In professional work - certainly in the arts and graphics - 99% of people have zero courage. They blow with the wind.
George LoisRead
Ad agencies do all kinds of market research that ask people what they think they want, and instead, you should be creating things that you want. If you do something and you get it, the rest of the world will get it, too. Trust your own instincts, your own intellect, and your own sense of humor.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Focus on creating what you believe in rather than solely relying on market research.
George Lois emphasizes the importance of trusting one’s own instincts, intellect, and humor when creating something. Instead of solely relying on market research to dictate what people think they want, he advocates for the idea that authentic and innovative creations will resonate with the world if they are genuine and true to oneself.
Themes
CreativityInstinctsInnovationAuthenticityTrust
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about pursuing passions, you could reference this quote to encourage individuals to trust their creativity.
More from George Lois
All quotes →You can't test great advertising. You can only test the mediocre. Not that I don't care about demographics. You have to understand who you're going after.
George LoisRead
Truly great images make all the other millions of images you look at unimportant. You gotta look at an image and understand it in a nanosecond.
George LoisRead
In any creative industry, the fact that others are moving in a certain direction is always proof positive, at least to me, that a new direction is the only direction.
George LoisRead
I've done truth to power all my life. It's got me into trouble, but who cares?
George LoisRead
I don't design. I get what I think is a big idea, and I put the idea down. I'm not a designer. I'm a communicator.
George LoisRead
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