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How asking for advice and understanding the importance of time helped Zariyan Mansoor overcome creative block.

Introduction:

Showpass is an event-ticketing platform that focuses on creating end-to-end platform solutions for clients looking to host local events. The company primarily caters towards small-to-medium level clients and stands out with its catered approach to handling clients. This means the company invests in creating bespoke features on their platform, based on client needs and size.

As the sole graphic designer, I was responsible for the entire marketing departments assets creation. This meant overseeing the ideation, iteration and final development of any advertisement Showpass was putting out. Outside of advertising responsibilities, I was also in charge of working with the Sales teams to create and refine sales decks and one-pagers. Additionally I was also in charge of reconsolidating the brand, which meant conducting over 15 user interviews and exploring new directions the brand could evolve.

The last leg of my responsibilities at Showpass involved restructuring the Webflow-based B2B website to engage potential clients and increase the amount of generated leads. Outside of my main work at Showpass, I was also the lead Graphic Designer for a Showpass-run event called TapTalks, where I conceptualized and deployed the entire brand kit, created physical and digital assets such as SM templates, posters and slide decks, and conducted a lengthy UX journey to develop the Webflow-based website.

What was a challenge you faced and how did you work through it:

One of the largest challenges I faced was staying productive for the entirety of a 9.5 - 10 hour workday. As a Graphic Designer, 95% of my work is creatively taxing, so finding the motivation to work productively was incredibly difficult towards the beginning of my co-op.  Specifically, I began noticing that I entered creative blocks around 2-3 PM, which dramatically reduced my output during these hours. Initially, I tried experimenting on my own to alleviate this, but eventually, it was a mentor at the company who guided me in the right direction.

To fix this challenge, I attempted three different solutions, all with a varying level of success. To start, I tried pacing creative sprints to give myself breaks between tasks. Although this helped somewhat, using these times to endlessly wander on my phone was not the best for my mental health.

Next, I tried spending lull periods doing image grouping and extensive design research. Although this was productive at the start, it introduced an entirely new kind of burnout. Furthermore, I could only do so much research before it became repetitive.

Finally, I asked Showpass鈥� Creative Director for advice. There, I finally learned to keep a design journal, log important resources in a Notion Database, and scout individuals to network. 

Lessons I learned:

One of the most influential lessons I learned during this internship was to understand how important time truly is. In school, I had the luxury of spending countless hours refining graphic assets until I thought they were perfect. I have realized now in the workforce that you have to pick your battles in terms of perfecting designs.  Applying this lesson in my work meant I allocated certain projects to have more hours spent compared to others. By breaking down my work spent quantifiably, I can ensure I am as efficient as possible.

Another lesson I learned is the weight of inputs non-design departments have on your work. Although the design department might be the most visually qualified to break down and create designs, cross-functional departments such as sales get the final say in terms of how something appears, regardless if it goes against the fundamental design principles we learned in school. Applying this lesson meant I really had to reinforce the idea of not 鈥渕arrying鈥� your designs. Despite working hand-in-hand with departments, the final product could look vastly different than my original intention, and this was something I had to understand clearly.