1. A Process Primer

PROCESS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN OUTCOME. WHEN THE OUTCOME DRIVES THE PROCESS WE WILL ONLY EVER GO TO WHERE WE’VE ALREADY BEEN. IF PROCESS DRIVES OUTCOME WE MAY NOT KNOW WHERE WE’RE GOING, BUT WE WILL KNOW WE WANT TO BE THERE.

—BRUCE MAU, “AN INCOMPLETE MANIFESTO FOR GROWTH”

All designers follow some sort of creative process, whether they know it or not. It’s like church. Every church from high Catholic to nondenominational charismatic has some sort of liturgy—a form and order that it follows, strictly or loosely, every service. Likewise, every designer, even the most spontaneous and unintentional designer, has a creative process.

Your creative process may look something like this:

1. Get the gig.

2. Stuff creative brief in ...

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