Powerful Placeholders

Don't get sidetracked by detail. Ideas are always more important.

A trick I have used forever is to rely on square bracketing to placehold ideas so that I don’t get lost in asset hunts, or in perfecting an illustration.

If a line of cars in silhouette would look awesome here, I have two options. I can pursue the train of thought that identified the need, and figure out what else might improve my work.

Or I could head over to Getty hunting for the perfect image to execute the thought.

It’s certainly fun, satisfying, and feels like work to source images. The question is, does it make the work better? You can look for the perfect image, or look for the perfect idea.

Which do you think is more likely to result in great work?

Go back and find those images later. Don’t waste the thinking hours. Focus on the ideas.

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