The creative processes employed at agencies and design firms are, by and large, built on a formula that is comprised of four key stages including auditing and research (assessment), a set of recommendations (strategy), creative exploration (ideas), and creative execution (implementation).
Almost invariably, when comparing one firm’s process to another—no matter how differently they appear to be packaged—they can be distilled down to surprisingly similar approaches that fall along those lines. Yet when creative firms are asked what makes them unique, process is often cited. In reality, true points of process differentiation in the creative field are rare. Which of these steps listed above, afterall, would any client forego while undertaking a creative endeavor? Still, agencies and design firms continue to conceive or articulate new creative processes, usually in an effort to do nothing more than appear differentiated from other creative firms and rarely, if we’re being honest, in an effort to actually achieve better results for clients (applause for those who are).
While firms with truly unique processes do exist in the creative space, they are mostly found in the largest of agencies where budgets are such that a more expansive process is warranted, or in firms that specialize solely in a vertical market where pattern matching becomes possible through repetition of work. For the preponderance of us that don’t fall in those two categories, developing a differentiated process—and more importantly, one that actually results in more effective and influential creative work—remains a challenge. As a result, we tend to fall back on what is most natural to creative firms: using our articulation skills to mask an undifferentiated process.
A review of how agencies articulate process quickly becomes an exercise in vocabulary reappropriation. Head-scratchers like “combustion”, “fertilization”, “harvesting”, “incubation” and “elaboration” are thrown about to describe the various stages of firms’ creative processes. While this is not a jab at articulation (it’s an integral component of most creative exercises) or of those words themselves (all great when used in the proper context), it is a critical reflection on how we as an industry think and talk about process.
It’s one of the most important aspects of the creative business, and we should be a bit more honest about how we describe it externally. Embellishing your creative process will only breed contempt in the long run. We’ve made the decision at Black & White to simplify the articulation of our process by eliminating the use of any words or ideas that are taught after the third grade, and it feels pretty good so far. Over the years, we’ve found that it’s less about the process itself and more about how much we (and “we” includes our clients) put into it.
