Food for the Creative Soul: Passion Projects
“Truth be told, in the arts, as in life, everything is possible provided it is based on love.” — Marc Chagall.
Creativity is just like any muscle in the body; it needs to be exercised and looked after in order to work optimally. If we don’t spend time training our creative muscles, ‘creative fitness’ can easily be lost, and this can have a massive impact on one’s ability to love what they do as a creative professional.
FALLING OUT OF LOVE WITH YOUR CRAFT
If you’re feeling like you’ve lost your creative spark, we’re here to share our thoughts. Before taking any steps towards reigniting your passion for creative outlets, it’s crucial to understand why you may have gotten here.
As a creative individual in the design and tech industry, one might find themselves at a point in their careers where day-to-day creative outputs are no longer passion-driven. The more time one spends in the industry, the more likely they are to experience project fatigue as a result of monotony or a lack of creative stimulation.
“Monotony is a notorious killer of creativity.”
A passion for design rarely starts with the need to make a living from it. It traditionally starts with the basic desire to explore creative impulses and simply ‘make’ — in whatever shape and form that may come. ‘Art’, in this way, exists with the sole purpose of being something meaningful to the artist and their audience. This is a feeling often experienced when studying, as the learning environment is one that encourages and allows exploration in its freest form.
As the creative journey shifts environments, from an exploratory safe haven to a bustling industry, the designer may learn that their creative explorations are bound by certain rules and requirements. This may lead to a sense of creative restraint.
Believing that this trade off is inevitable when one progresses into the working world could lead to a feeling of dissatisfaction in which creativity slowly withers. However, the key to understanding this transition is active self-reflection.
FALLING BACK IN LOVE WITH YOUR CRAFT
Finding ways to fall back in love with your craft is an essential component to succeeding in both personal and professional capacities. This is not only because being passionate feeds into your motivation to create on a personal level, but also because it is a driver for innovation and discipline to arrive every day, and do your best work. Innovative thinking undeniably leads to success in your professional career.
The process of falling back in love with being creative can be a revitalizing experience, because the journey begins with rediscovering the joy that you felt when you first started creating.
Revisiting old projects, trying new techniques and setting aside time to play can help one gain new inspiration and excitement. This form of play can also act as a type of meditation or remedy, gifting oneself with freedom of curiosity once more. Falling in love is always a passionate experience. The same can be said about falling back in love with your craft.
PASSION PROJECTS
An effective way of exercising your creative muscles is to embark on a passion project. The intention of a passion project is to create a piece of work in which you have full creative freedom, without any fear of taking risks or meeting client objectives.
Some find joy in pursuing art which differs from the type of design they currently work with. Others use their creative skills towards expanding their career. Luckily, the love spell that occurs when embarking on a passion project can be approached from both viewpoints.
Preparing for a passion project is like making a shopping list before actually going shopping. You need to reflect on what it is that you want. Some guiding questions to ask might be:
- What are you interested in (no matter how diverse)?
- What skill do you want to learn?
- What do you believe you need to learn?
- Where do you want to grow?
Once we understand the different avenues to explore, they can be prioritised, and clear steps can be derived to achieve those goals. A good starting point is to create a visual planner as a form of pre-brainstorm. Here, one can decide what to look for when exploring references and slowly but surely begin to build out the framework of one’s project.
Although passion projects can be both exploratory and career driven, choosing a specific direction allows you to have a more focused and tangible approach to the project.
Creative exploration will prioritise direction with an emphasis on experiment and play, allowing for a more diverse and expressive body of work that has very few restrictions.
Letting career growth dictate a passion project might focus on a career goal to work toward instead. An example would be redirecting a project within the lens of your profession, such as UI related exploration. This concept helps you practice and upskill in direct line with your career trajectory and desired goals, and might help teach you new tools for future projects, or inspire fellow colleagues through your explorations.
OUR PASSIONATE PEOPLE
At MakeReign, creativity is the foundation of what we do. We are fortunate to have a collection of passionate people that continue to explore, allowing that exploratory drive to filter into the work we do as an agency.
Designer: Thapelo Marumo — ‘Marbles’
Project description: The Greek myth of Laocoön and His Sons through web layout and responsive 3D design.
About Thapelo’s work: “This was a more interactive web experience exploration with the intention of taking visitors through the story of different sculptures and statues that were created in the Renaissance era.”
Thapelo’s goal: “What I wanted to do was practice my 3D modelling and animation skills through Blender for design, conceptualization and assetization and then use Three.Js & Webflow to bring it to life.”
Designer: Kristen Ryan — ‘Arthur’s Mini Super’
Project Description: Balancing the juxtaposition of a charming micro-deli against the bustling city in which it lives.
About Kristen’s Work: Arthur’s Mini Super is a micro-deli and superette that nestled in the busy Arthurs Street of Cape Town. This micro-deli and superette offers a unique selection of delicious coffee, snacks, and locally and internationally sourced goods. “I believe that the environment around us is full of beauty and wonder, and it can serve as a constant source of inspiration for various projects.” Kristen suggests immersing oneself in the natural world around us to pull inspiration from unexpected places, ultimately emphasising the importance of remaining curious.
Kristen’s Goal: She explained that her vision for this project was to create a visually captivating and inviting space that reflects the vibrant and lively atmosphere of the micro-deli so that the brand’s unique offerings could stand out in a crowded market.
Christian Vieira — ‘Online Milkcart Boy’
Project Description: A “Words of Encouragement Poster Series” exploring new design styles.
About Chris’ Work: “The idea of this series came from a question of what type of work I was craving for, what my creative soul was hungry for, and how I could help others. Then it came to mind sharing words of encouragement, not only to others but to myself. These words would have me explore typography and different design styles I’ve always wanted to try but never felt like I could.”
Chris’ Goal: Chris explained that he “became a design hoarde”. He’s learnt to find every design piece interesting “no matter how complex or out there it may be.” He believes that there is always something to learn from art. What he has achieved from this passion project is the ability to identify what stimulates his creativity, allowing him to become bolder with his designs.
WRAPPING THINGS UP
The desire to create something meaningful resides in all of us. By embarking on passion projects that align with who you are as a creative, you can create masterpieces far beyond your imagination. The key to this is to feed your creative soul by stimulating your curiosity and creating a space in which you give yourself the freedom to explore.
