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What do I buy for my father-in-law this year? – a returning question every December

Every year, you feel completely uninspired – in a similar way as when you at 5 o’clock look blankly into one of the refrigerated counters at the supermarket. Why are you always at a loss when it comes to buying a Christmas present to your father-in-law?

Is it because he already has everything? There are no Christmas wish lists, and you’re starting to feel like your choice of gift is always a repetition of earlier years’ gifts. Maybe you’re going about it the wrong way.

Maybe we shouldn’t keep asking him what he wants. Instead we observe, listen and ask other kinds of questions. What does he care about at the moment? Does he have any interests, you didn’t know about? Would an experience brighten his day? Is there something he never gets around to do? Are there ways to make his everyday life easier?

We should look for the gift that he hasn’t asked for. The gift that surprises him. The gift that puts a smile on his face. The gift that makes him feel seen, heard and understood – because he this year DOES NOT receive yet another vintage whisky.

The answer is in the questions

When we’re trying to come up with not just A good idea, but the RIGHT idea, which every design and communication assignment demands, we make an effort of asking the right questions which open up for reflection. Because when we ask the right questions, we receive the best and most usable answers. And these answers can be turned into great ideas.

The great idea is half the design process. Of course, an idea can be presented in many different ways. That’s what design is about. The design process tests different kinds of shapes, colours, typographies and imagery. During the design process, we make the idea clear, communicative and surprising.

This is what the professional process looks like for most of us, every time we work on an assignment. Often without thinking about it. Because we want to create the right solution, find the right answer to the client. Or find the gift to our father-in-law that means something special to him. Because we have thought it through.

So we should all go and surprise our father-in-law – just as we will continue to surprise our clients with great design solutions in 2021.

Merry Christmas from BGRAPHIC 🙂