What’s 10% Of Nothing?
Crystal posted this on May 6, 2008
252 of 2,601 squares—Image credit: striatic
The Backstory
Back in 1987—before CDs, iPods, the Internet, and eBay—I was a first year student in Virginia Tech’s architecture program. The program’s first phase was the Foundation, where they stret-t-t-t-t-tched our mind with design possibilities. And my first professor, Gene Egger, was max fabulous at making design possibilities happen.
The man wouldn’t let us use color for three months—he said we had earn it. No fasteners or glue for model building, either. From Labor Day to Thanksgiving, our world was pencil and black pens, white poster board, white paper, and clever assembly.
And so he kept us focused on the fundamentals of making things—not making things pretty—and we learned to handle materials the way they wanted to be handled. His offbeat rules had an amazing way of teaching us things we didn’t appreciate until much later.
Oddly enough, his lessons have helped me throughout my many detours, like developing websites and building databases. But the best of Egger’s lessons might be the most widely applicable: his 10% rule.
Only 10% of what you create is going to be worth looking at. So you better create a lot of things. Don’t make only 10 things and risk having only 1 thing to show. Make a hundred so you can choose your best from 10.
As you read on, think on how you can use this method to brainstorm your next product, a new service offering, that client’s logo, or a new tagline [Go GirlPie!].
The Assignment
After his proclamation (he never spoke, he always proclaimed), Egger sent us back to our desks to:
Draw 10 squares
We could draw them however we liked, so long as we didn’t draw a typical 4-sided box, they were all different, and we didn’t take too much time. So I lightly penciled 10 1-inch squares on a sheet of paper and got to work filling them with inked dots, scribbles, smudges, fingerprints, whatever.
A bit later he called us back to the meeting room to display our collection of mini-masterpieces. Once they were hanging, he walked the wall and did his usual round of harrumph-correct-encourage-tease-taunt. Then he had us collect them, and
Choose one square we liked, and make 10 more squares just like it…but not exactly like it
The drawing style or technique we used for our favored square was now a theme, and I found it tricky—but satisfying—to repeat it 10 times without duplicating it.
Soon after, Egger rounded us up again to show off the new families of squares. He was content with the results, and congratulated us on our cleverness, our variety, and our stamina. And then he told us to
Go make 100 of them
As they say in the South, we liked to’ve died. Imagine the sound of 24 jaws hitting 24 desks and 1 professor cackling and rubbing his 2 hands together. He was the best kind of wicked.
And so I spent the rest of the morning drafting a faint 10 x 10 grid and a long night thoughtfully crafting 100 different inked squares.
And—as you’ve already guessed—Egger was right.
The Results
Most of the 100 squares were OK
But just okay. Not thought-provoking, not well-designed, not well-drawn. Just meh.
Some of the 100 squares were really nifty
Who knows…maybe I jumped to a new string of ideas, or worked my way up to a good’un, or just got out of my own way. But some of them were interesting to look at. It seemed that if you looked long and hard enough, you’d find a whole world in there.
A few of the 100 squares were amazing
After drawing dozens of them, I got good at it. My drawing technique strengthened and the theme solidified. I was drawing a lot less and creating a lot more. And every so often, I’d make a square that shimmered with craftsmanship.
The Takeaway
A fabulous way to drag the best bits from all the corners of your mind or all the people in your workgroup: Find 100 ways.
You don’t need a new product idea. You need 100.
You don’t need a new service offering. You need 100.
You don’t need a logo idea for a client. You need 100.
And GirlPie had 65 super-yum taglines for Naomi, but when it’s your turn to make a tagline, you need 100.
You need 100 of whatever you’re creating so you can feel free to create stuff that sucks. Sitting there trying to invent one great-and-most-perfect thing can drain your creative juices and tie your thinking cap in knots.
It’s far better to plan for 100 so you can look at the first six (that might be complete crap) and know your plan includes 94 more opportunities to get it right.
It’s also easier, funner, and effective-er to design generously, to lavishly and carelessly cover a cocktail napkin/legal pad/whiteboard/moleskine with miles of potential suckage, knowing the odds are in your favor that you’ll find 10 well-crafted options in the end. And if you’re having a really good day, you’ll hold 1 that’s purely brilliant.
