Art direction under deadline

Choose before you explore

When the date is close, exploration is how projects miss it. Another reference, another treatment, another "what if" that cannot be produced.

Under a deadline we pick a direction early and spend the remaining time making that one good.

The choice can be simple. One light. One crop. One type of picture. What it cannot be is five options left open until the night before.

References are not a direction

A board of twelve images feels like progress and usually hides a disagreement. Everyone can point at a different frame and believe the project is on track.

We reduce the board until it argues one thing. If two pictures on it could not appear in the same campaign, one of them has to leave.

Edit in public

Deadline direction fails in private. A lead falls in love with a frame the producer cannot shoot, or the client sees the range for the first time at the end.

We show the choice while there is still time to reject it. One recommendation, with the reason, and the thing we are not doing.

Then we stop adding. New ideas after the choice are how the deadline gets spent twice.

Ship the decision

Art direction under time is judged by what ships, not by the options that were almost better. A clear picture on the date beats a perfect picture that missed it.

Protect the choice. Crop it, light it, and let the rest go.