A client in Chicago told me my color palettes were 'safe to the point of boring' last month, which pushed me to start using a random color generator for my initial sketches.

Has anyone else gotten blunt feedback that actually improved your creative process, or am I just weird for liking that kind of push?

3 comments

3 Comments

matthewp522mo ago

Ever have a client tell you your work looks like it was made by a robot? I got that once on a logo set, said they all felt "soulless and templated." Hurt like hell but man, it made me stop using my go-to styles. Started forcing myself to draw the first idea by hand with my eyes closed, just to get something ugly and weird to build from. That one mean note totally changed my starting point.

kim.emma2mo ago

Ever wonder if the client calling it robotic actually meant it felt too safe? Like maybe they were bored and wanted something that would make them a little nervous, in a good way. Your ugly first sketch probably hits that exact spot of being interesting but not polished yet.

reed.eva1mo ago

There's a great bit in the book "Art & Fear" where they talk about how perfect technique can actually kill the soul in a piece. Clients feel that emptiness even if they don't have the words for it, they just know it feels off. The ugly first sketch is like showing your working brain instead of hiding it behind clean lines. That raw, messy starting point is probably the only thing that will ever feel authentically alive to them.