Cabel Sasser of Panic did this wonderful talk at XOXO Festival '24 about... well I'm not sure what it was about exactly. What I took away from it was to dwell on the work that has an impact on you, to go down the rabbit hole a little. But one part stood out the most:
"Send the nice email! Now, when people can hear you. You find something beautiful... you listen to something you love... it's so easy, but it's so easy to forget!"
I love this! I've been a long-time advocate of sharing positivity. The guideline is pretty simple:
If you see, hear, use or experience something you really enjoy — make an effort to find the creator of that thing, and let them know!
Why? Because the best creators you know have imposter syndrome. In creating beauty, they are plagued by self-doubt and the idea that perhaps they could have done better, somehow. Shipped sooner, released later, researched more, ideated longer. This is compounded by quick critique, bug reports and hot-takes that quickly come from all directions when work hits the mainstream.
Well-meaning but constant and exhausting.
Those same creators rarely see thanks or praise... yet it means so much and is an unusual but important counter to the criticism they inevitably receive, or impose upon themselves.
So I encourage you to drop a nice email and tell someone they've produced something worthwhile — you won't know the impact of that message, but I guarantee it'll be good.
Proof that it's worth it!
Saying thanks should be a gift, never about the responses you may or may not receive. That said, in practicing this over the years I have received some feedback that serve to highlight the importance of this small gesture:
-
I fell instantly in love with Graphy — it makes me feel so smart, so I told them. "Wow — what lovely feedback! I have shared this with the team too and you've made us all very happy! Thanks so much!"
-
I'm a fan of Russ Chimes, and in 2022 he released the track 'Energy Surge' after a bit of a quiet period. So I sent an email to say how much I loved the track, glad he's back at it, and that both my kids have grown up on his music. His response "Well you almost made me cry."
-
I learned that one of my favorite musical artists Lyrah had quit her job as a product designer to pursue her passion in music. So I tweeted to say how proud I was of her, and she responded so say how much peer support meant to her. Starstruck!
-
When challenged by a difficult contract job I found myself referencing Untitled UI a lot — a huge body of incredibly detailed work. So I emailed Jordan Hughes, the designer behind it, who replied "You've made my week". His week!
-
Finally, I read this case-study by Alex Hollender about his redesign of Wikipedia. Yeah, big job. I emailed to say how impressed I was with his resolve and humility, and he responded that almost nobody had ever given praise. Out of 4.3 billion unique visitors!
It doesn't have to be for every product you use, or every song you love — but when you get that feeling... I'd encourage you to share the love. You never know the impact! ✨