But most of all it’s important to do any amount of what you want to get done. Doing however much you can manage is better than doing nothing at all because—
What’s 10% of nothing?
Et tu? What do you think? Is creating 100 things excessive, utter brilliance, or somewhere in between?
Tagged with: creativity · pep talk
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45 Responses to “What’s 10% Of Nothing?”
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I’m just starting to get into web design, but I can already see how much doing multiple mock proofs can help. Even after I’m sure I am completely happy with the design I force myself to do one more. More often than not that one more is better than the previous.
Now 100, that might be pushing it.
Recent blog post from Jeremy Davis: Having 100 1% Doesn’t Make 100% (At Least Not for Projects)
Wonderful post with which to start my day!
This is the thing that I’ve had to work at the hardest when it comes to my writing.
You need 100 of whatever you’re creating so you can feel free to create stuff that sucks. Sitting there trying to invent one great-and-most-perfect thing can drain your creative juices and tie your thinking cap in knots.
I used to sit in front of the computer screen with a blank Word document in front of me, hitting the backspace key 800 times trying to craft perfect sentences on the spot. Talk about the wrong way of doing things.
One of my favorite mantras from Julia Cameron is one of the simplest: “In order to be a good writer, I have to be willing to be a bad writer.” Instead of trying so hard to think something up, writing should be more of just “getting something down.”
Cheers to Egger! I will keep the 10 percent rule in the forefront today to honor a teacher we could use thousands more of in our classrooms.
Wonderful post. The next time a client complains about the hours required to produce an ad I will direct them here.
I’ve also been trying to get this idea across to my teenagers. Father droning on to teenage son who pretends to listen, “One draft of an essay isn’t enough. Be prepared to do it ten times if you want to produce something special.”
Recent blog post from James Hipkin: Change is Good - Or How to Exit the Insanity Trap
Fabulous post.
I’m inspired, but I’m not quite sure how yet. I’ll think of 100 things to try and then we’ll see what comes of them. =)
-Bec
Crystal,
Thank you for these words of wisdom today.
I learned how to really brainstorm years ago, and I think sometimes people think I’m crazy to keep so many ideas on the go.
Yet, every so often, they come up again.
Last night, I was chatting with a group of friends - one of them said, we should try “x”.
Then I said, I’ve been thinking about doing “x” in this way, but I can’t do it by myself, what does everyone think?
So - we are going to do it. Just one of many things I will be working on soon.
So when I have an idea, no matter how wacky, I write it down. Later, when I’m bored, I’ll flesh it out a bit.
Then, I put it in my big mind map - and I’m always amazed, it all fits in with my brain’s master plan, somehow.
You’d swear a higher power was behind it.
And James - your post fits in perfectly with this, I think. Go waaaaay outside the box, ask someone randomly on the street for ideas, whatever.
Thanks for the words today - Brett
Recent blog post from Brett Legree: time.
I am going to put this theory to my own test.
Live From Las Vegas
The Masked Millionaire
Crystal,
Another thought provoking post. This is something I have always struggled with. In school I was always of a mind to write a paper once and never look at it again. I’ve gotten better about creating multiple mock-ups of the same design, but still not nearly enough I’m sure. I’ll definitely have to think about how I can apply this in my own business…
Kyle Claypool / OnYourBusiness
Recent blog post from Kyle / OnYourBusiness: IDEO on Following Your Passion
Gene Egger sounds like a wonderful professor.
I love the message you share here Crystal. It reminds me of a Dolf de Roos real estate investment seminar cd I listened to. He said out of 100 properties you investigate you’ll find one killer deal. Otherwise there not good enough deals.
Hi Jeremy! First, you have a great post today
How fun that we both have percents on the brain?
And you know, for larger design projects, maybe 100 is pushing it a bit
You’ve got the heart of this in your process, though, by doing one more than you think you need to. What a cool idea, and a bit less painful than doing 100. Lemme know if you ever write about that?
But hey. Who’s to say you can’t do 100 mockups? They’d be super rough, but if we had a sheet with small screen-proportioned squares on it, like for a storyboard, and blew through page after page doing super-quick layout ideas…1 per minute would be only just over an hour and a half. 2 minutes each is just a morning or afternoon chunk of a work day. Gotta set a timer though.
