A campaign isn’t creative unless it’s effective. Here’s why strategy comes first.
It’s tempting to jump straight into visuals, especially when inspiration hits. But a design divorced from strategy is just decoration. When I begin a project—whether it’s a campaign, a logo, or a layout—I always ask: What’s the goal? What should the viewer feel, do, or remember?
I break down how I used strategy to guide this campaign [insert project], from target persona to platform-specific adaptations.
Design Without Strategy Is Decoration
Hot take? Maybe.
True? Absolutely.
Listen—I love good design. A killer layout, crisp typography, the perfect color combo? That stuff matters. But design on its own isn’t the finish line. Not if you’re actually trying to communicate something. Not if you’re building for results.
If there’s no strategy behind what you’re designing…
You’re just making something pretty.
Here’s what I mean.
I once worked on a campaign where the client came in with “just make it pop” energy. No goal, no audience insight, no funnel thinking. Just: make it look cool.
And hey—I could have done that. But what would’ve happened? A fun-looking post that gets a few likes and then disappears into the feed abyss. Zero engagement. No movement. Nothing memorable.
So instead, we slowed it down.
We asked:
- Who are we actually trying to reach?
- What do they need to hear or feel?
- Where will this design live—and what should it do there?
We ended up reworking the layout to be scroll-stopping but clear. The color palette pulled from the audience’s own habits. And we designed every element to reinforce the one thing we wanted people to walk away with.
Result? The campaign didn’t just look great—it performed.
The strategy-first mindset
I’m not saying visuals aren’t important. They are. But they’re most powerful when they have a job to do.
Great design:
- Solves a problem
- Clarifies a message
- Moves someone to action
- Reflects the brand it represents
It doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It fits in a system—a strategy.
TLDR?
Pretty is easy.
Purposeful takes guts.
Ask better questions before you open Figma or anything for that matter. Think like a strategist before you act like a designer. That’s where the real creative impact lives.