Happy Friday! Over the years, we have had a lot of talented and creative people work at Impakt. We have watched them grow into industry-leading creatives, and I figured it’d be rad to share some advice I give noobies during their first few months.
Designing with Purpose
It’s difficult to put your all into something you don’t believe in. If I was doing a website for a product that I perceived to be a scam, I would have difficulty creating a website that I was proud of. If you want to be creative, I think the first step is to actually care about what you are doing.
Sidenote: My favorite term for feedback for a page that I feel isn’t up to par, is that it “needs more love”. The reason I start with that is mainly because I can tell if someone put their all into it.
The more time you spend doing work you hate, the more rusty you become. I admit that I am not passionate about every single website I make. I don’t think any web developer that works for an agency can say that they absolutely love every single website they make. I am lucky though, because the verticals we work in are interesting and satisfying for me, so it’s not really a persistent issue.
Passion Projects
When there isn’t money on the line, we naturally take more risks. This is why I think passion projects are incredibly important. The lack of financial compensation for the value you are creating can genuinely be rewarding. I don’t do as many passion projects as I did in my 20s, just due to having less overall energy, but the ones I still do are so important to keeping myself creative. Come up with something that really interests you, and go make it!
Getting Critical Feedback
Having someone in your corner that will be honest with you is incredibly important, maybe the most important thing. It’s tough because not every piece of feedback is valid, and it doesn’t always come from someone that really knows what they are talking about. Personally, and this is going to sound bad, but sometimes I lie and say that a competing agency made what I want feedback on. That way, the other person feels more comfortable being honest with me.
Those are my top 3 tips I have on being more creative. Everyone has their own rhythm, but if you aren’t doing all 3 of these things, try implementing them onto your creative efforts. You may be surprised with how much all 3 of them matter in the creative process.