Great creative is really hard to spot.
You’ve filled pages and pages with thoughts and now need to sift for gold.
Which is easier said than done.
Especially if you’re the one who’s been working on it.
A lot of the ideas will be terrible, speaking from experience, so bin those off as an easy start (if you’ve worked with me at any time please don’t remind me of any of my awful ideas).
After that initial cull, you’ll be left with a lot you like for one reason or another.
So what then?
What’s always helped me is a list of ‘Creative Qualifiers’.
Questions that help you to step back and judge each idea with fresh eyes.
There are ten in the carousel below.
Be harsh. Great ideas don’t have to tick every box, except the first, but ones that only answer a few or god forbid none become easier to spot and ditch. However much you might like them.
You should have your own qualifiers and the list should absolutely vary by type of job too. Adding or swopping in different questions like ’Is it brave and scary?’ or ‘Is it right for the media channel?’.
But each should help to find the great amongst the absolutely, dreadful, horrendous… ‘what was I thinking, maybe this isn’t the right career for me after all, I’ve wasted my life, please accept my notice while I start shredding my hopes, dreams and this work’.
And if you’ve not got any gold? Don’t worry there’s no need to question your career and life choices, just do more. You know what’s wrong now so it should be easier to find the great.
