Some thoughts on doing work for yourself.

We as creatives have a unique relationship with our work.

Sure, it's what pays the bills… but it's so much more than that. Our creative work is what fulfills our souls.

This has been a recent topic of discussion within the Maker Division community. The difference between client work and studio work.

There's client work: the work we do for others. It's what pays the bills when we first get started with our creative careers. The main advantage is it's one of the easiest forms of work to get started with. The main downside is you are limited on your creative freedom depending on the client. Clients are typically risk averse, and true creativity depends on some risk. More often than not

Then there's studio work: the work we do for ourselves. This is the work that has no client, the work we do entirely for self fulfillment.

You see, we're special. You don't see an accountant doing work on the side to scratch a creative itch, now do you? But we creatives do the work not because we have to, but because we want to. As I mentioned earlier, creative work fulfill our souls. We are hard wired to create.

Awhile back I heard a phrase that really resonated with me. While it was being used for content development, I think it applies just as much to creating studio work. By doing work for ourselves we find "clarity through articulation". We find the the work we want to do in our creative career by doing work for ourselves.

Here are some ideas/tips to help you kick start your studio work:

• Pick up a childhood project. If you're like me you had a sketchbook of doodles. Why not pick those up again and see what you could use now? That's exactly what I'm doing right now. It may take some brushing up on illustration, but I'm reviving a narrative I came up with way back in high school.
• Be your own client.You don't need to justify ROI when you're the client. Looks for gaps in the world that you want to fill, and start a project that fills that gap. It could be a product, a course or a heavy metal themed donut shop. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.
• Teach yourself a new craft.Create a series and and use a new craft, medium or program to make it. Want to learn how to paint? Paint a series of portraits of the greek philosophers if they were cats. The best way to learn is by doing.

These are just a handful of ways you can get started with studio work. I hope to see you sharing your work in the Maker Division community!

Until then, keep on making.

Cheers,

Zach Ebert

Zach of a Trades, Master of None

Community Manager | Maker Division

Cease to begin

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