Blog

Don’t Stop Working when the Work Stops

As a creative who freelances outside of a day job, it can be difficult at times to keep working when our work stops coming. This quote is one that I heard while listening to the perspective podcast. I’ve always been the type to continue working and creating. Because having the right mentality about improving and creating is whats most important.

Whenever we have clients and are creating work it gives us a sense of purpose and a good feeling. The feeling of knowing we will be paid for what we are creating. Not knowing whether the products we create will actually be purchased scares many. Also being open to learning how to sell products efficiently.

Because whenever the work stops coming you can learn what you have always wanted to. Such as if you are currently a video editor and you want to learn how to design logos, You can do just that. Another thing is that you can also create self projects. The project that you have actually wanted to do but you put it off to pay the bills.

While I mention paying bills there is nothing wrong with paying your bills. But you should not get comfortable with not having any work coming in. There is something you are not doing which is the reason why you have the work not coming in. Maybe its a new connection you have to make and or go to an event. Possibly even make the phone call you have been thinking about.

Making sure you have the right mental state is one thing to not forget. This whole Marathon that we all are on in our lives and careers is to not forget to take care of ourselves. Taking care of yourself inside and outside makes working when the work stops easier to continue.

Don’t Destroy your Own Creativity

 

The amount of Creativity we have in us can get destroyed by us. The reason I say that is because there are many times when we do not listen to our gut. Instead of listening to our gut we do what is safe. Then we fail later on to believe in what we know that we are capable of doing. Our creativity has to be nourished and cared for.

When we are working diligently towards a goal that uses our creativity we can think that it is going to not lead to anything. I learned that your wave is coming just give it time. Give your wave time to form. Because the process and journey is what will make the difference. We have to realize that this is a marathon.

There is no shortcut to achieving a goal. You can try to cheat and take shortcuts but there is no strength or validity to keep you where you have arrived. The days of working on that project you have took on to do for your portfolio to try and get that job and or product you’ve created to sale will be worth it. There is someone out there and an agency that will employ you.

I’ve learned that to be the truth from many experiences. Being difficult to not destroy my own creativity and what I am capable of. The saying that we our own worst enemy is the truth. The way that we think as a person determines a lot. Getting inside of your own head and not believing it will ever work out for you is what will happen.

When you stay determined as a creative and believe in yourself you’ll start to see things working in your favor. By that I mean the nights and days you work towards a goal you will be able to get closer to it and then eventually it will be achieved..

The Reason I love Calligraphy

First off I’d like to say I started learning calligraphy seriously about 4 years. I will never forget one of my professors in college telling me I have terrible hand skills. Because if she did not tell me that I’d probably would not have improved to the level I am at now.The documenting of my calligraphy work has been fun.

The way we see our work improving in all aspects is invigorating. Also learning to stop being so hard on our self is not an easy thing to do. I learned that I am hard on myself because I expect more from myself.

Calligraphy has taught me how to layout my typography work a lot better than before. Also learning stronger how to apply the principles of hierarchy as well. I did learn these skills in design school, but there is a difference between a classroom and then applying it to the real world applications.

Calligraphy taught me to not settle for the first attempt and if its good do one more. As well as to slow down and focus on the task at hand. There’s many times we have so many ideas. The flooding of ideas can be overwhelming and cause someone to get lost and not finish much.But the main thing is to not get lost with creating and not finishing what you start.

The Benefits of Skateboarding and how it helped me

The benefits of skateboarding are pretty large. I say that because skateboarding can teach someone what it takes to achieve something. Because there are many times that a person will be scared. By being scared I mean scared to the point of shaking and hesitating.

Being scared is something that we will always encounter in our life. The thing we tend to learn later on is how to deal with that fear. Whenever I get scared or hesitant about something in my life I use what I learned skateboarding. There are many other things I could have done but skateboarding found me.

The other thing that skateboarding taught me was how to connect with people. I say that because skateboarders come from all walks of life. But when you are on your board with your friends none of that matters. You can be the best dressed skateboarder but if you have a crappy personality and are rude you’ll be more likely to not have any friends to skateboard with.

The creativity that street skateboarding requires is like no other. Street skateboarding requires you to see something out of nothing. Riding around the streets and or your city to find spots to skateboard. There could be a school with steps and a church with a handrail. Also there could be a ledge in front of a gas station or bank.

Being in tune with your environment helps. Till this day even though I do not skateboard other than riding a cruiser around I look at the city differently. Therefore I translate that into my designing. Because to me creating something out of nothing is fun.

Seeing the progression in our work is another enjoyment. Seeing how far something and or someone who wasn’t as good as they are now is great to see. Because we know that there are countless hours of working that no body will see. Once we are ready we put it out there and show everyone what we have.

Making Gourmet Pringles

I am a big fan of cooking and I appreciate the skill of knowing how food works. There are other videos of Claire (the chef in the video) making other gourmet foods.

The skill and trial and error in these videos is similar to the creation process. The process of creating branding for a client and the planning that one will do when starting out a project.

Learn to love being a designer

Learning to love being a graphic designer and or a creative person is not easy to do at first. Because there are many situations that try to tell us it’s useless. They say you’ll never make any money from your art. When they are just putting their beliefs in your head.

They people who do that are ones looking out for your best interest and they do not want to see you get hurt. There’s nothing wrong with them doing that at all. This leads back to you learning to love being a designer and or a creative individual.

There are many people who love creating. They are those who just create and never make much money from their work. The starving artist thing is not something that is true. I only see someone starving as an artist is when they do not learn the business of being an artist.

Being a creative person requires you to learn the business of sustaining yourself. Learning to love being a creative person should not lead you to quitting your job and you starving. Then which will lead you to taking on whatever jobs you can do to survive.

Fall in love with creativity the smart way. Avoid falling into the love of creativity that you fail be honest with yourself as a creator. If you are creating you are going to suck and or produce very poor quality work starting out. Loving the process of creating is an important part of being a designer.

Why your tools do not Matter

The Tools you have will not make you a better  artist or designer. If you are fortunate to have all of the tools you are blessed. I mean that because there are people who wish to have what you do. But let me not get off track.

The art of practicing daily until it becomes habitual is not easy. Because when you are a person who practice often it will show. For me I practice calligraphy daily and it shows. Recently I have gotten back into practicing designing more in depth.

Sketching is a very good thing to do frequently. Putting the pencil to paper will you to be not so dependent on fancy gadgets. I say that because it starts with the basics.

The basic tools and skills will help you start out. The thing that will help keep you going is your focus and commitment. Then after you’ve remained focus and committed over time you will eventually get better tools. The best thing is to not forget the basics matter more than the tools.