Design for the second look
Most briefs are written for the first look: stand out, be noticed, be clear. That matters. But the work I remember always has something waiting for the second look — a detail you only catch when you come back.
On packaging it might be a tiny drawing under the lid. On a website, a caption that changes when you hover. In a magazine, a note in the margin that rewards the reader who slowed down.
These details cost very little and they do something important: they tell people that someone cared, and that there is more here than they first thought. That feeling is what makes people come back.
So now, on every project, I keep a short list called 'second look'. It is never more than three things, and at least one of them always makes it to the end.