What makes a collaboration great?
This is a shout-out and appreciation to @sudeeksha somani and all the great people who got together to create the first issue of Body Talk.
Having done several collaborations of this type, the Body Talk project stands out for a couple of reasons:
1. Sudeeksha had a clear vision of what the project would be, has impeccable taste, and maintained stellar communication throughout.
2. Everyone on the project put their best foot forward.
3. There was a clear plan, including a SoMe campaign (ongoing).
If you have done collabs, tell us about one that was worthwhile and why it was a good experience.
Replies12
- @sudeeksha somani Keep on bothering, and I agree. When people work well together, it builds connections and spurs further work.
- I feel so happy and humbled to read this .. haha!Body Talk has been so incredible because of you @Christiane Lange and everyone else who collaborated and contributed! Honestly, what makes a collab great is clarity and honesty at every point (especially when things don't pan out), being open to ideas, passionate and just having conversations. It’s also so important to feel that your contribution is valued because otherwise you’re not going to be excited about it. I try to keep these things in mind, as I ask myself what I would’ve appreciated if I was the other person, and that helps!So I hope everyone does that too. Because it’s important to respect the time and effort someone is putting in. Plus the best thing is that you can carry these connections forward ...(I still keep bothering so many as I think of new ideas & feel they’d be the perfect fit for it ... haha). xx :D
- @Stephen Tadiwanashe Gombakomba Yes, good communication seems to be a recurring theme.
- Coming from a musical and graphic background I think what makes a collaboration great is the sharing of information and stepping out of one's comfort zone. I work independently a lot of the time and when I collaborate I often find that it takes a huge weight off my shoulders and I can focus on one aspect of the collaboration.
- The best ones are when the team communicate at an early stage even if their roles seem disparate. Working together requires egos left at the door but a clear understanding of responsibility and programming. Being straight is critical and not making assumptions. And praise.
- @Peter Jackson Off topic, but George Lois did one of the all-time great campaigns for Greece. The tagline was "I'm going home ... to Greece" said by various well-known, and distinctly non-Greek, people.
- @Natasha Chetiyawardana That is also a really good point about the feedback, which goes to a more general point of maintaining good communication.Ditto for respect. I think it is important to show, with action preferably, that you value what people contribute.
- @Christiane Lange as George Lois says; the words come first then the visual. Although I don’t write long copy I often start with a headline to give the work direction. Sometimes the space where the visual appears is the inspiration so I see your issue.
- Agree with Peter, shared ambition, goals and agreed roles are key. I also think that a mindset of humility, learning, respect, empathy and openness is important. On top of this, I believe that feedback is crucial. If your goals and ambition are aligned, continual feedback with this as a bedrock will mean you are more able to colllaborate to meet these goals. Feedback (and by this I mean both constructive and what people did well) after every meeting, project...the big things and the little things means you constantly learn and also understand more about one another.
- @Peter Jackson Great point about the brief. Know what you want.You do the visual stuff, whereas my partner and I do the words. Just this morning, we were puzzling over a request from a client for some articles in connection with a trade fair. The topic is straight forward, but we have no info on where these articles will be used and that makes it impossible to hit the right tone.
- when third parties feel the same way as contributing partners
- Shared creative ambition.Before jumping into the creative work agree on the brief.I worked at an agency that adopted a ‘no brief, no work’ approach which helped.Agree on the goal.I recently worked on a challenging project where the deadline became more important than the quality.Agree on roles.I once had a client come to a presentation meeting, pull out a laptop and say; ‘I’ve been having a little play’.In all cases the project suffered.Great question by the way.
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