considers

okay so first there is the inception of a thing. conception? it's the moment that whatever It is takes a start from. it's an over-arching theme. or it's a mandate. or it's a mantra you want people to adopt. or it's a reaction you want to elicit. it is the baby kernel that starts a Grand Thing.

that's concepting. and if you're lucky when you are concepting you come up with a lot of concepts that are good and solid. and you celebrate with sushi or steaks while your mental images get sharper and sharper. words fly together.

after that part which tends to feel very magical and filled with "aha!" moments every few minutes of the day. after that graceful state it gets progressively muddier. with details and Real World Constraints like Time and Money and Brand Guidelines. that little piece you started with takes root, but it also gets very heavy with rules and regulations. it does not shoot right up and break through the ceiling like you first pictured it would.

execution. a creative challenge. an existential challenge, i think? because yeah, Failure is Death. it's where the Grand Thing you came up with has to transition into a tangible experience or something like it, while you coax it along and try to keep it alive while it changes. if you can't do it, goodbye to your Grand Thing.

the greatest concept in the world will suck if it's burdened with a fucked up execution.

ideas tend to shake out like that. good concepts with bad executions or bad concepts with good executions, and when you are lucky and determined and have a rad team you get to have your cake and eat it too.

people tend to shake out like that a bit as well. i guess is what i'm really getting at.

at our best sometimes we are only a string of "you really had to be there to get it" moments.

and maybe our challenge is to execute our best concepts of ourselves? to make them real?

but maybe i need another perspective.

i have been working a lot you see, only refining selected parts of myself.

and if my life was a spreadsheet i would be retired by now, people. living on an island i owned with a prize fighting, pro skating, crime boss slash DJ slash Marine Biologist. srsly.

love,