#40 The importance of co-creation / Franco Roncoroni's freedom

Freedom doesn't mean isolation, and co-creation is a huge part of freelance life.

I have been busy for the past few weeks working with an exciting biotech startup helping them craft their commercialization strategy. This experience taught me that my perception of an advisory role was somewhat distorted. I thought that freelance work is a bit isolated because you are not part of a team and have a very specific role to play. I was wrong, and this turned out to be one of the most collaborative experiences I had in years.

So when Franco shared with me his interview answers, I was thrilled to see the statement that “physical isolation shouldn't lead to creative isolation”. He explained it so beautifully in his story, that I have nothing to add. I asked him to elaborate on a few more points in his answers, as, having had the pleasure of knowing him personally, I want to give Franco the stage this week and allow you to learn from him directly.

Franco is the person behind the branding of this newsletter, my LinkedIn activities as well as my website, once I complete working on its content. The beauty of his talent is that he always focuses on the client’s task while bringing his exceptional taste and rich visual perspective that exceeds one’s expectations.

I worked a lot with creative directors in the past, and I know how rare it is when you see someone’s work and immediately understand that the person behind it has high standards, and you will not need to explain much.

This is why I am delighted to share that Franco is very open to working with independent professionals and small businesses and help them build their brand.

The floor is Franco’s now, and I will see you next week!

nat

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⭐️ Deconstructing freedom: Franco Roncoroni

🤩 About Franco Roncoroni: I'm Franco, Design Director with over fifteen years of experience crafting compelling brand narratives and digital experiences for global clients. During my career, I've had the privilege of collaborating with industry leaders such as IKEA, Leica, Nielsen and Disney among others, helping them shape their brand identities, products and services.

Before venturing into independent work, I refined my skills at renowned firms including R/GA, Frog Design and McKinsey Design, gaining invaluable experience in both, design craft and strategy. 

Today, I leverage my expertise as an independent Design Director and Lecturer (currently at the Politecnico of Milan University), specialising in sharing and delivering branded-led solutions for clients across various industries.

Apart from my freelance client engagements and personal projects, I am enthusiastic about assisting small businesses and startups. I achieve this by offering them Minimum Viable Brands (MVBs), which are straightforward brand toolkits designed to authentically embody their identity and ambitions.

🗽Freedom dimensions: In my journey as a designer, I've come to appreciate the importance of optimising for different dimensions of freedom at various stages of my career. Tim Ferris provides a compelling definition in his book "The 4-Hour Workweek," stating:

“The goal is not to stop work or do nothing, nor is it to work hard now to enjoy life later. It’s about creating the freedom of time, money and location, so you can design and live the life you want, now.” 

Flexibility, time and space become paramount as you progress into seniority and life needs, allowing for greater autonomy and balance in managing projects and responsibilities.

However, I've also recognised the value of embracing hustle and intensive periods of work, especially during the early stages of professional growth. These experiences have been essential in honing my skills, mastering my craft and pushing the boundaries of what's possible in design.

Throughout it all, one thing remains constant: the dedication and commitment needed to achieve the best results. Design, in my view, requires time, effort, and an unwavering pursuit of excellence. It's not about cutting corners or taking shortcuts, but rather about fully investing in the creative process and addressing every aspect of a challenge with laser-sharp focus and rigorous finesse.

Ultimately, my journey has been a continual exploration of the different dimensions of freedom and how they align with my values and aspirations. By embracing flexibility, collaboration and a tireless work ethic, I've been able to navigate the ever-changing landscape of design and carve out a path that's personally and professionally fulfilling.

⚡️ Trigger: Moving from the structured agency-studio setting (eight hours per day in a studio) to consultancy work (working on the client side or wherever you can, optimising time and outcomes) represented a notable transformation in how I view design and its connection to workspace and tools. It dawned on me that design's essence transcends the confines of a traditional office setup and thrives just as effectively in a minimalist - and sometimes remote - setting.

As we find ourselves in 2024, surrounded by an array of remarkable tools and technologies, it's evident that we remain tethered to the conventional 8-hour workday—a relic from the Industrial Revolution. However, this model designed for a bygone era, no longer aligns with the demands of our contemporary world.

