November 29, 2022

Thinking in solutions

Whenever I’ve worked in a team to solve complex problems, especially in my picture book work, one thing remains true – people communicate their problems in solutions.

I’d be surprised if it hasn’t happened to other illustrators or writers, too. We receive feedback on our work and it’s often in the form of recommendations about how to fix a problem, not what the problem is. For example, “Could we change the shape of the trees in the forest to something like X, it’ll feel more ‘natural’.”

With this form of feedback, I first need to work out whether it’s direction, suggestion, or comment, before I’m able to respond in a productive way. But, there’s also another way to be productive when we receive solutions to unarticulated problems – find out what the problem is.

See, the issue with providing ‘written notes’ as feedback is that we’re limited by language. Not all of us are great writers and so feeling, meaning, and intent can slip through the cracks. I can’t remember where I read it, but the quote was, “When an editor can see something wrong, they’re almost always right. But the way they suggest to make it right is almost always wrong.”

Asking questions like, “what do you mean by natural?” or “can you explain to me why you’re feeling this way?” (the ones that have ‘why’ in it) finds the layer below the solution and, inevitably, uncovers the problem.

Once we have the problem, we can use what we do best to solve it.

Other observations
November 5, 2024

Consistent or resistant

Is my aversion to change about my wanting to be consistent? Or, am I actually being resistant and am I losing something because of that?

October 22, 2024

Critically unacclaimed

What do reviews really tell us about the work? Does it matter who’s reviewing?

October 15, 2024

Proper technique

If I’m learning a new art form, do I focus on technical correctness first or building an emotional connection with the medium?

October 8, 2024

The importance of mess

Physical art materials are messy and inconvenient. But isn’t that the point?

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