That sounds insane LoL But more than having 100 to pick through at the end, I think we’d get stuck on one we realllly liked. Or repeat a theme over and over because we prefer it. I don’t think the results would work the same as the 100 squares exercise, but the same benefit would be there?
Whattaya think?
Oh Crystal.. we will be friends for sure. I love this part of the process. Thanks for reminding me. I spent quite some time saturday making lots of little “squares”… ink or pencil on paper will always be my first tool of choice on anything…
10% of nothing..and lots of room for suckage…very, very important….
Translation is beautiful to apply this across disciplines…love, love love this.
Recent blog post from Janice Cartier: First Rule- Don’t Panic
Crystal,
Thanks for the kind words about my post. Even though 87.32% of all stats are made up, you really can’t beat a good percentage.
You know I should get a couple of my projects finished this week and have plans to start making my sites WP theme. So I might try to incorporate this into my process and see how it goes.
Let me know if this sounds doable.
The basic idea is to do 10 mocks a day and build on the previous day. I would probably do it like this.
Days 1-5: Do 10 rough sketches of layouts in my Moleskine with each day building on the previous day’s best and adding more details.
Day 6: Put Day 5’s 10 into Fireworks wireframes.
Days 7 - 10: Keep refining, adding detail and playing with color until I pick the final mock on day 10.
Thanks for the encouragement. If I do it I’ll blog it to keep me accountable.
10 Days. 100 Designs. 1 Winner.
I can see it already.
Crystal,
I love this post!!
It reminded me of all my great profs and their witty ways to keep us going. You probably remember rolls of vellum… we had one prof who said never rip off a “sheet,” just keep unrolling and unrolling, so you won’t feel like there’s any logical end to the ideation process (sort of like your 100 ideas). We all had puddles of paper hanging off the side of our drafting tables…
There was one who said clear your head of the problem you’re trying to solve and just write/draw anything for a period of time, stream-of-consciousness style. I still do that at the start of most projects…
There was one who said when you’ve got the right idea, and you’re halfway through the execution and you’re sure it now stinks, keep going. That’s a good one, because there are lots of times when halfway through a project either your mood or the current state of disarray makes things seem pretty bleak…
I draw on my old teachers’ advice all the time. I sort of pull one out and think, what would he or she tell me to do? then I do that. It gives me fresh perspective and a kick in the pants when I feel like I can’t edit myself anymore, to think of how others might edit me.
100 ways is an awesome idea. Your prof is going into that mental drawer, so I can pull him out next time I need a swift kick. Thanks!
Regards,
Kelly
Recent blog post from Kelly: Brand Propheteers: Part Three - Grand Concepts, Practical Advice, and the One Great WoM Story
thanks partner!
my brainstorming brain has a windstrorm going on and I can’t keep the pen jotting them down fast enough..and now you had to go add to it!!!
awesome…beautiful……agh!!!!
got to go…stirring pots!
ribbitt!!!
Recent blog post from Wendi Kelly: The Attitude of Staying Put
Thanks for the great post, and for the shout out on my tagline riffs for the wonderful IttyBiz. Your smart comments there led me to discover this swell BBB blog —
We’ve always used the 10% rule in my field, but not that volume. MY first mentor in the business taught me to learn from my riffing: am I strongest right outta the gate (first 20% are best and they peter off) or did I ramp up and get better as I went (last 20% were best)? Useful to learn about yourself, especially when having to craft aloud with others.
And he taught me to know when to stop. Which I still am not great at. But, as your commentator Kristen learned, Julia Cameron’s ‘morning pages’ is a great tool to release the “bad writing’ (flush the pipes, as it were) to allow the flow of the creative writing.
I’ve learned another angle on your smart post: discover your creativity cycle. Are you more creative in the wee hours? Late morning? After dinner? There are best times for tasks, times for presenting, and times for creating. Learning your own personal strengths and honoring them help deliver that great percentage on a more reliable system.
Thanks for getting us thinking!
Now the real challenge:
How do you budget resources to allow for the time to implement the “100″ rule. I think it’s a great idea, but sometimes time or money constraints prohibit that type of effort.
OK, I’m probably missing the point- but I’m trying to apply it to our business model.
