I know what he wrote and I agreed to some of it because I do mention these things too. The main reason of my response was to the absolutism part of never miss a deadline or you aren’t a pro part. Like I told Colin already in comment 10 it is sometimes OK if the end result is way better. No matter what safety net you use there will be situations that are different and it’s never as black and white as Andy sums up.
14
Ray, you can structure or spin this any way you want, if the client misses an agreed upon deadline you as designer will not be able to make yours. Period.
I’d say 25% of the deadlines I miss are because of clients handing in their material late or asking for extra features not previously agreed on. Welcome to the real world :)
15
All three articles raise some very interesting points.
I know that in our business (film, graphic and motion design) we are very careful to specify all aspects of the project including milestones for both ourselves and our client. We make it very clear that if our client misses a deadline than it will cause the project deadline to be pushed back. So far all deadline pushes have been caused by clients adding pieces not covered under the original contract.
At the same time your points, Veerle, about deadlines affecting inspiration are well taken. Sometimes it can have a positive effect and sometimes it can have a negative one, but deadlines do effect everyone I know in one way or another. I know that I tend to work better with a clearly defined timeline than with a loose one so I assign myself several short term goals rather than one big final one.
There will always be those clients that come with unreasonable timeline expectations. It is our job to educate them on the complexity of what they are asking for and to be willing/able to say no to jobs when they insist upon rushing projects.
16
I don’t know a lot about the designer business, but I have worked in plenty of commercial and government jobs with many deadlines. In some businesses, it is practical to assume that you always hit a deadline. When I worked for Electrolux, our main purchaser (Sears) would request something to be designed and engineered and give us a deadline. Since Sears represented 60% of our production, any deadline they asked for, no matter how ridiculous, was met. This is reasonable, because the plant and design facility would shut down and 3000+ people would lose their jobs if Sears was “unhappy” and decided to take their contract elsewhere.
Oh the contrary, my work at AEDC yielded me patience with understanding flexible deadlines and flexible cost. When you’re running something that requires 300 people to work together and coordinate over multiple shifts, there WILL be snags. When we missed a hard deadline, it was understood that it was part of our business.
Relating to you and Andy, it’s all about how you approach your work and how you feel about it. Andy seems to feel like design work is an assembly line and can be calculated, even if it results in a “cheap” product. You tend to pursue excellence.
To rationalize this argument, you must understand that people/businesses are different. There ARE businesses who want a cheap, fast product, and want you to cut yourself short to meet their demands. Then there are people who build businesses and pour themselves into it, and want their websites to reflect that.
17
That is so SO true. :( Which is why I have quit the webdesign scene.
18
I couldn’t agree with you more on this, Veerle!
And to state that “No client ever caused a designer to miss a deadline” is just plain stupid.
19
I work at a screen printer (for steady income) along with doing freelance work. I have my inspiration killed every day as I have to produce crap (you can’t call it art) by the hour sometimes. I am in a situation where quantity over quality reigns supreme. What the customer wants is what they get even if it looks completely wrong. All of the clients think you have a magic wand and tell the computer to do stuff for you. Sometimes jobs do come in that I am able to spend time on properly thinking out, but I have to work on it off and on while working on other jobs. I leave my job almost everyday feeling underappreciated and inable to satisfy my desire to design, design I studied to get my degree.
Andy Rutledge obviously has never worked in a situation like this. Clients can kill both inspirations and cause you to miss deadlines. Repetitive phone calls by the client causes their work to be delayed. Inability to get proper information to do the job can cause a job to not even be started until after its deadline, especially when the only way to contact the client is by playing phone tag. Clients can be both incredibly stupid and obnoxious, especially in a situation where they are ingorant of the process that has to be followed to get their job completed such as screen printing.
Sometimes the client himself/herself is a designer using us to print their work. You would believe that would be a relief, but in fact they can be worse than a typical client if they do not understand the process of screen printing as it has different capabilities, advantages, and disadvantages than typical printing on paper. The ability to print white, the different thicknesses of the inks, and how they behave on different fabrics have to be taken into account, causing the separations to be quite different from what’s expected.
I couldn’t agree with you more. Being a graphic artist is a job where you typically have to deal with people. Nothing is a straight line.
20
i totally agree with the headline, that deadlines sometimes (for me: mostly) affect inspiration.
inspiration is for me something that i cannot click on if i need it, its more like an idea that sometimes comes and sometimes not. i know there are some technics to trainee the fluid of ideas or insperation but they don´t work for me.
if i have a deadline i MUST have a clearly idea of the way to go BEFORE i agree to it or i have to say that i cannot make the deal.
i wonder how some clients think about the process of inspiration, just push a button and it flows?
21
Deadlines are meant to be broken. Most deadlines I have encountered are unrealistic and definitely kill inspiration. A web designer can only work under certain conditions as creativity only comes at certain times of the day (often with it being late at night). Andy is unrealistic in his demands of designers. I will not pray at his alter.
22
Nice points Veerle. Great article!
23
Wel - in my humble opinion - it’s obvious that deadlines do affect the inspiration and creativity process - in both good and bad way. I have cases where I’ve delivered work that I wasn’t 100% happy about - just because there was a deadline. But at the other hand - I have few examples when the deadline made me try harder - and explore ideas I wouldn’t normally try (I’m rather lazy type of guy;). The point where missing the deadline is only designers fault (accordingly to Andy) is hilarious - it’s simply not true.
You have a great blog btw. (I just stumbled on it). Cheers
24
One thing I notice here.
In a business you have to deal with two major players. You have to design and you have to make money.
People who are less creative are more focussed on deadlines. They try to manage their business in favor of the money.
People who are more creative are more focussed on the design. They try to manage their business in favor of the quality of their portfolio.
It also happens to be that less creative people are more structured and so they will have less problems with a short deadline.
More creative people are usually a bit more chaotic and will have more problems reaching the deadline.
Conclusion ...
Look at yourself and determine wether you are more or less creative, wether you are a structured person rather than a chaotic one.
For the less creative ones. Maybe you should be less concerned about the deadlines. It may sound wrong to you but maybe you should put a little bit more soul in your projects.
And more creative people should give in a little bit and focus a bit more on the deadlines.
A compromise ... But hey, I am from Belgium ...
25
I found tis post extremely interesting..so much so I had to go out and find Andy Rutledge’s article and read it. Although I agree in part with the view that “A designer must never miss a deadline” and even that deadlines may stimulate creativity in some cases, I believe this should never be at the cost of quality.