Rather than advocating for a reduction or extension of work hours, the emphasis should be on working intelligently. By harnessing the power of technology, we can streamline our workflow to reclaim time for rest, reflection, learning and personal growth. Naval Ravikant, in one of his enlightening tweets, encapsulated this philosophy by likening professional performance to that of an athlete, who requires a cycle of training, execution, evaluation and relaxation. His methodology, condensed into the principles of Sprint, Rest, Reassess, resonates deeply with me, and I endeavor to structure my professional life around it.

Moreover, there's a growing trend among companies to adopt a 4.5 or even 4-day workweek, particularly those embracing remote work and prioritizing outcomes over mere hours logged. In this paradigm, success is measured not by the time spent working but by the tangible results achieved—a concept akin to an athlete understanding their training needs to achieve peak performance. As long as the desired outcomes are consistently delivered, individuals are poised for success in this evolving landscape.

🚀 Start: The onset of the pandemic in 2020 served as a wake-up call, prompting a reevaluation of my approach to work and the embrace of remote collaboration's challenges and opportunities. Like many professionals, I found myself thrust into a new reality where traditional office/studio setups were no longer feasible and remote work became the norm.

Initially, adapting to this new way of working posed significant challenges. It required a shift in mindset and skill set, revealing gaps in my preparation for navigating this terrain. Over time, I honed my skills and defined simple yet effective systems for remote work, but this transformation wasn't an overnight shift.

Running a project in-person with your team is vastly different from managing it remotely through distance and Zoom calls. The lack of visibility pushed me to micromanage the designers I worked with to compensate for the absence of quick check-ins that come naturally in a shared environment. Much of this transparency gap stemmed from the limitations of the software we used, which was not designed for real-time remote collaborations.

Realising the need for a revamped tools system, I gradually transitioned from software like Sketch to Figma, facilitating easier file sharing and reviews for designers, clients and stakeholders. I also integrated Notion to systematically align on priorities, goals and store principles across the team, while replacing the endless Slack chats and email threads. However, this transition wasn't without its challenges, requiring significant trial and error.

It's crucial to understand that incorporating new software into your workflow doesn't instantly solve all existing problems. Customising and tailoring the usage of these tools to fit the specific needs of each project and client is key. While the temptation is to optimise everything immediately, sometimes it's not feasible. People need time to adapt to new software and workflows, especially those with similarities to what they're accustomed to.

Now, with the integration of AI tools on the horizon, I'm excited about the possibilities they bring to further enhance our ways of collaborating.

🔀 Pivot: Initially, I mistakenly thought that transitioning to remote work meant relying solely on my creative abilities. However, this mindset quickly proved limiting, prompting me to recognise its flaws. A pivotal moment came when I received feedback from clients and team members, highlighting the importance of shared moments in the creative process. This led me to reassess my approach to remote work, understanding that physical isolation shouldn't lead to creative isolation.

In response, I restructured my approach, prioritising education, collaboration and co-creation. Instead of relying solely on work presentations, I engaged with the client through an educational and knowledge-sharing approach. This shift allowed us to optimise our time and make informed decisions, ultimately leading to better outcomes.

It's significant because, although we may perceive our clients as mere recipients of our expertise at times, it's essential to recognise that genuine collaboration entails a shared educational journey. We come from diverse industries, backgrounds, often cultures and all these nuances must be considered when collaborating. We listen attentively, gather insights, and value clients' perspectives, refraining from simply repackaging acquired knowledge through our own personal and professional lenses. While offering a strong point of view based on personal knowledge and experience is crucial, genuine collaboration requires both parties to contribute, creating a common ground to optimise the project's outcome. To accomplish this, I incorporated mini-workshops and smart check-ins to ensure alignment and stay on track with client needs.

💰 Finance: I tend to approach new ventures with a strategic mindset, always ready with a backup solution to ensure financial stability if things deviate from the original plan. I adopt a System Thinking approach in my professional life, blending common variables with potential setbacks to construct various scenarios and alleviate anxiety. While this method isn't foolproof, I believe in the mantra "test fast and learn faster," embracing each setback as an opportunity for rapid growth and improvement.

I usually start by envisioning the worst-case scenario. After years of working full-time, I managed to secure funds for a six to eight month gap in case no opportunities arise. This ensures zero stress if nothing materializes in the coming months. With that in mind, I split my time between refinement, research and experimentation.