I guess I just need to think about it for another 100 minutes.
thanks for the thought-provoking post,
Banner Boy
Having lurked for a while, this post had me grinning from ear to ear and I just had to let you know that I think it’s brilliant. I’m going to see how I can apply this to what I’m up to at the moment.
Recent blog post from James: When will I be ready?
Hi Kristen, and welcome!
Wow, what a totally cool quote! I don’t know anything about Julia Cameron, and “willing to be a bad ___” encapsulates my life struggle with being a designer. Perfect words about accepting imperfection! I need to read more from her…what would you suggest I read first? I peeked at your blog and you mentioned “The Artist’s Way”?
On that topic, Brett turned me on to NaNoWriMo, the annual marathon to write 50,000 words in the 30 days of November? What surprised and thrilled me about the challenge is reading that it’s it’s “writing month”, not “write and edit month”. A suggestion for success was to outline the novel thoroughly prior to the start date, and on Nov 1, begin writing and edit nothing. Not one word. Just keep going, because it’s about quantity not quality. Quality is for March, which is National Editing Month!
A world with a thousand Eggers would be a testy place, with much proclaiming…but damn. So much more work would get done, and it would be so much better designed overall.
Thanks for your comment!
Hi James—HA! Thanks, and send them on! I’ll teach ‘em about timing creativity and excellence with a stopwatch…magic takes time, folks. Not necessarily a whole lot of time, and less with practice, but it does, and always will, take time.
Re: teens pretending to listen: If your teenagers are as hard-headed now as I was then, the learning might come a week, or month, or even a year behind the lesson, but it will come! They’re blessed to have a Dad willing to “drone on”
Hi Bec!
Before ‘welcome’, I have to say: I am awed by your hair. It was great fun poking around your Flickr pages and seeing your candy apple coif among all the ATCs. Speaking of which, the “la fee verte” series was really nifty. They sparked an idea…
Okay: Welcome! Based on your blog and Flickr pages, I expect you’ll think of something very cool. Come back and let us know when you do? And if you Flickr or blog on the 100, feel free to include the link so we can all drop by…
Thanks for commenting!
Heyyy Brett—Ooo, don’t you love the ideas that sustain? Like you said, ideas tend to come and go (and come and come), but the ones that reappear are so beautious. Sometimes they’re better for having simmered a bit, or sometimes we’re just better prepared to work with them later.
Your big mind map, eh? Is that another one of your wonderful Big Picture tools? Digital or on paper?
And I would swear a higher power is behind it. Whichever one best suits you
James’ post was so tee-on-time. My favorite bit from his How to Exit the Insanity Trap: “Ask the most junior team member what they would do. Their biggest asset is ignorance.”
Looking forward to the many things you have coming next… CW
Howdy Masked One: Come back and let us know how your test went, k? Cheers!
Hi Kyle! Many thanks
Check out Jeremy’s earlier comment, if you haven’t already? I really like his idea of doing one more than he thinks he needs to do. I totally see where that last little push yields great stuff, no matter what we’re doing.
Hi Sterling! Wow, and I thought Egger set a high bar. Only 1% of the properties you check out are a good deal? I think that qualifies looking for a property deal as an epic adventure…but wow, what a gem that one property is. Like most super-valuable hard-won discoveries, it would be totally worth the effort.
Something new to think on, and apply…hmmm. Thanks for another percentage to chew on!
Hi Janice, and welcome and I bet we will be friends. You quoted Douglas Adams in your latest post, and I think I spotted the reporter’s moleskine? I love mine, and have been wondering when I’d find someone else with it. And I think I spotted your little squares in the “noodle of twine” photo? I’m glad you came by and crossed paths.
And “Asheville#1 Diptych 8 bit info” is a wonder to look at, and “Chaos Magnolia” even moreso…yet another reason to visit Flickr.
Thanks for loving this x 3! I’m encouraged to unearth more design assignments to see if I can repurpose them for our day-to-day work…
Oooo Jeremy! How much do I love it that at 9am you said 100 mocks ‘might be pushing it’, but by 2pm you created a process to manage exactly that? Answer: A lot. I love it A LOT.
