THE STORY
For most of 2017 I was in a funk - creatively and professionally.
I had lost my job in music publishing in June of 2016 and had been working two part-time jobs (one in music royalties, the other in product marketing), and I wasn't doing much creative work other than a few album cover projects with BMG Production Music and a handful of independent artists.
I felt uninspired though. My design clients were happy with my work, but I can't say I was proud of any of it.
I had reached a creative plateau and it felt like I would be stuck there forever.
Then in late 2017, I happened upon a designer on Instagram doing a "one design per day" challenge...for a whole year! I quickly discovered that several designers and illustrators were taking up similar challenges and it was incredibly inspiring to see how quickly their skills and abilities grew from that dedicated focus.
My mind was blown and something sparked inside of me for the first time in a good long while: aspiration.
If they could do this, why couldn't I?
I had to try.
So, in early 2018, I started MYDESIGN.PROJECT365 and set out on my own creative journey.
During that year I learned a lot about graphic design, Adobe Creative Cloud, copywriting, and (surprisingly) myself. There were challenges, of course: I routinely had to face the limitations of my knowledge and skills; the crushing guilt of sometimes failing to complete any designs for weeks at a time sometimes got the better of me; and even though I was working on a regular basis, the financial struggle was very real.
Some days I really wanted to just say, "F--- it." and stop working on the project all together. And some days I did exactly that...but I always picked it back up.
It wasn't until November of 2018 that I finally pulled the plug on the project.
While I hadn't made it a full year - let alone complete "one design per day" - I did finish the project with over 160 new designs in a variety of styles AND a new job working with the US Marketing team at BMG Production Music - plus, I now had a new confidence in my ability to quickly and regularly produce good work.
Fast forward to late 2020 with COVID-19, regional lockdowns, and the US presidential election dominating the news, this seems like a good time to rededicate myself to a large-scale personal project.
Plus, my job, like so many in music and entertainment, has fallen victim to the cuts and consolidations of our post-pandemic world.
Thankfully, I'm in a position where I can at least try to use some of my time during the upcoming holiday season to reset, refocus, and recharge my creativity. It's not a great place to be, but I'm looking forward to pushing my creative boundaries to new limits over the course of the next year...and beyond!
THE GOAL
Unlike 2018, my goal this time around is less about creating a large quantity of work, but rather, more focused on thoughtfully engaging with design (In all its forms) on a daily basis. I still intend to complete three to five designs per week, but I would define the three main pillars of the project as the following: increased creative awareness; conscious exploration of design theory; and the continued evolution and discovery of my own voice as a designer.
I hope you'll join me on this journey.