Refinement is what is needed when I look back at the projects I did so far. I look at the approach, client, outcome and I review the case history, crafting the story I want to tell about in my portfolio. It’s an important process that I didn’t nurture when I started as I was eager to keep going. I find it useful because it really makes you think about what you’ve done, how you did it, and what made it a success or not. It’s also very important because it helps me steer the direction towards upcoming projects.

Research is about network and relationships. It’s important to keep a genuine relationship with the people you’ve worked with. A word-of-mouth goes a long way, sometimes faster than the digital tools we currently have to contact people, recruiters and prospective clients. To do that, it’s paramount to have your story crafted and tailored to the person you want to reach out to. Sometimes it’s just a coffee with someone you collaborated with in the past, and sometimes it's a quick pitch to a prospective client. So, try to be sure to get your material and value proposition shaped and up to date!

Experimentation involves all the side projects I do to keep myself engaged with the current trends in the world of design. I like to understand where a new tech is taking off, if there’s a need to learn a specific software or rearrange my POV on a specific design topic. Experimenting is like stretching, a workout you do to keep yourself flexible and solid for what might come next. In my case, working on MVBs with the HeyBrand! started as a side experimenting project that turned out to be profitable and interesting as it enabled me to work in different ways.

My Systems Thinking approach is a methodology that examines the entire system comprehensively, considering not only the design market and tech-related trends but also placing significant emphasis on the overarching economy. This approach considers numerous variables external to the design sphere, such as projects, recruiters and market dynamics, while also focusing on broader elements like the economy, regional factors (in my current case, England), fiscal and financial conditions, global trends and more. These factors, both direct and indirect, may influence the landscape of the job/work market in the future. I'm not positioning myself as an economic expert; rather, I just utilise this additional mental model to help generate potential predictions.

On the design side, It’s also really important to feed the system with questions related to the current hot-topic like: What is going to happen with the integration of AI in the design world? Which jobs will be eliminated? Which ones are going to thrive? What is going to happen if the introduction of Spatial design dictated by the adoption of tools like Apple Vision takes over? Which role am I going to play? How can I shape my value proposition to still be relevant? These are all interesting questions that are going to position me to be more proactive in seeking answers and create assumptions instead of being reactive to the landscape of the market.

While thinking and planning are important, it also happened to anchor myself to short fixed-term contracts (FTC) over the years to ensure I could accumulate and sustain myself for the long term. Sometimes, it's a trade-off, and given the numerous setbacks the world has faced recently, I felt it was the best approach for me.

🏆 Why it worked: I'm incredibly pleased with the decisions I've made thus far. Striking a balance between independent projects and consulting for larger companies has been invaluable in understanding my strengths and adaptability in both solo and team environments.

This flexibility has allowed me to operate as an entrepreneur, fostering relationships, showcasing my work and also shaping my own ventures. Conversely, I've also experienced the intricacies of being a cog in a larger machine, navigating varying dynamics, scales of delivery, and responsibilities.

This dual perspective has enabled me to wear multiple hats and cultivate adaptability as a core skill. It has taught me to seamlessly transition between roles, whether as an insider or outsider, allowing me to approach my profession, skill set, and industries with diverse mental models.

📌 Learnings: As someone who tends to be meticulous, I've often been overly critical of myself, especially regarding my work and achievements. Reflecting on this, I recognise the importance of practicing self-compassion and being kinder to myself along the way.

One aspect I could have handled differently is celebrating achievements. I tend to immediately shift focus to the next goal without taking the time to acknowledge the milestones I've reached. This habit sometimes leads me to overlook the significance of my accomplishments and the progress I've made.

I've realised that this mindset is influenced by societal pressures to constantly achieve more and strive for ‘what’s next’. However, I've come to understand that true fulfilment involves finding balance and perspective, including taking moments to celebrate even the smallest victories.

Moving forward, I'm committed to being more mindful of this tendency and prioritising self-care and gratitude in my daily life. Whether through mindfulness practices, journaling, or simply pausing to reflect, I aim to cultivate a healthier and more balanced approach to both work and life.

🤔 Key advice: Ride the wave of progress, but don't forget to catch a breath and enjoy the view; the journey's where the magic happens!

☕️ Are you open for my readers to reach out for a coffee chat?
I'm always ready for a good cup of coffee and engaging conversation ;)

Franco Roncoroni
Designer I Thinker | Human

francoroncoroni.com
HeyBrand.xyz