The Tasky Task — Creative Hack
There are three sets of people reading this, the Ordinary; they just read to get your punchline and the message. The Open-minded; these one are more than the message and punchlines, they know a little about writing and allow you play with words creatively. Then The Auto-Correct readers: these ones have the Oxford English Dictionary installed from heaven, they auto-correct like MS Word, Grammarly in real-time. Sure they have concluded that I made a very wrong title using Tasky. For the records, the word Tasky was originated from me to make the title catchy, Just in case you can’t find it online yet or probably when Oxford adds it to the next version of the dictionary, they must give me credit!
Let’s not deviate, Which do you think is harder? Research, Mapping or Designing? Let’s define the terms so we’re on the same page.
Research in simple terms is looking for facts and resources to work with, usually to solve a problem. It’s usually the foundation for problem-solving in design or any field at all and is not usually the result of a process. This can be Primary; Direct from sources like asking questions, or Secondary; Indirect Using the Internet. Did you just think I’ll mention Tertiary? You must be Kidding… lol
Mapping, on the other hand, is analysing the research result, & the Connecting dots. Mapping here says how these research results will be put together to make sense, I’ll categorize sketches here. Colour psychology, Shapes, and Fonts … designer’s problem, Moving on.
Designing turns out to be the end process of solving the problem and delivering great output. This includes packaging, mock-ups and all those design jargon non-designers know not.
I’m sure by now you have your answer waiting, however, keep this in mind that no process is excellent or self-sufficient on its own. In fact, they are entwined in the sense that if you’re on the design Phase, and it’s not really making sense, you will have to go back to More research and Mapping.
So recently, I’ve been spending time on Research, getting more resources and I realised getting the right resources is really Tasky. From stock photos, to design elements, trends and new design approach; however after getting these resources sorted out, Boooooom! Speed is an Understatement! Do you agree? Oh yeah!
At some point, I started thinking I should start charging for research time spent on a client’s job and the answer I get in my head is: “That’s what they paid you for”. If you’ve ever had clients that have little Knowledge of design, you will totally agree with this fact, they paid you to do research and recommend what’s best for them. Another angle for research is Finding COPY! Have you ever had that moment when you need just a line to summarize an extremely long phrase of a client? The design is all set, but because of this, we fall back to Research and Mapping.
For me, I spend more time Researching for resources, then mapping, before designing. It works like magic and client always loved the results. Most of the time when I don’t follow this process, I get rejects like ASAP and I don’t get angry because I know what happened.
There’s this scenario that came up in course, of two Men given the same kind of tree to cut down, Same tools (Blunt Axe), duration (5 Hours) and other stuff required for doing the job. Mr X started immediately and brought down the Tree in due time. Mr Z, on the other hand, took time to sharpen his axe for 3 Hours, brought the tree down in an Hour. They both got the job done, but different processes.
You can buy speed, with your Process. Spend time on your process, and enjoy swift and great delivery. There is a term the factory people call, “Quality Control” and one way you can ensure you maintain standards is in the process. That is the essence of this article, What is your work process like?
May the gods of Research favour you with good search results. *winks*
Kindly share your opinions and your personal process (any business at all), we could learn a few things from it. Cheers.
