Client feedback flipped my whole view on motion design briefs

Last week a studio in Austin sent back my animatic with notes that seemed to contradict each other. I spent 3 days annoyed, thinking they didn't know what they wanted. Then I sat down with their brand manager on a call and she walked me through their actual campaign goal. It hit me that my original brief was too vague about the pacing and the color story. I mean, I always thought tight briefs meant more control, but now I see they just limit how I can solve the problem. Since then I've started asking clients for their worst-case scenario and their dream outcome before I touch a timeline. Has anyone else found that specific negative feedback leads to better creative than positive praise?

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hugo3716d agoMost Upvoted

Ha, yeah, that tracks with just about everything else in life. People only tell you what's broken, never what works, so that's the only real info you get. It's like when you cook for someone and they say "it's good," but if you burn the garlic they'll never let you live it down. You learn way more from the burn than the compliment, and you get better because of it. The trick is to stop taking the burn personally and start reading it as a map to where you need to go.