How good is good enough?

As designers, we love what we do. Our profession is our passion. It can be a pain though, you’ll spend hours not only searching for the right mockup – it’s the Designer in our minds that makes us choose a specific product because we simply love the packaging, and it’s the Designer in our minds that furnishes our apartment. This sounds so cliche, but having a sense of aesthetics can make life a lot more colorful. On the other side, being a Designer can make life complicated. Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do, I wouldn’t want to change a thing about it, but saying this, I am also the one spending hours refining every detail of a design just because it’s just not as visually appealing as I want it to be.

Designers Desk

Good Design is aesthetic, easily understandable – and authentic.

Constantly looking for the better.

Living in a world where Designers need clients, and clients need branding, we’re all in the steady process of creation and improvement. Our goal seems clear: Make a brand unique and recognizable and form the desired identity. If you run a business and want a Designer to develop an Identity for your Brand, and you want it to be perfect – trust me, we feel you! We understand, that you just want the very best for your brand.
If I ask Brands, what’s their main values, there’s one word they all have in common: Authenticity. But inauthenticity equals perfectionism, so why are all of us striving for that one perfect solution? Authenticity means to behave in line with our own beliefs and values. It supports our well-being. Wouldn’t it be a lot more exciting to evolve a brand instead of constantly searching for something better, and planning out things that may or may not happen?

It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.

– André Gide

more than good enough

Screw up and do it anyway.

To counter an inauthentic front, we must let go of what others think and trust in the process, and accept our imperfections, to be loved for who we are. Designers and Brands with rough edges. Let me tell you something: even the ones who look polished and seem to have everything just right, screw up, and go ahead anyway.
The image of our perfect design or being present and consistent with our brand all the time can lead us to do this: nothing. And all of a sudden, we realize it’s the end of a long day and our design remains unfinished. Because it took us way too long to decide on a direction. This feeling can be just another reason to put our decisions off, with its behavior turning into an endless cycle.

burning incense

Better done than perfect.

So here’s my question: how good is good enough? Our mission as designers is to merge a business needs into a smart branding that will bring value to the people we want to attract. And to be 100% honest, there is quite a high chance that some of our audience doesn’t even care about the beauty and details of a design, and that’s okay. What hooks people, and makes them feel warmly welcomed, and finally, makes them come back is how we interact with them. People relate to people. Maybe we should all overcome the fear of being uncomfortable and embrace our flaws. And maybe, we should all start choosing authenticity over perfectionism. Because sometimes, it’s better done, than perfect.