The Freelance Diaries: Inner Self
It's been a while. The Freelance Diaries. Remember the days when I posted each week with tips and tricks for all you creative freelancers out there? Well I'm back in action!
This week I want to talk about getting in touch with your inner self. I know - I talk a lot about these romantic ideas of finding your voice, being nice to people, etc., etc - but I promise, these tips seriously make up a huge portion of my freelance life. Otherwise, I would just be sharing administrative stuff every day. Womp womp.
Which brings me to my point - getting in touch with your inner self. This idea is similar to the idea of finding your "voice" or "style" as an illustrator or designer. It's important because it challenges all you guys and gals to stand out among the crowd. It takes years to develop (and frankly, is a lifelong journey), but here are a few tips for starting to develop a consistent "self".
PINTEREST // Start a board with all your favorite letterers, designers, or illustrators. Be really selective - what do you like specifically about each image? The colors? The composition? The technique? A combination of everything? Try pinning images that vary in styles but all fit together seamlessly. Check out the screen grab here of one of my boards... everything just seems to "fit", doesn't it? But everything is also varying in design, texture, and concept.
RESEARCH // Go to your local library and start sticking your nose in old books that focus on typography (or whatever you're interested in) - either take a mental photo or snap photos on your iPhone to remember which images you like and WHO MADE THEM. If you really liked the book, research where you can purchase it. Use these inspirations as a part of the overall project. You don't have to have everything on Pinterest - it's just a great place to store inspiration.
YOU // Start using your pinspiration and research photos as reference to figure out what you like specifically in each photo. Challenge yourself to pick bits and pieces from each image to make a totally NEW image that looks completely different from everything that you've pinned or dog-eared, but seamlessly fits into your pinterest board.
And that wraps up some fun little exercises for getting in touch with your inner creative. Remember - this is a lifelong pursuit! Be gentle with yourself if you're still struggling to find what makes you tick. Want more tips on a similar topic? Check out previous entries in The Freelance Diaries.
If you find this series helpful - please share! Pin the image above, Tweet about it or Instagram your progress using #mollyjacquesworkshop
RESOURCES: Steal Like An Artist, Show Your Work