The Answer to Good or Bad in Three Questions

Good or bad is easy to determine in many situations. Movie? "Gone with the Wind" – Good. "Mars Needs Moms" – Bad. However, other decisions aren’t so easy. As a public relations professional I have spent numerous hours in conference rooms and corner offices questioning the font choice of a brochure, pondering the best picture for an annual report cover and belaboring the abundant choices that come with developing a public relations piece that is the face of a company.

However, when I find myself stuck in the creative process – bleary eyed and weary of the minutia – I take a deep breath, put on a cup of tea and review the following:

1.  What are the goals for this piece? Are we asking people to sign up for something, visit a location, learn more about a particular issue, go online, pick up the phone? Ensuring your goals are clearly defined will help you know if you are achieving them.
2. Who is the intended audience? Make sure you’re piece isn’t overworked. People will often want to use one piece for a variety of targeted groups. Limit yourself to just one or two and your piece will be far more effective.
3. Does the piece look professionally done? These kind of projects are often done by committee – as they should be. It is always beneficial to get buy in from all the key decision makers from the beginning. However, don’t get hung up on color choices or artwork. In the end it isn’t likely to matter if your folder is chartreuse or magenta – what matter is if it looks as if it was given life by a professional graphic designer, printer, writer, etc.

Keeping these questions in mind will help you meet your intended goal and save you time when critical decisions need to be made.