One of many things I learned from my father was something he called “The first rule of carpentry”. It goes “If at first you don’t succeed, get a bigger hammer“. That one phrase became my philosophy in a number of things including graphic design.

It wasn’t taught as a simple escalation of force. It was rather, a way of reevaluating a problem, then choosing a better solution. Something doesn’t work, try something else. Maybe a bigger hammer is the solution and maybe it isn’t, the key though is to step back and reevaluate the problem.

If at first you don’t succeed… Rethink your solution. Are you using the right tool? Do you really understand the problem? Only after those are answered should you move on.