6 Steps to Get the Approval & Get Your Sanity Back

It's 11:30 PM, you're on the 15th edit of the branding deck, and the marketing team has a presentation in the morning. You get a text message saying, "Can you rework the photo in part A, section 3?

The photo was in the design presentation deck throughout 15 revisions, and they want the photo edited at zero hours! Arrrgggghhhh, you yell... in your head... quietly... because everyone in the house is asleep, and you quietly put on your thinking cap and get back to work.

Sound all too familiar?

We have been in the creative & marketing world for over 20 years, and our Creative Director Mike Matamala, has seen it all. He shares one of the most frustrating but necessary parts of the creative process, the REWORK!

Rework creates division from the vision. As designers, we are problem solvers, not artists but using our creative tools and techniques to guide the narrative. At times in my career, I've had to compromise the vision to get approval. It gets tricky, especially when there is an approval committee. Usually, it's with a board of directors, and everyone has an opinion; the finance guy/gal doesn't get it but has a lot to say.
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Here are some techniques I use to help overcome some of the challenges when working with clients or if you're an in-house designer:

Get the approval and get your sanity back

• Remember, they HIRED you. You have a particular set of skills. During the revision/editing process, I've doubted myself, and that's OK. Just remember you are there for a reason.
• Stay Focused. Don't be distracted. Remember the purpose of the piece you are designing.
• Ask questions. Maybe an edit or change came in because a claim can put the company or business at risk. Stay open and flexible.
• Stay open to collaboration. You are the creative, and the best work comes from a team. Sometimes you are too close to a project that you might not see errors. Four eyes are better than one. (note to editor, keep this in, I meant that.)
• Everyone has a voice, but not everyone has a vote! When dealing with approval teams and panels, designate who has the final approval and their cohorts who have valuable opinions. The other voices may be a distraction and are sometimes white noise.
• Celebrate! Celebrate the wins, the approvals, celebrate the creative decision you seeded in the initial presentations, and now is a major part of the campaign.

Make yourself feel better

I designed a shirt out of encouragement and as a reminder that as you rework the problem, it may get a little fuzzy due to seesawing, up and down, back and around due to revisions. I was working with an amazing copywriter, and she was developing the language and the concept for a new branding theme. It was going to run for the year, and she was in the thick of it in a not-so-good day. She sounded defeated. I texted her, Rework is the Death of Creativity, and so, the shirt was born! It is a reminder that Rework is the Death of Creativity, and if you remember the first bullet point from the list above, "They HIRED you for a particular set of skills, your vision, and ideas," you can take back control of your sanity and creative direction.
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Working in the creative world, the number of revisions that come in can drive you insane. Even when you follow the creative brief with precision as a German engineer. Designed out of blood, sweat, and tears poured on a project, this is a war cry for any content creator!

And if you ever feel defeated, discouraged, and burned out, take time to create and design something for yourself. This shirt is the first time I designed something for myself in an extremely long time. I have to admit, it did help me feel better!

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​About the Author

Mike Matamala
​Creative Director | Senior Art Director | Multi-Media Designer
Mike is a Creative Director who embraces problems and solves them by using design, business experience & real world know how. ​