How to review creative work.

Reviewing creative is easier when you slow down enough to see what the work is trying to do. Quick reactions feel natural, but they can pull everything in the wrong direction if you focus on the surface before the idea.

Here’s a simple way to look at the work with a clearer head.

1. Start with the future you chose. Ask if the work points toward the future you said you want. Not the version of your brand from last year. The one you’re building now. If it leans in the right direction, that’s your baseline.

2. Look at the idea first. What is the piece trying to say? How does it want people to feel? What decision sits at the center? Once that’s clear, the details make more sense.

3. Follow the thread. Every strong piece of creative has a spine. One idea holding everything together. If you can follow it, the work is on track. If you can’t, the team needs to tighten the story.

4. Respond to what’s real. The work in front of you is what matters. Not the picture you imagined. Not the version in your head. Review what exists, not what you hoped would show up.

5. Name what feels off. If something doesn’t sit right, say where the friction is. The tone. The rhythm. The promise. Give the team something they can work with instead of something they have to decode.

When you review this way, the work stays on brand. Your team moves with more confidence. You get closer to the thing you actually want.

Reflections to work through:

Which future should your next review point toward?

Where do you jump to details before understanding the idea?

Which tension keeps repeating in your feedback?

What shifts when you focus on the center of the work first?

— Ian Adams, Founder the little red sofa

Before founding the little red sofa, I led strategy and creative for brands like Jeep, HSBC, and Unilever at top global agencies and in-house teams across 8 countries. Now I partner with brands to do the uncomfortable work that builds resilience. That’s how they become unshakable. Impossible to ignore.