In my last post, I talked about the shift from being the person who creates the work to the one who shapes it. That shift hinges on something we talk about a lot, but rarely define clearly: taste.
Taste is one of those words that gets thrown around constantly in creative circles.
“You have good taste.”
“That feels off.”
“This just works.”
But when you stop and think about it, it’s surprisingly hard to explain what taste actually is—or how you get better at it.
And that’s where a lot of creatives get stuck.
Because here’s the uncomfortable truth:
You don’t develop taste just by doing the work.
Experience Isn’t the Same as Growth
Time in the industry helps. Of course it does.
You see more.
You do more.
You start to recognize patterns.
But experience on its own isn’t enough.
I’ve worked with designers who have ten years of experience — and others who have one year of experience ten times.
The difference isn’t talent.
It’s whether they’ve built a way to process what they’re seeing and doing.
Taste doesn’t come from repetition.
It comes from interpretation.
How Taste Actually Gets Built
In my experience, taste develops at the intersection of four things:
1. Foundations
The principles don’t go away.
Hierarchy. Typography. Composition. Colour. Systems.
These aren’t constraints, they’re the language. The better you understand them, the more precisely you can evaluate what you’re looking at.
This is the part you learn early.
And then keep relearning forever.
2. Exposure
You can’t develop taste in a vacuum.
You need to see great work. A lot of it.
You also need to see average work. And bad work.
Not to copy, but to calibrate.
What stands out?
What holds up over time?
What feels trendy vs. enduring?
Over time, your internal reference library starts to form.
That’s where instinct begins to take shape.
3. Application
At some point, you have to make the work.
Not just concept it — finish it.
Ship it. Present it. Defend it. Watch how it performs in the real world.
This is where theory meets reality.
Because something can look beautiful in isolation and fall apart the moment it hits a deck, a campaign, or a client conversation.
Application builds resilience into your taste.
4. Reflection
This is the one most people skip.
And it’s the one that matters most.
Why did that idea land?
Why didn’t that one?
What feedback was valid and what wasn’t?
What would I do differently next time?
Without reflection, experience just accumulates.
With it, experience compounds.
Where Creative Leaders Need to Level Up
As you move into leadership, taste stops being a personal asset and becomes a shared standard.
It’s no longer just about what you think works.
It’s about whether you can:
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Explain why something works
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Help others see what you see
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Build consistency across different people, projects, and pressures
That’s a different skill.
It requires you to externalize something that was previously internal.
To turn instinct into language.
And that’s not easy.
Taste vs. Preference
This is where things can go sideways.
Taste is not:
“I like this more.”
Taste is:
“This works better — and here’s why.”
The difference is subtle, but critical.
Because once your feedback becomes about preference, you lose trust.
But when it’s grounded in principles, context, and intent, something shifts.
The conversation gets better.
The work gets better.
The team gets better.
A Simple Gut Check
If you want to pressure-test your own taste, try this:
The next time you’re reviewing work, pause before giving feedback and ask yourself:
Can I clearly explain why this works — or doesn’t — without referencing my personal preference?
If the answer is no, that’s not a failure.
It’s a signal.
And signals are where growth starts.
The Long Game
There’s no shortcut to developing taste.
It’s built slowly. Over time. Through exposure, application, and honest reflection.
But once it’s there, it changes how you see everything.
You stop reacting to work.
You start understanding it.
And as a creative leader, that’s the shift that matters most.
Because you’re no longer just contributing to the work.
You’re shaping the standard it gets measured against.
Taste isn’t something you’re born with — it’s something you build. And once you start building it intentionally, everything changes: how you create, how you lead, and how you evaluate what “good” actually means. That’s a big part of how we think at Orbit: defining standards, not just delivering outputs. If you’re navigating that shift in your own work or team, it’s a conversation worth having.
