A 1000 Mile Journey Begins With 1 Step

So how does one begin a creative communications project? Our first step is to define our goal, the destination if you will. By establishing what our work is attempting to communicate we are then free to work backwards from it, or my preferred method, forwards to it. By working forwards we are forced to examine more possibilities for reaching our destination and I feel the work will be stronger for it.

Our goal is a very specific thing, but what if our problem is that we can’t define it? The answer in this case is to start with generalities and gradually distill them into specificity. Start with many smaller concepts and define connections, establish relationships and hierarchy. Eventually this mass of generality will distill into ever more specific and clear concepts and then finally, our goal itself.

With our goal firmly in place our next step is to define our audience. Who are we trying to reach? Why? How can we better reach them?  Defining our audience allows us to begin to define the armature that will support our project – not all creative concepts will be effective for all audiences. Now that we know what we are communicating and to whom we can evaluate the effectiveness of every concept and idea.

Explore multiple streams of communication. Today, all communication is multi-modal and I strongly believe in a “create once – distribute everywhere” philosophy to media creation.

Get it right before the camera rolls, or as I am fond of saying “paper is cheap.” Effective media requires a compelling story or an intriguing concept. If the idea doesn’t read well then no amount of production value will ultimately redeem it. 

On set one must shoot with the edit in mind!.I always try to bring my experience as an editor with me when I shoot even if I won’t be constructing the final piece. Understanding how the juxtaposition of images can create narratives is the key to making compelling moving pictures.

“Less is more” is my credo for editing and creating graphics. While I appreciate the artistry in dense compositions I also feel they often aren’t as effective as simpler works.