- There are just some things
that are harder than others sometimes.
Hey, everybody, this is Roberto Blake
of robertoblake.com, helping you create
something awesome today.
Today we have another graphic design video
that's also just generally about creativity.
I wanna talk today about what
the hardest part about being a creative is.
If you're a creative person, if you're a
creative professional or even
a creative entrepreneur, you probably understand
exactly what I'm talking about.
There are just so many facets to living
this create life that we're pursuing
that have difficulties that most people
won't come up against.
A lot of what we do for a living
is determined and driven by our passion,
but we also have to make it practical
at the same time.
The thing is that a lot of people,
what they're doing is solely in the realm of practicality.
They're not doing it because they like it.
It's not what they necessarily wake up for
every single day.
There are very few people that are in
that situation, but creatives, if they're working
in the creative industry, they have that.
They have their responsibility and what they
have to deliver on weighed against
what they want to do and what they like to do.
The thing is, for us, it blurs so much.
That can be a struggle.
The reason that that can be a struggle
is because when you're in a position
where you don't always have full creative control
or ownership of the work, you're constantly
battling with yourself between what
you're obligated to do and what you believe
in your gut is probably the best thing
for the project.
That's a really hard position to be in sometimes.
One of the things I know that I
used to struggle with a lot is when I
had to justify a decision that I was making
from the perspective of a creative,
and I'm still keeping, say, an end user in mind,
but then I have somebody in between in management
or even as a client that disagrees
with that thesis, disagrees with that point of view.
They have their point of view that
they're interjecting, but they're not
the executioner or practitioner.
They don't understand the creative part of it,
but then they also are thinking about themselves
more than the end user or the customer.
That's a really rough place to be in
because I'll give you a primary realistic example.
You have sometimes a client that will tell you,
"Well, my favorite color is hot pink,"
or something like that, or, "Everything has to be red."
The reality is that in a situation
where they're saying their favorite color
is hot pink, but the brand is gender neutral,
the brand is actually for both men and women,
that doesn't jive.
So when you try to sell them on, well,
let's go with this purple or let's go
with this mauve or let's go with maroon,
like, they still don't wanna hear it sometimes
because they want what they want, and they
feel that because they're writing the check
and they're in charge or it's their project,
that that should overrule everything,
when their own goals and intentions
are what should overrule everything.
Meaning, it's like do you wanna love
this thing that you're looking at
or do you want to make money?
Sometimes that's a very hard conversation
to have with somebody because they're convinced
that they know what will be successful,
but sometimes what they feel that they know
flies in the face of the facts or the data
or the reality or what your experience has been
day in and day out or repeatedly or having
worked on a similar thing.
Ultimately, we know what happens.
As creatives, a lot of times we just
bow to what the client or what the employer wants,
even if we know that it's technically
not correct or even if everyone in the room
disagrees with it.
Even the other people in positions alongside them
sometimes can disagree with.
If they're the final decision maker,
well, that's it.
Then the market decides from there.
This is a mixed bag.
If you really care about the quality of your work,
then you're gonna find yourself frustrated
in these situations.
If you don't really, are not emotionally invested
in the job, you're doing it for a paycheck,
ya like what ya do, but then you're going home
and you're doing your own thing
and that satisfies you, that might be healthy
for you up here, and you might be able
to survive your job that way, but it does mean
that you're probably producing inferior work
day in and day out, and it doesn't represent you well.
The thing is, when you later are going
to try to get a different position or another job,
you still end up having to use a lot
of the stuff that you just feel wasn't
your best work because you were put
in a position to compromise.
I know this is something I have personally experienced
in the past, and it was a real issue
and a real struggle.
It's part of the reason that I'm glad
that I'm a creative entrepreneur now
doing my own thing, doing things on my own terms,
working with clients that respect my judgment.
You won't always end up in that situation,
but I think that you have to have a healthy sense
of who people are and what they really want.
If you can get your communication to a point
to where you are getting them to understand
that you're going to help them accomplish
their true goal, even if it means they have
to be slightly less comfortable with the process,
I think that there's a way to do that sometimes.
There will be times when there's not.
That's just the way it is.
In life, we're not always gonna be able
to get the things that we want
or we're gonna have to compromise sometimes
to enable to move forward with other people.
Now, when you become a creative entrepreneur,
and in most cases you're the boss
or when ya have the option of walking away
from things or when you can fire clients,
well, then life gets really interesting,
and you can do whatever you want, as long
as you're willing to lose money
or walk away from money.
If you're in a great position to where
you can do that, then it's actually
very empowering and it's very satisfying
to be able to say, "No, I don't believe in that,
"I don't believe in going in that direction"
or, "I disagree."
You can be candid with people.
It's a lot easier to do when you have
the leverage to do that.
I'm not saying be rude, I'm not saying
disrespect them, I'm not saying discard their opinion,
I'm just reminding you that the situation
where you compromise creativity comes down
to a lack of leverage, and sometimes
it comes down to bad communication.
Most of the time, if you can communicate
to someone what's in their best interest
in a way that they will accept,
you don't run into problems.
The issue is having the patience and the skill
and the desire to actually do that,
which most of us don't have the patience for.
Even I sometimes don't have the patience for that.
I think some of you in the comments section
probably have realized that sometimes
I have a lack of patience.
I have infinite patience when it comes
to the project, and I don't have nearly
as much patience when it comes to actual people
and human beings sometimes.
It's something that I've been working on
myself as a creative, and I definitely think
that a lot of creatives probably
are more temperamental than they want to admit.
I'm just very self-aware about it.
Anyway, I'd love to know your thoughts.
What do you think the hardest part
of being a creative is, whether you're a designer,
an artist, an illustrator, a writer,
a photographer?
What do you really feel the hardest part
of being a creative is?
Do you think, like me, that it comes down
to the struggle and the compromise
of what you have to do, in terms of the work,
and then what you really want to do
or what you think is not compromising?
Or do you think that there's other issues
that are more challenging than that
as a creative?
Do you think that maybe selling yourself
as a creative is actually the biggest challenge
or the thing that you struggle with the most?
I'd love to hear about it in the comments section.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this video.
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