Here’s your friendly PSA: the creative process in design isn’t linear. And if you’re in charge of deadlines, launches, or stakeholder sign-off, here’s why that matters.
We know the pressure’s real—budgets, campaign windows, sales targets. But here’s what your designers (and developers and writers) wish more CMOs and project leads understood:
1. Design Isn’t Manufacturing
You can’t treat creativity like a production line. It’s not plug-and-play—it’s iteration, feedback, and yes, a little bit of magic. Some of the strongest ideas don’t appear in round one. They show up in round two… or even five. And when you cut the timeline short, you often miss the brilliance entirely.
2. Good Feedback Moves Us Forward
“Make it pop” isn’t feedback—it’s a delay. If you want progress, be specific and tie your notes back to goals. Want something more readable for older users? Say that. Want something more aligned with biotech buyers? Great. Designers want to solve problems—help them understand what those problems are.
3. Approvals Need Alignment
If there’s no shared understanding of the creative goals, the approval process gets stuck. Twelve rounds of “this isn’t quite it” usually means no one agreed on the “it” in the first place. That’s where clear briefs and early alignment speed things up—dramatically.
The Bottom Line
The creative process in design thrives when timelines have breathing room, feedback is thoughtful, and alignment happens early.
Respect the process, and the work gets better. Every time.
Need Help Aligning Your Creative Process?
If your team’s creative work is stuck in cycles of confusion, we can help.
Wizardly builds systems that align timelines, feedback, and approvals—so ideas move forward, not in circles.
Need help aligning your creative process? Let’s talk
