Ideas Need A Voice

Ideas come from thoughts. Weaving thoughts, like a stream, trying this way, that way, maybe this way again but… different.

Synonyms, antonyms, verb, noun. Just google it.

Typing the words, clickity clack. But a pen may mean more this time.

Write it out. Write words, phrases, fragments until something makes sense. But does it make sense? Ask others, read aloud, emphasize, re-word.

Read again.

Are they too close to the words? I ask others again.

Sure yeah, I feel it. It sounds right, nod yeah… yes… hell yes!

Prepare it. Summarize it. Share it to the world.

Maybe its not right… but it’s closer. They are closer than they were.

Find your voice.

Shout it out, then change the words if they don’t make sense.

During a 2-day design sprint this past week I spent a majority of my time writing copy for an emerging startup. Their product is in a new space and, therefore, needs a unique voice. I felt that to really understand what they do, who they do it for and what value they offer, it needed to be put clearly into words.

I put sentences together, reformed, edited, added and edited again until I felt like it was coherent. I would read aloud to my teammates, we would edit again or add, and slowly formulate paragraphs that made sense to us and, more importantly, made sense to the product. We played with tag lines, and short, to-the-point phrases, trying to nail down exactly how we felt this brand could be communicated effectively.

We also created a voice for Spiffly, he’s a new kind of animal and needed to be treated as such. We felt he needed an air of mystery and intrigue, so our words reflected as much. Our ideas formulated around the Spiffly brand and voice. After presenting our proposal we got feedback, we had insight and great thoughts, but we also weren’t exactly on target and could use more refining. But that is why we are here. To learn and push ourselves.

In this journey, through Spiffly, I was able to find my creative voice through words and writings. I spent time trying to clearly articulate a brand. Re-wording their lengthy explanation of their company and all the great, new opportunities they will offer their users into a 60-second elevator pitch and into a casual hero with a playful edge.

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