• AI
• Digital
• Design

The one with the 6 fingered baby

In 15 years of running my agency, if there’s one thing I’ve learned (sometimes the hard way), it’s that attention to detail is everything.

Before AI became famous for getting digits wrong (why can’t it count fingers?), we were already battling the same issue. Our 6 fingered baby was thankfully spotted just before the pack went to print; it had got through numerous rounds of design finetuning and client vetting!

When it comes to client satisfaction, you’re only as good as your last piece of artwork.

You can have a strategy that sizzles, creative that causes a stir, but if there’s a typo on the back of the pack? Relationship damaged. Especially in our sector specialism of health, where a single error on a medicine label can mean regulatory wrath and products pulled from shelves – or even worse.

Several years ago, a packaging design for Tylenol PM led to confusion between the new line and regular Tylenol. The two versions became so visually similar that people started mixing them up, accidentally taking both and risking overdose. The design team had looked at the packs so many times, they didn’t see how alike they’d become. That’s design blindness in action: when you’re so close to something, you stop seeing it clearly.

There’s even science behind this. Our brains are wired for perceptual filling-in, a shortcut that helps us process the world quickly. What we think we see isn’t always what’s actually there.

We can raise our eyebrows every time the client demands, “Why didn’t you make the logo bigger?”  “Why didn’t you brighten that colour?” And while it might seem like nitpicking, it’s often because we’ve looked at something so long, we’ve stopped seeing it clearly.

That’s why we need best practices that keep us sharp. For my team, there are simply two basic principles to adhere to:

Always print it out – Proofing on screen is dangerous. Your eyes adapt. You stop seeing what’s actually there.

Fresh eyes matter – I make a point of reviewing all design developments, not to interfere, but because a fresh perspective can catch what others miss. Just like a consumer would.

Back in the day, a design error meant new artwork, new plates, and a big bill. Now, in a digital-first world, a few clicks and an error is fixed pronto. But has that made us a bit lazier? The stakes feel lower, but the standard shouldn’t be.

So, here’s to the six-fingered baby and a reminder that details matter, and that even in a digital world, the old ways still have an important place.

 

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