Life is full of challenges, from the very mundane to the catastrophic. While we may curse the winds in Chicago as a minor inconvenience, consider the massive effect they have had in shaping the Rocky Mountains and the plains.

We face daily challenges such as inclement weather, accidents, other people. So it’s simply rational to have a healthy skepticism although we often we have a tendency to get a little carried away. At times we equate these ‘opposites’ to mean opponents, labeling such elements that work against our best interests.

We consider creativity and criticism to be such opposites. While one adds, the other subtracts. But such is the art of design. It’s a process of addition and subtraction – a process of making mistakes and knowing which ones to keep. When creativity and criticism work together, much like the left hand and the right hand – the two are much more productive and the end result has greater impact.

So many times we hear about the artist as an emotional volcano when faced with criticism, but the professional artist understands how these opposites aid each other and will seek out criticism in order to challenge themselves and grow. Because of our healthy self-criticism, we have the drive to be better artists.

That’s why creativity and criticism are not opposites. One does not destroy the other but rather they push each other to be better – and that is how design works. And that’s why we embrace the criticism of our clients – to be a part of the process that shapes their project for the better.