Dualitys and Dryspells
Hey Friends
Hope you all are doing well and are as excited about Halloween as I am. Halloween is always my favorite holiday and just the month of October in general rules.
The duality of WFH
Working on this newsletter today from a coffee shop in Glassel Park while I wait for my girlfriend to bleach my hair. It's hard for me to work on design work outside of my office because of the analog workflows, the speed of my desktop PC, and of course all those fonts I've collected over the years.(even though I've been sticking to about 5 lately lol). However doing more nondesign work like writing this newsletter, gathering research, learning online, and emailing people whatever it may be is pretty awesome on the laptop and on the go.
It's a strange feeling that I want to get out of my home office sometimes because I put so much effort in to get the privilege to work from home and have set up my office perfectly to my liking. However, there is just a looming feeling that sometimes hits me with that classic "I need a change of scenery" feeling. I think sometimes as creatives we get stuck in our little routines and the rat race as they call it even though for most of us that is a life we strive to leave behind.
When I was working as an intern or as an employee as an in-house designer I DREAMED of being able to only freelance and work from home. I would sit in traffic on the way there, sit in my office after lunch, and sit in traffic on the way home wishing for the day when my design skills gave me the opportunity to work however and whenever the fuck I want. The funny thing is now that I am in that zone the home office has filled the void of the "office" office. Don't get me wrong it's still 10x better working from home but there are things I miss about going into an office or coworking with others.
I think when you work completely remote and almost entirely independent as a freelancer, content creator, YouTuber whatever it may be you naturally strive for collaboration. I still wouldn't sit in traffic for an hour to get that cool feedback session in the break-out meeting room but still, I definitely yearn for it sometimes. I think what it really boils down to is a "the grass is always greener" type situation. Who knows maybe I can get a cool coworking studio one day and have some other dope creatives working with me in it.
Dryspell
I have been kinda in a rut when it comes to client work. I finished two BIG BIG projects in the last few months but other than that pretty much nothing. Lots of prospective clients also getting lost in the email reply void, not wanting to pay a fair price, or overall being "Difficult" ( I'll use that word to keep it civil haha). I guess am bringing this up to half vent and half be transparent with you all.
If you are ever feeling discouraged around this craft just know it happens to all of us. Some of my most talented designer friends have been feeling the same too (I see your close friends stories talking about it). Maybe it's just the time of the season, the bad economy, who knows? Is there something in the Cold Brew this time of year??
I'm fortunate to have saved a little nest egg from those "BIG" clients I spoke about above so all I can do is keep on working on my craft, coming up with new video ideas, and forever learning.
Blues legends
Latest finished piece for my blues legends series. I think I have done about 12 now and wanna keep pushing it until I run out of juice. There is something so refreshing about working on a series. It's nice to take the decision fatigue about what you want to create out of the equation and focus all your creative energy on the execution and experimenting. Tried out a printed gradient on this one and really like how it turned out (Even though my printer sounded like it was gonna explode)
Stuff I currently like and stuff I'm looking forward to!
Tweet of the week below
Closing Thoughts
Keep it Moving
Much Love, Glue.
Weekly Wrap Up
Steve Ray Vaughn Analog/Digital Design Process Video
Last Podcast for now with the talented Ross Mason on Patreon!
New Video in a few days, for now here is a fun video from a few months ago
Thanks for reading. This newsletter is a reader-supported publication. The best way to support is to share this newsletter with a friend and/or subscribe to my Patreon!