Reading Subtext

As a designer, it took me years to learn to say, “No.”  The experience that gives confidence in one’s own actions was not yet there.  These days, though, I embrace the word.  It’s a challenge and a thrill to defend what I know is best for the client and their clients.

Some clients don’t like the word.  Others expect a little bit of a fight.  So, how is a creative to know when to stand and fight or raise the white flag and do as requested?  It’s a dance that can be tough to learn, and I am so grateful to have been on both sides of the equation in my life.

Reading subtext is as much an art form as design.  Practice the art of reading subtext, just as you practice your creative skills.  Improvisation has taught me a fair amount about reading subtext and learning people’s wants, despite their best attempts to be subtle or hide it.  Once you start practicing this little game, it becomes thrilling to test your skills.  It is the keen skill of listening and observing in order to predict what might happen next.

When you’re with family and friends, practice reading subtext.  When people make an offer or a statement, what are they really saying?  In improv, every line means something.  Every physicality means something.  And the two together can lead the scene and the improvisers.  It becomes easier to anticipate what is coming.

The same is true in films.  Try watching a film you have seen a few times already.  Take notes of each bit of information, and see if they pay off later.  Typically each line, scene and transition further develops the story.  Everything means something, whether we see it or not.  Be warned, though, practicing this can ruin your movie going experiences later if you don’t learn how to turn it off and just enjoy the film!  I have, however, watched movies that I have seen millions of times, just for the sake of capturing those subtleties I missed the first time.

Clients and creatives, practice the art of reading subtext.  Take the time to really listen to one another so that you can communicate clearly and work better together.  Every line, every physicality means something.  Are you paying attention?

Our best work is the work we do for the sake of others. It is in the lives and hearts of people we serve that we craft our legacy.

- Steffanie Lorig, Principal, Lorig Design