Our monthly theme for September is Creative Transition - an idea which can be interpreted in many different ways. Perhaps these two words speak to you in a way which suggests career change and occupational mobility, or perhaps it makes you reflect upon the transformational qualities of the creative process. 

We’re here to discuss a different form of creative metamorphosis: the one which happens when you allow your hobbies, passions, and interests outside of your creative practice, to feed back into it and inform your creativity, making it much richer and fuller.

The creative self-identification trap

There are so many mental challenges that come with being a creative; too many to name and count, let’s be honest. There is one, however, which sticks out when we think of creative transition, and that is the self-identification trap. 

Did you ever find one of these to ring true: “I am what I create”; “I need to devote myself to one niche”; “It’s best for my career to specialize in one discipline”; “I’m only as good as my biggest client or highest paying project”?  

These limiting statements are a classic manifestation of the self-identification mindset. It means that whatever aspect or discipline of design you are practicing, you tend to over-identify with it, creating a self-made trap where you withhold yourself from venturing into other types of creativity you might be interested in, and perhaps just as talented at. 

That’s not to say that there’s no place for honing in on specific skills, or finding your niche and mastering it. But more often than not, this way of pigeon-holing ourselves does nothing but limit our capacity to dream and achieve. 

After all, we are multifaceted people with boundless things that interest us. Why should we restrict our imagination and our work to just one aspect of ourselves, when there’s so much more which wants to be expressed and be known? 

The infamous side project

One of the most common ways to engage with ourselves in a creative way is the infamous side project, or passion project. Considered as the holy grail of creative practice, side projects are perceived as a must in order to thrive as a creator. We’ve all attended that talk where a famous designer showed their passion project and explained how it transformed their life, boosted their confidence, and explained why non-commercial projects are the bread and butter of genuine creativity. You leave those kinds of talks feeling very inspired and excited, ready for action, only to discover you don’t really know where to begin. Sounds familiar? 

That’s the annoying part about personal projects - it can be so hard to find the time, energy, resources, and mostly - inspiration, for something that really does have the power to transform your creative practice, and inject that magic spark that only comes when you’re doing something that is truly yours. 

Rather than providing tips on how to start a passion project (we’ve written about that before if that’s what you’re after), we’ll explore ways you can utilize your own life experience as vehicles for your creative expression. In other words - how you can take the thoughts, ideas and themes that are naturally in your mind already, and metamorph them into tangible creativity. Maybe they’ll become a new passion project of yours, they might encourage you to explore new skills, or perhaps they’ll guide and inform you in ways you haven’t thought of before.    

Exercise time

We’ve gathered a few ideas for tools and reflections that have the potential to spark that connection between you and your passions, and then utilize them in your creative processes. 

So grab a pen and paper, and let’s get started:

1. The more / less list

In this method, we ask that you make two lists: one under the title “more”, and the other under the title “less”. Now, under each title write down 5 items: under ‘more’ - 5 things you want more in your life; under ‘less’ - 5 things you want less in your life. Try to be specific yet broad at the same time. For example, under ‘more’ you might write down ‘spend time in nature’, and under less ‘spending time on social media’. 

And then comes the second, fun part: from now on, whenever you come upon a decision or opportunity you need to make, turn to this list and check to see how you can make an informed decision that follows the principles and desires you expressed in those lists. These basically act like a mental compass, reminding you over and over what you deemed important, how you yourself, have asked to live your life. You can even make a habit of checking the lists every Monday morning, and examine how you might implement those values and ideas into your schedule, projects and life’s decisions.  

2. Inspiration from observation 

In this exercise, we ask that you choose a creative project you love - that could be anything from an animation, a website, specific branding, movie, podcast. Absolutely anything that someone has put the time, energy and talent to create. 

Now take a few minutes to sit and reflect on that project, and then start writing down everything you love and appreciate about it. It could be anything from visual, design aspects, such as colors or textures, and it could be characteristics which have to do with a story, tone of voice, attitude. 

Reverse engineer the project you find inspiring, and within the things you write down to yourself you’ll discover an invaluable glimpse into your own creative psyche - the things that make you tick are the ones worth pursuing yourself. 

3. Side project dreaming 

This again is a written assignment: take a few moments to envision your dream project. What would that look like? What would be the topic or theme? The technology, formats or methods used? Would you work by yourself or collaborate with someone? If so, then who? Would you be the initiator or have someone else in charge? Would you want it to be displayed or kept to yourself?

Use these questions and come up with more of your own, and lay the groundwork for your dream project. You know the saying: if you can dream it, you can make it! 

4. Life moodboarding

Finally a visual exercise! Open your favorite software or app, and under the title “the life that I want”, begin collecting images, videos, colors, visuals - anything that speaks to you under that statement. Try to focus on things that actually resonate with your life, rather than random common dream scenarios. (tropical islands, we’re looking at you! Not that there’s anything wrong with that…). 

This exercise can again be used as a sort of internal guide, where do we want to go, what do we want to get out of life. Sometimes seeing things like that, collated in one place, makes it very clear that we should head in the direction they are leading us, making it more possible for us to take the plunge, be brave, and go after them. 

5. Creative Cross-Pollination 

And lastly, this one invites you to act.  The idea of creative cross-pollination is borrowed from the athletic world, and also known as creative cross-training. This concept means that we experiment with a practice outside of our expertise, in order to excel in ours. For athletes, that means training in a different sport from the one in which they’re competing, but that will still have a positive influence on their performance. If, for example, you’re a surfer, you might also lift weights to build upper body strength which will eventually help in paddling and pushing through the waves. If you’re a creative, it would mean practicing your creativity in a completely different art form. For instance if you’re a designer, you might try playing a musical instrument. If you’re a sculptor, you can experiment with writing poems.   

When we open our minds and hearts to new experiences, we open ourselves up for inspiration to come to us, for new opportunities, new people, and new collaborations. So go ahead, what can you go out and practice that your creativity can benefit from?