December is notoriously spent in one of two ways: a perpetual festive-mode, leaning into the holiday season; or the anticipatory state, waiting for the new year to begin, preparing for it in the form of planning and resolutions. It can be quite rare to take this time before the year draws to a close and reflect back on how we spent it, what we experienced, and what we learned.
So much has happened in 2024. On an international scale, politically and culturally, and of course on a smaller scale - for each and every one of us personally, as well as for us here on the Wix Playground team. Alongside our work in the creative community and running two successful cohorts of the Wix Playground Academy, we also spent each month of this jam-packed year dipping our toes into themes and ideas around creativity, sharing them here on the blog and on our newsletter - The Roundup.
As we explore the idea of Creative Learning this month, it couldn’t be more appropriate to have a little look back on everything we explored this year, and recap our learnings all in one place. Let’s go!
January | Wisdom
Instead of leaning into the traditional trend forecasts that wash over the internet this time of year, we chose to turn to our own community. In Future Vibes, we posed the same question to six creative professionals from the Wix Design Guild: “What types of changes, shifts, trends and movements are going to shape this year in the design industry?” As we explored the idea of Creative Wisdom, they were invited to share a glimpse into what’s on their creative radar at the moment. From immersive VR experiences, to individualism and design maximalism, their answers might rely on personal taste and experience, but were sure to point us in an interesting creative direction.
February | Resourcefulness
Creativity isn’t all fun and games, is it? Sometimes its dark side rears its ugly head in the form of exhaustion, fatigue, and despair. As we explored the theme of Creative Resourcefulness, we looked into the very common creative burnout, what it really means to experience it, and how we can adapt and find ways to work with it, rather than against it.
March | Vitality
Do you have a manager? Are you a manager? Or are you left to your own devices when it comes to leading your creative way? Whatever your position is, it’s crucial to find ways of introducing vitality and momentum into your day-to-day life. Check out Becoming Your Own Creative Leader for some key eye-openers to help you better navigate your own creative management.
April | Curiosity
One of the key aspects of staying curious as a designer is looking for inspiration. This elusive and sometimes exhaustive process can get overwhelming at times. In Treasure Hunt: 5 Web Design Inspiration Sites, we offer to keep the freshness alive, we five online destinations to go for web-design inspiration.
May | Kindness
One of the most impactful ways in which we encounter kindness—or lack thereof—in the creative process is during feedback sessions. This emotional experience puts us in an extremely vulnerable space. How can we navigate this in a positive way? And how can we grow and learn from it? Diving deeper into the theme of Creative Kindness, we talk to two highly experienced creatives and receive insight into The Art of Feedback.
June | Expansion
Our portfolio is one of the most direct ways in which we extend ourselves out into the world - letting ourselves be known and our creativity unfold. In Out in the world: 6 Designers on the Process of Creating Their Portfolio we hear from seven Playground Academy graduates as they share their experience from this extraordinary creative challenge of Creative Expansion.
July | Passion
Have you ever considered your portfolio as a place to manifest your future career, dreams and hopes? How can you create, curate and design an online presence which represents not only who we are now, but who we want to become? Check out Creative Manifestation: 10 Tips for Designing and Curating your Portfolio.
August | Stability
Creative stability is often intrinsically linked to the amount of workload on our hands. Our creative steadiness and ability to deliver can suffer when there’s a lot on our plate. The August editorial feature Hustle and Bustle: How to Successfully Juggle Projects explores how to best handle multiple projects.
September | Transition
What happens when we let go of restrictive thoughts and limiting mindsets, and allow our creative process to be informed by more than our own little niche and discipline? In Creative Crossroads we explore the power of tuning into your passions, thoughts, and imaginations to transform your creative practice.
October | Release
A natural part of the creative process—and of being human!—is rejection and failure. It’s how we navigate those that can make or break us. In our monthly feature Let it go: Getting Over Creative Rejections we explore the ways in which setbacks can act as tools for growth.
November | Intuition
As we celebrated with the nine fresh graduates of the 2nd Wix Playground Academy of 2024, we proudly shared the beautiful portfolios they created during their time in the program. Check out Inherent Creativity: On Designing Your Own Portfolio where they each discuss their work, as well as the way tuning into their creative instinct helped them in the design process.
See you next year!
