§ 176. Principles

As a result of his experience in advertising, design, and organizing all kinds of creative processes, the author came to an important conclusion: it doesn’t matter what you do or how you do it. What matters, is that there’s a principle behind your work.

Any principle will do (a number of different principles is also good.) For instance, always reject the first sketch presented. Or compose all titles without any adjectives. Or paint the sides orange. Or end all your product names with “us.” Or whatever else.

The most convenient form of self-limitation is having a set of principles. And setting the limits is essential for the creative process (see the previous section).

There’s nothing worse or more pointless than work without principles.