Here are five little tips I put together that will help you possibly become more awesome as a creative person. If you disagree with any of these, there is a chance this will NOT make you any more awesomer than you already are.
Some people here like to listen to techno. (Do they still call it techno?) Some like podcasts about murder mysteries. (It’s all I heard about for a week.) And some just like to listen to the lobby mix of The Mumford Brothers and The Slipknots. For me, however, it’s rap music! Dirty, dirty, rap music. When I am deep in drawing smileys on top of an illustrator’s great work, I like nothing better than to be transported to the streets of A-Town. I love learning the history about the Marcy Projects in Brooklyn, or even taken down the famed intersection of Crenshaw and Slauson. It really helps me focus, as well as feel tougher.
Currently I recommend Run the Jewels 1 and 2. This features the duo El-P and Killer Mike. Killer Mike is from the aforementioned “A-Town.”
Also, check out some really great tips from Killer here.
Actually, add all these tips to this list:
I pronounce it “Wack’m” (not sure if that is right). This is an amazing tool if you are a designer or art director. Using it is the fastest way to sketch ideas, retouch photos, and mark all over stuff you don’t like. I get a lot of pleasure giving feedback on design like an elementary school teacher. I love this thing more than anything or anyone in the office – sorry, Holly. If I ever get canned, which according to my dad is inevitable, I’ll straight up pimp walk out of this place with it under my arm.
This probably seems weird at first before you think more about it and how awesome it is. I get all my creative thinking done in the morning, in the shower, lying down, with a rag over my face. The isolated feeling I get helps me focus on the day ahead: what needs to be created, fixed, finished, presented, and talked about. Some might think that this would give the opposite feeling, like being waterboarded. They are wrong. As long as you get the angle just right and don’t let water get in your nose, the experience is incredible and extremely effective. The falling water and darkness from the rag makes me feel like that scene in The Last of the Mohicans where they hide behind the waterfall. No one can see me!
About 35-86 percent of things we create on the job are usually for people who are nothing like us personally. So I say, make some stuff for yourself! For example, in the last few years, I have directed and learned quite a bit about video. I have taken those skills and applied them to my now personal hobby of filmmaking. I prefer action cams because I am so extreme. Here is a little tease of something I’m working on.
Whether you like whittling wood or spray painting train cars, get out there and make yourself happy. Check out this cool stuff my friend Wynn makes in his free time.
This one is less about being a better creative than it is about being a better person. I like saying “good morning” every morning, whether the morning is good or not. Everyone I work with knows this, but this blog isn’t for them – it’s for you. The great thing about saying “good morning” is that you get a good gauge of where people are at on the Happy-Pissed scale. Usually, if they don’t immediately say “good morning” back, they are (a.) closer to the pissed mark; or (b.) they don’t like you. Either way, you can then bust their balls about it, which will in turn cause them to (a.) climb the HP scale; or (b.) still hate you.
– Good morning, everybody!
