Jill is currently struggling through the technical dregs of developing a brand. I say struggling, but that’s not the right term. We feel like it’s a struggle, but it’s actually normal. Understanding that it’s simply part of the process—consuming and detailed, but necessary—is important. The work is just hard. It takes time and skill.

Which is why people pay us, I suppose.

But it’s interesting to be a creative, and watch creatives, as we all go through the same process.

We get to eat our cookies first. Every time.

The creative process is tons of fun. The exploration. The we-could, how-about, and-then, and what-if of it all is the absolute best. It’s like going to the sweet shop and seeing all the cookies and imagining how great they would taste. It’s almost impossible to choose.

It is, without a doubt, a serious perk of the job. But it’s not the whole job. Because after the creative party that is concept generation, the work of making something innovative and practical begins. Budgets aren’t infinite. Technology isn’t perfect. Consensus sometimes means compromise. And, producing a workable final product sometimes means your award-winning ad concept needs to get produced in 14 different sizes. Or your fledgling logo needs to be iterated in 52 file varieties. Or your paper specifications go to hell because of budget constraints or deadlines.

So, for creatives who generally love new shiny things, dinner definitely goes like this: cookie; enjoyable main course that you mostly eat; wine; skip the bread because carbs; more wine; gosh this salad dressing is amazing. And then, since your vegetables really are healthy and necessary, and since you know it’s the right thing to do, and because mama said, you eat those cold, poached, under-seasoned beets. Every last bite.

Then you walk away, knowing you did the right thing. And look for a new cookie.