“You can't connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards…” - Steve Jobs
In today’s episode we talk about why it is important to document your creative journey, ways in which you can do so, how those assets can be used now and in the future, and helpful tips on how to stay organized and consistent as you document your journey for years to come! No matter which method you choose, documenting your journey today will make several aspects of your creative career easier for your future self.
The Importance of Documenting Your Journey
There are many reasons why documenting your creative journey is important for your personal and professional growth both long and short term! These assets can not only be used for your current marketing materials but also be used to preserve your legacy in the future!
Below are several ways in which documentation of your creative process and growth can be used.
Long Term Future Legacy
Show Progress/Evolution - Show your progress over time, perhaps the different phases or periods you worked in, like Picasso’s Blue Period
Retrospective Exhibition - Future exhibitions (retrospective) that will highlight your journey where curators will want to show the growth from one creative phase to the next!
Asset to Collectors - Documentation of your journey can serve as a bonus perk to your collectors and the people than inherit your work for decades to come!
Making the world a better place and inspiring others - your artwork could provide respite, delight and joy to viewers, communicate messages of social justice, or even capture a specific point in time. By documenting your process, you and your artwork could inspire generations of artists to come!
Current Marketing + Creative Process
Get Future Collectors Invested - By building a relationship with you as the artist and hearing your story, collectors may find meaning, purpose, and a connection to your artwork. Even if you are “just” working from your kitchen table, when you have a solo exhibition of your artwork in the future, people will feel invested because they have witnessed your journey's evolution.
Quote: “The more people are invested in your creative journey, the more invested they will be in your creative output”
Digital Marketing Content - Documenting your journey will give you content to share online and become an empowering way to control your own narrative
Evolution - You can look at past work, sources of inspiration and any relevant notes documented in order to evaluate your own evolution and decide whether there are any styles or elements you would like to revisit
Coffee Table Book - Create printed materials to highlight “behind the scenes”, studies, and the art process of creating a set series of work
What does documenting your process look like?
Photos of finished paintings
Photos of in-progress work
Photos of your studio (messy and “presentable”)
Photos of you working (“candid”)
Videos of exhibitions you are part of (solo or group)
Videos (time-lapse) if you painting (detailed shots and zoomed out)
Vlogs (Video blogs) of your studio space changing, unpacking art concepts, etc.
Preserving loose sheet studies using folders, binders, and/or archival boxes
Preserving studies or sketchbook pages digitally with photos
Once you document your process, you can use these assets in your current marketing material to share with past and future collectors of your work! This includes on your website, blog, newsletter, social media channels, YouTube, or to create print material such as an art book or brochure.
Documenting Your Journey TIP!
Use technology to curate what you store long term in order to save space!
Avoid future headaches and make your life easier by creating a Monthly Studio Archive! This is a series of folders (labeled by year and month) where you will save the best and final versions of videos, photos, etc, each month. It will only include content related to your art business and creative process to serve as a resource to pull from easily in the future!
Podcast Music By Corey Claxton:
Website: https://www.coreyclaxton.com/
Instagram: @thecoreyclaxton
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3gMzkkK
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