You have a fantabulous idea: completely doable, and it’s truer to Egger’s original assignment, which isn’t JUST about doing 100, but also developing, refining, and expanding a collection on a theme. This is fab. Do it, do it. Do it.
My site needs a WP theme, and I’ve been itching to work on it for weeks. But there are too many posts to write, too much classwork to do. Too much other stuff to start an all-consuming design process. Or at least, so I’ve been telling myself. But now you’ve got me thinking I can nibble at it, maybe record 2 WP theme ideas per day for 50 days to carry me to the end of my semester…
I can see it already
Kelly! OMG! We had a gazillion yard roll of white paper, I think 18″ or 24″ tall, to maintain for our whole first year. NEVER tore anything off, just continually rolled up the used end and kept going. I had totally forgotten about that… and until now, I hadn’t thought about it the way you’re describing it. Wow!
I’m hooked on the advice your profs gave you—they’re new to me. I know derivatives of them, to be sure, but it’s different to read about them in your original context. When I need to clear my head, I listen to an audiobook, or read a book, whatever to shift focus. But that’s not exactly “head clearing”, and that’s something to consider…
I like the idea of “when it surely stinks, keep going”…it’s like Jeremy’s “one more”, like Ross’ “to the last drop”, and Dori’s “keep swimming”. I’m discovering I’m not a “keep your eye on the prize” person, so words that encourages me to continue with a process are golden.
So glad I had something to add to your swift kick toolbox! Now I’m really psyched to blog on some of the other assignments…
Many many thanks!
Wendi-ness, always glad to add a bit mo’ breeze to a brainstorm
Stir on!
Ribbitt!
(and if you don’t know what Wendi and I are talking about, you must have missed her Slow Cooking Frogs post. A good, fun, relevant read)
Hi GirlPie! My pleasure, I would have shouted directly to somewhere, but you never leave a link? Lemme know if there’s somewhere I should point folks…
And dang. What incredible thoughts on crafting your craft. I don’t know the answers to any of the things you offered up, and clearly it would do me (and all of us) no end of benefit to finding that stuff out. Doing a warm up to the ‘real’ work, knowing our most creative time (vs the most productive time we hear so much of), and all the rest. Key questions requiring answers. I’ll be working on it.
Thanks, as ever, for your cool and kickstarting comment!
Hi Crystal,
Exactly! Vision Board, Don’t Break the Chain, and my mindmaps - all are big picture tools.
(I’m thinking that little thing we’ve chatted about will have to be expanded somewhat. I’ll do it.)
I use paper and pen for the mindmapping, even though I have a great tool for it on the computer. The paper and pen allow doodling and just seem to flow so much better…
-Brett
Recent blog post from Brett Legree: time.
Hi Banner Boy, and welcome!
That is indeed the real challenge, with emphasis on the word real. This stuff is only valuable if we can make it work for real life and real work. I don’t think you’re missing the point at all…I think you’re bringing up a new, quite critical point. Let’s figger a way to make it work for you.
Note: I wrote this far once already and totally lost the comment in some Magical Mystery Way. Let’s hope my browser will let me get through it this time
Like you said, limited resources on a job/assignment/gig/project will kill any chance of cranking out 100 of something. So maybe we don’t do 100 for each project. Maybe we do 100, period.
For example, whatever you’re brainstorming for, whether it’s banner layouts, or color schemes, or whatever, carve out an afternoon to brainstorm 100 of them (or 50, or whatever you can make time for), and then guard them with your life lol
Now you have a Go-To Grab Bag of ideas suited to your business….the benefits of Brainstorm 100 without having to continually invest the time. Whattaya think?
Hi James, and welcome! It makes my day to hear this got you smiling and thinking and seeing how to make it work for you.
First, gotta say your “When will I be ready?” post is stellar. And right on time. it aligns completely with stuff I learned today about how I work best, and I think the How/Why combination of the SCAN idea is cool cool cool. Working solo, tools that keep us asking questions and validating our decisions can be as effective as having another person to bounce ideas off of.
