I’m a big believer in making a note of every idea you have while concepting.
It’s obvious why you should do that with the good stuff. But even the bad will spark off other new, better, ideas when you look back through.
One other thing I’ve always done with those notes is to scan them all in at the end of a job.
There’s loads of times I’ve ended up with a similar brief or similar product category months, even years later, dug out those old notes, and found myself a step ahead.
Further down the path to a great idea than if I’d cold-started on the brief.
I’m not saying you should just change the logo and use that old work. But that looking through it will let you bounce off to new thoughts.
The fresh eyes you’re giving it and the new experience and skills you’ve picked up since creating that work will all come into play.
Letting you reinterpret and develop old doodles in new ways. Helping you get past all the obvious first thoughts quicker.
Just make sure you’ve got it all filed in a neat, organised system or you’ll lose all the time you might save trying to dig some old idea back out.
Remember to not be too hard on your old self.
I’ve often looked back at ideas I’ve put down in the past and been completely lost how I could ever have thought they were good.
