What’s on Your Creative Bucket List?

Time for a little creative check-in with yourself

It’s easy to get caught in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, but this blogpost is to encourage everyone to do a little creative check-in, and make for yourself a bucket list.

Why?

1) To keep your creativity nourished, so that you are always growing, expanding your horizons, and helping your brain’s little neurons to generate new fibers.

Also 2), to spur you to continually work towards your personal & career goals. I think it’s important not to lose sight of your goals, and to strive to hit milestones along the way, however small they may be, to keep that fire alive.

So i’m sharing a bucket list, and at the same time, you can think of your own. The bucket list you create should serve as a mental check every now and then, and hopefully also as a source of motivation. I encourage everyone to fill your bucket list with your wildest dreams, and set out to check off some of those things!

MAKE

Leaving any excuses or limitations behind, if you could make anything, what would you want to make?

Think about subjects you are interested in. Digital design? Print design? Art? For me, I really want to explore various avenues:

Design brand identities

• I want to create comprehensive brand identity systems. (Design everything from the logo, to collateral, and its entire system of visual design applications.)
• Design a sports logo

Try special printing methods and effects — Make a set of greeting cards, perhaps using letterpress. Try gold foiling and screen printing.

Design publications

• Design a magazine magazine spread or cover
• Design a zine (a publication for a very niche subject)
• Do layout and design for a book

Typography

• Design a display typeface and publish it as an actual font
• Do lettering and typographic experiments
• Learn calligraphy

Get physical

• Make stuff out of physical materials, like food, clay, and other materials
• Design a store window display

Random other things

• Redesign my personal site
• Design a CD album insert (What, they still make those?)

STAY INSPIRED

What are some things you can do to get inspired? What experiences? What influences?

Travel — I’d love to soak in the culture and richness of distant cities and countries, and visit visually amazing places & serene destinations!

• New York
• Japan — see the various seasons
• Italy
• back to my roots — Philippines
• live somewhere new

Meet People ( there’s so much to learn from others)

• talented people
• people in other fields
• my idols, like Jessica Hische, Paula Scher, Michael Bierut, Seth Godin, Simon Sinek
• go to design conferences

Explore different subjects to generate more creative sparks

• Photography
• Watercolor
• Illustration
• Dance
• Cooking
• DIY-ing
• Music

LEARN

Open your mind, see in a new perspective, and learn something new

• find great mentors
• attend workshops
• learn by doing
• perhaps go back to school and get more knowledge

IMPROVE

Sometimes, you really need to focus on honing your design skills, and other things closely related to your job.

What are some skills you want to strengthen?

• get better at presenting / speech
• get better at handling and educating clients
• master the tools i’m using
• get better at estimates
• get better at communication
• optimize my workflow
• improve my sleep patterns
• improve diet and exercise

CONNECT

Make something beautiful happen with others

How do you want connect? Maybe its through expressing your design views, sharing your work on social media, or getting in touch with other creatives.

• collab with a friend or colleague
• design for a non-profit / a good cause
• design a gift for a friend
• support a local design event
• get more involved with the community
• attend a huge design conference
• move people with design

BE YOU

Find what it is you really want to do. Be true to yourself and let it shine.

• Find your personal style
• Even if just once in a while, design something for yourself
• Find ways to express your message, your soul, and your identity
• Surround yourself with positive influences
• Chase your dreams

So guys, what would you put on your Creative Bucket List? Feel free to post a reply!