So glad you delurked (unlurked?), or we would have missed out on your 12-step plan for preparation addicts. I particularly like the emphasis on doing tiny bits, and frequent celebrations
@Brett — Hmm, Big Picture tools. I’m definitely going to do a Vision Board, and DBtC for the gym. But when it comes to mind maps…hmph. I’m great at making plans and following them, but a full-scale, all-encompassing mind map would kill me. I can’t see too much of the Picture after I’ve painted it, or I get intimidated into inertia for some yet-unknown reason (a new realization that was thrust upon me today…it explains a LOT).
Maybe I should do big mind map, but break it up into little ones? Or smaller mind maps that work into a bigger one? Like from Todoodlist?
@Crystal,
That’s how I started mine, actually - I just did a little piece, then added to it the next day, and the next - I need a bigger piece of paper now!
I’ll take a picture of mine and send it to you, once I put it on that bigger piece of paper!
-Brett
Recent blog post from Brett Legree: time.
@Brett—Okay, bits and more bits I can manage. Cool..okay, I can do that. Can and Will
And I’ll enjoy your photo whenever you get to it! Every bit you guys share with me gets or keeps me moving, and I’m grateful for it. Buckets of thanks!
Oh great googly moogly! You just dragged me all the way back to arts school and Visualization 101. We spent the entire first week drawing straight lines freehand on huge sheets of paper, and I’m still not sure why. Now if my professor had presented it anything like yours, I may have taken something away from the exercise besides hand cramps.
Great post, and so true! Sometimes the only way I’m able to get past trying so hard is to know there are many many more chances to get it just right, whether in art, web design or writing.
Thanks!
Nicole
Recent blog post from Nicole: Reserved Tea Time
Nicole,
Is that a quote from Maggie and the Ferocious Beast? Too funny.
My first interior design prof was nuts for line quality. Of course we all had mechanical pencils, so you think how fat or smudgy can my line get, you never have to sharpen the thing… Well we found out. After every line, rotate the barrel of the pencil in your hand a quarter-turn. Over and over and over, or you’ll be doing those darned lines again.
It didn’t take long at all to realize she was right, but it did take a while to stop resenting that she was right…
It is *many* years later now, and I still do it. Does anyone care that my lines are gorgeous? No. It’s a part of being meticulous in all my work, and that they do care about.
Little lessons like that are neat.
Regards,
Kelly
Recent blog post from Kelly: Inspiration Points: No Regrets!
@Crystal- I owe you huge thanks for taking me back to the moleskine basics of what makes it all work for me…I LOVE , SERIOUSLY LOVE love pulling paint or pen or pencil across a surface…and that room for plenty of suckage….that’s where elegance is born….I owe today’s post to you and to Michael Martine for asking for that quick essential what is it that you do.
@Kelly-show me a line and I’ll tell you the truth of that moment. ; )
Recent blog post from Janice Cartier: It Begins With a Puddle
Janice,
So very true!
Recent blog post from Kelly: Inspiration Points: No Regrets!
Howdy Janice! My pleasure, for sure. It’s so fun to hear that someone still enjoys writing on paper. Thanks to http://www.todoodlist.com, I’m renewing my love for writing and always carrying a pad to jot thoughts in. Glad to share the joy with you
Blessings aplenty!
Hi Nicole, and welcome!
And oh DEAR, are you serious? I can totally see the value in the exercise, but only because I’m 20 years older than we were then and didn’t have to do it myself. In the moment, though, I would have been cussin’ while I was drawing.
Many thanks for adding your words to the convo here, and also your recent posts on drinking rituals and time outside. I’m working on both, and your posts were the peace-inspiring boost I needed.
@Kelly You just made me start swearing again! Until I read your response, I had completely forgotten how we had to turn the pencil AS we were drawing 3′ lines! Yes, supposedly it is possible to draw a straight line on a huge piece of paper, perched on an easel while twirling a pencil lead… not sure I ever perfected it though. I had a real love hate relationship with that class.
@Crystal I’m still trying to reconcile with the “value”, but if you say so.
Glad you’re enjoying my little reflections. I’ve been digging back in your archives as well, so don’t be surprised if you suddenly get comments on ancient blog topics. Just me over here, a bit behind the times.
Recent blog post from Nicole: Reserved Tea Time
Hi Nicole! Thanks for coming back, and for wanting to ‘catch up’. There are technical/practical posts in there, and also other pep talks. Hope you find something useful
I’ll keep a eager lookout for your comments… CW
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