If life were a Hollywood movie, the first time I discovered One Minute Briefs (OMB) would be one of those sliding door moments filled with rousing music and a dramatic close-up.

But life isn’t like that. In truth, I can’t really remember how I found OMB. All I can say is I am glad I did.

Roll back to September 2021 and the horrible period of time that Covid had brought to us all. At work, I had pivoted almost instantly from a publication and marketing designer to a webinar technical expert. I was happy to do so, anything to stay employed during that tumultuous time, especially as my first child had recently been born.

However, this wasn’t creatively fulfilling. And when OMB appeared on my radar, I knew it was a way to fill that gap and I should get involved.

Money was a factor. It’s a bit of a shame to admit that now as OMB is so much more than just the prize briefs but it was a huge Coca-Cola Freestyle brief that first drew me in.

There were over 1,200 entries and I made the shortlist. While I didn’t win a prize, this was the creative validation I’d been missing. I was thrilled and hooked on OMB for the next four months.

More prize briefs and shortlists followed and then came the fun briefs. For me, these are the ones that can really stretch your imagination and creativity. With the prize briefs you’re often given some assets or a starting point, but with the fun briefs you can go in any direction you want. Plus you can pretty much guarantee it’ll be for something you’ve never considered advertising before. #DogCoats anyone?!

I created around 120 entries for over 50 briefs in four months. But then, in January 2022 I suddenly stopped.

Looking back, this was because life was returning to some sort of normality and having been working at home since March 2020 I felt like my focus needed to be elsewhere.

However, in hindsight I should not have stopped with OMB. As the name suggests, it genuinely can only take a minute to enter and while I do often take a bit longer, just taking that moment for a creative spark every day can really help you to grow as a designer, copywriter, marketer – whatever your talent.

So for nearly 18 months I watched from afar. Then in July 2023, I returned to the fold. I submitted an entry for a fun brief (#NoNonsenseAds) and was chosen as one of the winners. Having only ever been selected as a winner once before, it was a very welcome return. And what an incentive to continue.

***My first entry on returning to OMB for #NoNonsenseAds***

And continue I did. From July 2023 until now (it’s March 2024 at time of writing), I’ve submitted over 450 entries, been selected as a fun brief winner over 50 times, been on multiple prize shortlists and won three cash prizes (for itsu, OceanSaver and Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut).

I’ve entered every brief so far in 2024. At time of writing that’s 48 of them, with 128 entries. Some (most, if I’m honest) are pun based, some text only, some have used AI-generated images, some exclusively Photoshop – this variety is why OMB is so useful as a creative. It allows you to improve and learn skills that you may not get a chance to experience in a usual 9-5 job.

But if that sounds daunting or you don’t have expensive designer software, don’t be put off! There’s no age or talent limit, OMB really is open to everyone. Whether you use Photoshop, Canva, a pen and paper (Sharpies in particular are our friends) – whatever your tools, get involved and who knows what might happen. After all, it only takes a minute!

Since returning to OMB in 2023, I put my more frequent wins down to two things. One, I have made a real effort to be a better designer and creative thinker than I was in 2021. Two, I learn so much from the OMB community.

It’s not an exaggeration to say I find the community inspirational. Every weekday you’ll see something that will make you laugh, or think ‘how did they do that’ and the great thing is you can just ask. The community is very friendly and approachable and in my experience loves to offer advice.

The other habit OMB really helped me to break is the idea of not sharing work until it is 100% done. Like many creatives I would hold onto something until it felt perfect. The honest truth is that done is always better than perfect.

OMB teaches you to fight the urge to withhold and emphasises that any idea is worth putting out there. No matter how rushed or silly you may think it is. Some of my most reacted-to posts surprised me. And some you’d expect to do well might not – but that’s a valuable lesson too.

***Some of my favourite fun brief entries (#SwearJars, #Sprouts, #Microwaves, #PancakeDay, #RoofRacks and #Nachos)***

I've enjoyed it so much I wanted to get more involved and since January 2024 I have been an ambassador for One Minute Briefs (an OMBassador). This means singing the praises of OMB to anyone who will listen – an easy task!

If anyone reading this has any questions about OMB I’d be happy to talk. I cannot recommend it enough and it is something that’s known in the creative industries. I had a few job interviews at the start of the year and all the people I spoke to had heard of OMB.

On the job front, after a bit of reflection I have decided to become a full-time freelancer. I’ve worked as an in-house designer for 15 years and One Minute Briefs has played a huge part in making the decision to switch to solely freelance.

To mention the community again, even though I haven’t met people in person yet, so many have been a huge help on LinkedIn and other platforms in sharing and commenting to raise awareness of me and Bandbox Design (my freelance gig) to whole new audiences.

Huge thanks too have to go to Nick, the founder of OMB without whom none of this would ever have happened, and Maeve, the social media legend, for keeping the show on the road and giving us all a brief to look forward to at 9am every weekday.

Get OMB on your X/Twitter feed too and join in!

Follow me for OMB: https://twitter.com/craigraphic
Work with me: https://bandboxdesign.com