Sometimes in the creative process, I need a buddy. Someone that can help me wade through a bog of ho-hum ideas to find the treasure of a great creative concept. Occasionally when the project, time, budget and stars align, I get the chance to collaborate with another creative, and it can be a wonderful thing.

The collaboration process, as with any creative project, starts with research. We begin to pull anything that relates to the look and feel of the project. That could be images, textures, typefaces - even sounds and tastes can help to create the foundation of a creative design. We take all this research and print out what we can and mount it all onto one giant board. The information is disseminated down while we begin to throw ideas back and forth. Somewhere in that seemingly chaotic brainstorming session, concepts are hatched. Only then does the really fun work start, creation.  

Good creation must start with good sketches. Every designer will have their own sketch process, but it boils down to the same basic principles, sketch sketch sketch. Get out as many ideas as you can with pen and paper. On a computer, you can get hung up on the execution of design and not the concept itself. Sketching allows the designer to quickly work through different layouts and styles and narrow ideas down to a winning design. With a creative partner in that process, I can move quicker and more precisely as we both begin to see what is working and, more importantly, what isn’t. We show each other our sketches throughout the process, constantly revising and refining. The refined sketches are then moved from analog to digital as we sit in front of the computer to get the design closer to its final state. And after all of that collaboration takes place, it’s time for the big client presentation. This is when we see a little healthy competition emerging, because we always want our individual designs to be chosen over what the other creatives on the team have developed. When we sit in that presentation meeting in front of the client, no matter if my design wins or loses,  one thing always holds true. Because we’ve all worked together, the stronger my work is, as well as the work of my team.

So although it may be easier to sit in a corner brainstorming and sketching all on my own, I’m really proud when I’m able to show an end-product that is the result of collaborative teamwork. What was your best experience with collaboration? Why do you think it was so successful?  What’s the most difficult, or annoying thing about trying to collaborate on a project?