How many times have you given creative direction for a project only to be dismally disappointed with what’s come back?
Whenever your vision has to come to life through the work of another, the potential for disconnect between your idea and the end product exists. It’s like a game of telephone. At the start, the idea is clear, but then you tell it to someone else, who delivers it to someone else, and so on. By the time the end product gets back to you, it barely resembles the original.
Luckily, there are fast and easy ways to improve how you deliver creative direction. Here are five of the most common creative direction mistakes and how to fix them, illustrated with voice-over audio files (using different approaches to the same line) to show you what’s really happening.
Mistake #1: Too vague
Vague direction is not synonymous with no direction. Instead, vague direction is more aptly identified by the way it leaves the door open to interpretation.
Instructions like “I want it to pop,” or “give it a clean feel” are all subjective and this poses a problem when it comes to how the receiving party will interpret them.
Here, we’ve asked the voice actor to “make it pop.”
You can hear that she’s added punch to her delivery of the words, but is that what was intended? “Pop” can be percussive, higher-pitched, emotional, or something else entirely. Much better to specify.
How to fix it: It’s okay to use these types of descriptions when you couple them with how creatives can bring them to life. For instance, in graphic design, a “clean” feel could be realized through light color palettes, sparse copy and airy spacing between graphic elements. Include these specifics to avoid misinterpretation.
Mistake #2: Too prescriptive
Direction that is too rigid leaves no room for your creative team to add value. You hired them because they’re creative, and yet the creative direction has pigeonholed the end product into unbending parameters. You can identify this problem when you’re providing examples or sketches that have to be replicated. It often lacks clear communication about what the project is setting out to achieve.
In this example, we’ve painted the voice actor into a corner with numerous restrictions, saying she must emulate Emma Stone’s voice, while also providing a bright, booming quality.
It’s clear that she’s trying to layer on a lot of drama, resulting in a very intense end product. This is not necessarily bad until you realize that it’s wrong for the context.
How to fix it: Specify what elements must be to a certain spec (e.g. the Pantone colors of your brand) along with where there is room for creatives to play (like how the logo is animated). Add in details about what the end product should look like and what it needs to achieve so your team can enhance, not copy, your vision.
Mistake #3: Contradictory direction
Contradictory direction includes two or more instructions that cannot be carried out at the same time. This forces the creative to make an arbitrary decision over which to keep and which to let go. For example, you’re creating a commercial to communicate the seriousness of early cancer detection, but you’ve asked for voice-over that’s upbeat and friendly.
When we asked the voice actor to provide a young and vibrant performance that also sounded “wise beyond your years,” we received this in return:
The sonic qualities of youth don’t mix well with what most of us associate with wisdom, meaning that she couldn’t achieve both at once.
How to fix it: Have someone who is not tied to your project take a quick read of your direction and ask them what they think it means. If your direction includes elements that seem contradictory but are meant to play together, describe how this juxtaposition helps achieve the greater message. For example, the upbeat voice-over may be intended to help reduce anxiety over the cancer screening process, improve rates of early detection and thus save lives.
Mistake #4: Missing description of tone
It’s not uncommon to have teams or freelancers working separately to produce individual elements of a campaign, like a copywriter, videographer and animator working on a corporate video. To create a cohesive product, each contributor needs to understand the tone of their contribution and how it fits within the bigger picture. For instance, you’re shooting a car commercial with the booming voice of a famous actor and slow-motion shots of the car’s performance. But is it meant to be serious or satirical?
For this mistake, we gave the voice actor every quality except tone.
With no tone specified, she made a strategic choice. The read that she supplies is great, but again, is this what you wanted?
How to fix it: Describe how each element enhances the intended message. Be aware that just because the end product has one tone, it doesn’t mean that each element mirrors it.
Mistake #5: Not consulting stakeholders
Make “consult and confirm” your motto. Simply put, if you don’t confirm and get agreement on what a stakeholder said, you’ll find yourself constantly going back to the drawing board.
There is no voice-over file to illustrate this mistake. No matter what kind of performance the voice actor would supply, the direction would not have been approved. Even worse? Money would have been wasted.
How to fix it: Using a shared creative brief that has sign-off from appropriate parties is one way to avoid this potentially costly mistake.
As we’ve heard in the audio files, providing poor creative direction won’t necessarily end in a poor result. Our voice actor, like your creative partners, is a professional and will provide their best interpretation. However, interpretation might be all you’ll receive if you don’t clearly specify what you actually want.
While you’ll never be able to control someone else’s creativity, that’s far from the point. You want the best out of your creative teams. Therefore, your creative direction needs to inspire as well as set parameters for success. Now that you’re able to recognize these five common mistakes, you’ll be in a strong position to lead your projects to success.
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Alina Morkin is the VP of marketing at Voices.com, which helps brands work smarter and faster by connecting them with voice actors from around the world. A marketing and communications professional with over 15 years of experience on both the brand and agency sides, she helps others use the power of effective, thoughtful, metrics-oriented marketing to drive business objectives and results.
