The article I am responding to is titled, “Kill Your Darlings” written by Peter Terzian. This article discusses the process of picking a good cover for a book and having some of the designer’s initial ideas rejected. While reading through and looking at the evolution of some of these covers, it reminded me of what Chip Kidd said in his Shillshare lesson of how a designer shouldn’t fall in love with an idea. Sometimes this is a hard thing to do because you think you have a great idea, but sometimes (most of the time) having an idea rejected can lead to an even better idea than you originally had. Other times designers will look back and still think their first idea was a good one, for example Rodrigo Corral who designed the cover for “Stranger than Fiction: True Stories by Chuck Palahniuk.” His first idea for the cover was rejected and looking back, he still thinks his design was more powerful than the one ultimately picked.
I can relate to both sides of the spectrum, because many of my designs evolve through a lot of different ideas. A lot of the time the end result will look nothing like what it first started as, and it ends up being a good thing. However, other times I will end up back at my original idea as the one I liked best.
As a designer, it is good to keep an open mind throughout the design process and welcome any ideas that come your way as they will help you decide what you like and dislike for your current project.
kimimpellizzieridesign 