Feeling stuck? Walk away and hit rewind.

Alex Liebold, Creative Director

Fun facts:?

??: Initially had his sights set on becoming an architect

??: Can rip an apple apart with his bare hands (seriously, best party trick in the book)

??: Running is his go-to outlet for getting out nervous energy

??: Modern day Renaissance man who’s tried everything from woodworking to landscaping

The adrenaline rush from knocking the socks off a client is unparalleled in creative circles. The subsequent and often self-inflicted pressure of trying to one-up or replicate that success is equally unparalleled and has been known to conjure feelings of immense dread.?

As Mythic Creative Director Alex Liebold explained, sometimes it’s better to know when to walk away from an idea than to power through and end up with work that feels forced. Alex discovered the “walk away” technique for getting unstuck fairly early on in his career while working on a project for the Miami Dolphins.?

He and a team of creatives had just finished a tremendously successful campaign for the Philadelphia Eagles, and while riding that wave of success, Alex was assigned to a new project for the Miami Dolphins, this time as the lone designer. So, considering the success of the Eagles work, Alex thought, Okay, I know what worked there. Let me apply that scenario to this one — it’s still football, after all.?

If you’re familiar with these two NFL teams, you might be thinking, Whoa, pump the brakes, Alex! And as Alex recalls it, that’s essentially what his chief creative officer at the time suggested. After walking his boss through the work, Alex knew it hadn’t hit the mark.

“He [the CCO) was just like, ‘Alex, this looks pretty, but it's all wrong. It's terrible. This is not what Miami football is about,’” Alex explained.?

With the client presentation in a matter of days, Alex knew he had to work quickly and didn’t have the luxury of time. However, it was also clear the current direction just wasn’t working, so Alex decided to trash his files, go back to the beginning rather than returning to where he left off.?

“What that [situation] helped me learn was that sometimes you just have to stop,” Alex said. “Sometimes just pressing on isn't the right answer. Just stop what you're doing. Go back, and then maybe that process will take you to the same place. But sometimes it will take you somewhere completely different, and that's what it did.”

For Alex, walking away from an idea doesn’t mean he stops thinking about the project. Instead, it means switching gears and working on something else so he’s not wasting time treading water.?

Typically, Alex likes to dedicate a set amount of time to walk away, whether that’s 12 hours or a whole day. When he returns to the project, however, Alex likes to start further back in the process than where he left off.?

“[It’s] kind of like rewinding a podcast or a movie or something that may have been left midstream,” Alex added.?

While sometimes that means returning to the last point that felt “right,” in other instances, like the Miami football example, Alex finds it helpful to start fresh by rewinding to the creative brief. If that hard restart leads him down a familiar path, Alex said that usually indicates one of two things: there might be something to the idea, but there’s an opportunity to take it in a different direction than before, or it’s time to phone a friend. Sometimes, Alex added, the latter can offer a fresh perspective that helps him identify where to take the idea.

Interested in getting to know more about our creative team and where they find inspiration when they run into a speed bump? Stay tuned for our next “Unstuck” profile for more tips and tricks for getting into a creative headspace. And, if you like what you saw and want to know how you can partner with a team that's brimming with creative ideas, reach out to our CMO, Taylor Bryant ([email protected]), and get a conversation with Mythic started today.