Over-Designing!

[Acuity]

I suffer from a chronic condition of over-designing lol

I forever finding myself wanting to add to a design.. an extra brush there, an extra color there etc etc.. often leading me to over-complicate designs... and i find designing with white as the primary colour HARD... its wierd... i LOVE designs that are beautifully simple and find it impossible to just place a subtle symbol and text on something... One of you "richard gray" i think posted his new business cards on here, its literally sum text and 1px line sin one corner and then just some contact details and its QUALITY... if that was me i would have had to splash colours etc everywhere.. not really sure on the point of this post lol

do any of you ever struggle to just STOP and say... FINISHED!

[zumojuice]

Haha thanks for the compliment mate!

Fact is, you can sit there and change designs till the cows come home and beyond, but there does need to be a point where one needs to stop. Often a period of experimenting, be that on a mac or otherwise can get that out your system, perhaps because you're then aiming for something rather than a stab in the dark.

With most stuff, I go into it with a open mind but byt the time I am starting to create artwork, I've got a fair idea of the sort of 'feel' i want the creative to have, if not the look.

[Cwilk]

When I first started out, I suffered from over design or underdesign...: ). But now, I love white space...not too much and not too little. Unfortunately my clients like overdesigned pieces. It's difficult to make clients understand that it should be clean, but they want more information for their money.

[zumojuice]

I really like your clearer stuff. but its true, some clients want more. I think it all comes down to how you start with the client

[PaulClark]

Apologies to everyone who's seen this already, but it's just SO good!:

Make my logo bigger cream

[zumojuice]

haha thats very cool.

[rossable]

i've found that sketching out ideas first and narrowing your focus to what is needed instead of starting in with nothing but imagination does wonders. the more you sketch the less time you waste in actual production thereby saving your self time/money. it's typical to start will too many elements in a design and then whittle it down to the point where there is not enough elements to convey the message appropriately. sketching helps you quickly focus on what is needed and thereby maintain balance in your work.

[zumojuice]

Its a good start point. But allow yourself to see the sketch as a starting point. Often that bit of type you wanting to try just won't work and you'll need try something else.

[L[Design]]

I am a white space lover. Have always been. About 2 years ago I ran into a couple of my professors from art school, as we talked, graphic design came up so I got my portfolio and showed them what I had been working on. Their thoughts were that I under designed, too much white space, need more color, blah, blah, blah. I actually listened to them, you know they were my professors, so here I am emulating someone elses style for a bit. Didn't last long, I made my way back to what I love, SPACE. SIMPLE. To me, the more the space and simple the better.

[zumojuice]

Well said.