Revision
In a Nutshell
A revision is a change made to a prepared piece of work. It means small or large corrections to design, copy, idea, or presentation. In theory: refinement. In practice: sometimes redoing the entire job.
What It Really Means
Revision is one of the most frequently heard words in daily agency life. But "a few small revisions" usually means not a few hours, but sometimes a few days of work.
The revision itself isn't the problem. The problem is the ambiguity of what the revision is based on. Phrases like "make it a bit more striking," "it didn't sit right with us," "make it look more premium" are not revisions — they're descriptions of a mood.
Good revision improves the work. Bad revision exhausts the work, weakens the idea, and eventually brings everyone to a point where they miss the first version.
In agencies, revision is often the client's inability to decide, redirected toward the creative team.