TOPS + my own style in concept thinking

All creatives will tell you that they suffer various kind of mental block in different moment. Most creatives will also tell you that they are inconfident to spot the one: such insecurity may then become self-doubt.

It's a year and more since I rejoined as an agency creative. Needless to say my insecurity and self-doubt reoccurs every single day. Whenever there's a new brief to tackle, my mind wanders off the wall and really in doubt if I can come up the one in time (before Internal Review) or, if I did come up with something is a really good concept.

Way back from the beginning at my first interview, Endy emphasized the needs of Problem and Solution methodology. I'm no doubt in agreeable terms coz my own life-philosophy based upon a similar Causes and Consequences theory. Endy encouraged our mind training up with TOPS formulae: T: step into the life and mindset of the Target Audience; O: the project objectives: what to sell, what to be achieved; P: the problem regarding the brand, the product, the objective, the target and the relationship between; And S: the solution, the concept, or in simple terms, the message and how it is executed.

TOPS: which is the basic principle, can often crashed with my own brainstorming session. Which way to start, which way to end the thinking... so so often I keep doing research on the subject matter (target, products, the brand itself). I filled up many pages of tiny writings. And most of them are JUNKs.

The results: the first IR had been disaster. But amazingly after my re-grouping thoughts under my senior's direction, I am able to nail down the one. Haha~

This blogging piece is just to remind myself, that when can I really be confident enough to nail down the one? This is what I m missing to really achieve the next level of creative career. This is one of my 2007 resolution. Marked my words.

p.s. I really love my job.