I got 99 problems, but a glitch ain’t one: How BLINK embraces mistakes and occasionally benefits from them
In his latest design-related thought piece, Clint Nagata, BLINK’s founder and creative partner, shares how mistakes and failures can often lead to surprising and delightful outcomes, and recently in the shape of owls.
A journalist recently asked me which projects I had learned the most from, and after a slightly over-dramatic pause, I replied, “All the ones that didn’t go well.”
When a project goes to plan, it’s all too easy to pat oneself on the back or, more accurately, pat one’s team on the back (HR permitting). But what can you really learn from success besides a recipe to repeat, which has never been the BLINK way. Mulling over former mistakes and missteps may keep you awake on a sleepless night, but they also are the stuff of wisdom and progress.
Let it go
The iterative process demands that all avenues are exhaustively explored, even though most will lead to dead ends. This is all part of the process, and the client is usually blissfully unaware of what goes into the proverbial paper basket. At this stage, the biggest mistake a designer can make is to be too wedded to a design. Sometimes, they can see only going left rather than trying right or, even better, taking a few steps back, reframing the problem and looking for an alternative perspective. One of the many joys of design is that there is no single right answer – although there’s a bin full of wrong ones – but, providing such explorations are restricted to the studio, there’s no harm in trying things out. However, on rare occasions, a collective blind spot means something that’s not right can make it to the finished design or, worse, the project’s physical site. Then what?
“A client might ask for a house on stilts, but when you strip away the surface specifics, what they truly crave is an asset that simply turns heads.”
Design between the lines
First up, it’s hands-up. If something’s not right, we get it out in the open. We don’t point fingers or attribute blame. Whoever holds the relationship with the client relays the news. Messengers are rarely shot these days, so what’s the worst that can happen? Transparency and humility are paramount, as is the post-crisis analysis of what went wrong, which often boils down to a brief being misinterpreted.
As I shared in a previous article, responding to a brief often entails understanding what the client doesn’t say as much as what they do say. At BLINK, we always collectively discuss whether a project has a potential hidden agenda and what that could be. The owner of a hotel or private residence may want to make a particular statement with their property, and their intentions may not be entirely business or style-related, but they won’t necessarily articulate this in the brief. A client might ask for a house on stilts, but when you strip away the surface specifics, what they truly crave is an asset that simply turns heads. When these primary desires are not realised, the client will unlikely be satisfied, and that’s when we must figure out what’s wrong and quickly correct the course.
Likewise, in modern luxury hospitality, the rise of the soft brand – a spin-off hybrid of an established brand that targets a particular lifestyle or demographic – means a more forensic approach in the early stages needs to be implemented to ensure we fully grasp the new product and offering.
“Sometimes, an enforced second look at a project pushes one’s creativity far further to land upon something new and unique.”
When going wrong goes right
Another of the aforementioned joys of design is when a problem arises, but the solution eclipses the original concept. Sometimes, an enforced second look at a project pushes one’s creativity far further to land upon something new and unique. Take a spa we recently completed in France. We had originally specified bespoke antique-looking wooden doors, which, it transpired, cost a small fortune to produce outside of Asia. The budget-busting doors had to be rethought on-site and at speed. Thankfully, knowing from experience that the client had a quirky side and was open to abstract approaches, we commissioned the forging of a series of bronze owls, which we used to adorn simplified painted doors. Now, when the doors are closed, guests see the owl heads, but when they fold the doors, they see the owls flying through the doorway. The end result is far more surprising and memorable than the original reproduction antiques.
“Mistakes and failure are inevitable, but there’s a huge value to them.”
And the award for the biggest mistake goes to…
In summary, I’m not the kind of person who learns from success, nor do I care hugely about being successful. I do, though, care about failing or at least learning how not to fail twice in the same manner. Mistakes and failure are inevitable, but there’s a huge value to them. As Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work,” and he was the guy whose lightbulb moments resulted in the lightbulb. Perhaps a new awards ceremony should recognise great failures and mistakes. Maybe we’ll start an internal competition at BLINK. Please feel free to message me suggestions for the trophy design.