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Something I’ve really struggled with in the past, and still do to an extent, is maintaining my voice when doing client work. So, I thought I’d share the things that have really been working for me, because it’s a lot trickier than it sounds.

 

The first step is to find your voice and use it to shout about your work. It’s hard for potential clients to know about the kind of work you want to make, and are great at making, unless they’ve seen it. That means you need to find your style, or at least the style you want to be making work in right now and use it. Use it to make the work you want to make, whether or not you have a client who’s commissioning the piece or not. So, if you want to make illustrated album covers, just make a few for your favourite albums, share them, and use them as examples of your work when you reach out to potential clients.

 

If you’re really intent on maintaining your voice in client work, you’re going to have to be discerning about the clients and projects you work on. That might mean saying no to work that won’t allow you to produce work that’s either of a style or quality that you want to be making. This isn’t something you have to do all at once, or at least I’m certainly not. I’m still taking on projects that don’t quite align with the work I want to be making in the future but I’m aware of that, and am actively looking to move away from those projects.

 

Once you’ve found those clients, work out how to translate their brief into your design language. If you’ve gotten into the habit of using lots of different styles when you’re working with different clients, which I have, this might take a little bit of work. But whenever you receive a brief, take a moment (or several) to work out how you can answer in a way that stays true to your style and artistic desires whilst being what your client needs. Remember that if you’ve worked hard at the first step, the person you’re working with has probably decided to work with you because they like the work and style you’ve shown them.

 

Then make sure you present any work in the style you want to be using, and sometimes only in that style. When you’re presenting options make sure you show the approach you prefer in the best light you can – this is just good practice generally but is particularly appropriate here. If you want to reduce the risk of working outside of your style, only present works in that style. People anchor onto what they can see and what they know, so if the only work you’ve shown looks a certain way that will inform your client’s frame of reference. With this, you do have to work out when it’s appropriate and also be prepared for the occasional potential push back or requests for further variety.

 

But even with the perfect client, and those processes in place you might need to push back, so work out which battles you’re prepared to fight.

 

Maintaining your voice in client work is a constant and active process, that requires you to really know your style and be committed to using it. You might decide to pick and choose those moments or make it a central part of your practice. Personally, it’s something I’m working on making more and more present in the work I take on.

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You have undoubtedly heard the Picasso quote: “All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” It’s a quote that’s famous because it’s so true. There’s a certain freedom to making art and creativity when you’re a child, that you seem to lose somewhere along the way to becoming a ‘grown-up’.

But the simple way to protect your creative child is to keep playing. But it’s harder than it sounds, so it’s something we all leave at aside.

It’s so easy to get in a space of only putting energy into creative projects that have some kind of cause, especially if it becomes part of your job. You start to associate creative time with making money, or trying to make something that will do well on Instagram. Or, you simply just prioritise the work that pays the bills rather than the stuff that feeds your inner child. It makes sense. That’s the world we live in. I know, I for one, do it all of the time. Playtime quickly becomes the least important time to ring-fence.

But making time to play is so important. It’s good for your wellbeing. It reduces stress. It’s great for helping you get through a creative block or just coming up with ideas. It’s a big part of what helps you “remain an artist once [you grow] up”.

So how do you play creatively as a grown up? Quite simply you’ve just got to make time and do it. 

Playtime has to be something that isn’t attached to a need for a certain outcome so it needs to happen outside of your working time. In order to differentiate play and work there are a few things, you can do if you make things for a living.

First, do something outside of your creative bubble as your play time. For me, my creative playtime is cooking, which is about as far from illustration as you can get. But it could also be something as simple as using a different medium or style.

Second, go back to school. By that, I don’t mean go back in time but to try a new class. While that might sound like the kind of structure that’s the opposite of play but learning something new often unshackles you from the expectation that you have to make something good.

This year, I’m going to do my very best to make more time for play, even though it feels so unnatural to me now. Do you do anything to keep your inner child playing?

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This year I want to share a bit more of the process around my work as well as few more tutorials and tips, so today I’m killing two birds with one stone and showing you how to do the exploded lettering I did for Oxford University Drama Society’s festival ‘Breaking the Fifth Wall’.

I’ve only recently started playing with lettering within my work but I’ve really enjoying it. So, when OUDS got in touch with me and asked for a graphic to go with their festival of drama centered around women breaking through the glass ceiling, I knew I wanted try something lettering based. I’m really pleased with how the final piece turned out. I think it definitely illustrates the spirit of the festival in a simple but fun way. 

Here’s how I did it.

 

FYI I’m using Affinity Designer and a Wacom Bamboo tablet to draw with, but you could also easily use illustrator or even photoshop (with a few tweaks) to do this.

 

Step 1

First, I just drew out the text. I used big block capitals because I knew I was going to break them up so they had to be clear and have a bit of weight to them so the text was still readable after it had been smashed. 

Side note: I always do all of my rough sketches in bright colours because I find them easier to work with.

Step 2

Then, I added in the smash lines. I had a look at some images of broken glass and found tried to replicate their patterns to make the smash a bit more believable.

Step 3

With all of those rough outlines in place, I traced over the individual broken sections of the letters to create vector line illustrations of the smashed letters.

Step 4

Once I had the vector illustration of the letters, I got rid of the pixel guides. I separated them out a bit more on the page to give them the feeling of really having been smashed. I made sure to try and strike a balance between exploding the individual pieces and maintaining the integrity of the letters so that you can still read the copy.

 

Step 5

When I was happy with the composition, I took each individual letter (by grouping sections) or individual broken piece and sheared it. To do that I rotated the vector a little and then used the shear function so that the vertical lines were still vertical – I’m hoping the imagery above explains that a bit better.

Step 6

Next, with the letters all tilted, I added in the lines that give the letters some depth and the appearance of being three-dimensional.

 

Step 7

Then, all that was left were any final adjustments.

 And that’s how it’s done.

 

Let me know if you try out this method or style, and if there’s anything else you’d like to see how tos/tips on!

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A little while ago I was catching up on Austin Kleon’s wonderful blog and read his piece on the importance of revisiting and revising old notebooks and it got me thinking about revisiting old sketchbooks. I don’t revisit old rough books that often, but I’m making a concerted effort to dip into them every once in a while, now.

EXCELLENT!

Here’s why:

1. It reminds you of the importance of keeping a sketchbook

I’ve written before about the struggles I’ve had in keeping a sketchbook. It’s only something I really got into properly last year, and since then I’ve certainly had blips. But taking the time just to skim through an old sketchbook is a great reminder of what you can get out of the process. Personally, it also gives me a sense of pride when I get to go through a full sketchbook – a feeling I always want to recreate.

 2. It shows you how much you’ve grown

Seeing your old work is a great way to evaluate how far you’ve come, in whatever it is you’re making. In a world where’s increasingly easy to compare yourself (unfavourably) to others, it’s really refreshing to compare your present-self with your past-self. I can guarantee you will have grown. But you might also find something in you did ages ago that you want to go back to if you feel you’ve lost your way.

3. It’s a great source of ideas and inspiration

On that note, going through past work allows you to revive old ideas. Quite often you end up abandoning work you do in a sketchbook or at least parts of it. Revisiting those ideas can help you come up with something new. Just because something didn’t work then doesn’t mean it won’t work now. You will have new perspectives, you will have grown (see point 2) and you will have new bits and pieces of ideas you can stick together. So, if you’re feeling like you’re in a creative rut, or like you’ve got creative block, why not try reaching back inside of yourself to provide that inspiration?

4. It gives you the opportunity to revisit and revise work to make it better

This is only something I’ve only started doing recently, with super old Instagrams, but reworking old pieces can be really rewarding. I feel like we’ve all had the “ugghhhhh” feeling when looking at something we made a few years ago. Revising those pieces with any new-found skills or in a different format can be a great way to get some practice. It’s often more of a technical challenge where you are out to beat yourself. This is one for if you have some downtime and want to work on your skills – I know some people who revisit the same piece every year to see what they can bring to it afresh every time.

Do you revisit your old sketchbooks or rough work?

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There’s been a lot written about how we’re being bombarded with more and more digital distractions. There have been studies into how it’s effecting our memory and attention spans*, and think pieces on how it’s bad for our productivity. But is digital distraction bad for our creativity?

On one hand, there are some people who would emphatically say yes. When it comes to making focused work being sucked into the black hold of related videos on YouTube isn’t exactly ideal. Sometimes you need to just focus on making something with your hands away from a screen.

Plus, if our tendency to just keep scrolling has shortened our attention spans, creating detailed or labour intensive work is going to be harder. We’re also less likely to have the patience to draft and redraft in order to make the best work that we can, and to shy away from the tough tasks that will require delayed gratification.

On the other hand, isn’t distraction where a lot of our best ideas come from? And isn’t the digital world just as big a part of our lives as the physical world? According to one scientific study the more creative you are the more likely you are to be distracted by what’s happening around you.

When it comes to brainstorming, the best creative minds draw from a number of sources including things they’ve picked up distractedly browsing Instagram as if by osmosis. The web is an infinite source of content and distraction, or potential idea fodder, and who’s to say that content is any less meaningful if it’s online. 

Digital distraction, in moderation, I believe, is good for creativity, at the idea generation stage at least.

But it can’t be our only crutch, and it is something you should be aware of, because it can quickly spiral into something negative. In short don’t forget to go outside, speak to people in person and touch real objects too. Finding out what makes your audience tick face to face is an invaluable resource, and fresh air and quiet is so good for you. That might mean limiting your scrolling time or actively scheduling in time to go for a wander without your phone depending on how your day works. But as with everything, balance is key.

How does digital distraction impact your work? Do you actively limit your screen time?

*Digital distraction might not have actually made any difference to our attention spans