WEEK 36 - Design. Your. Own. Path.
Design. Your. Own. Path.
Some of my favorite board games are ones with a visually appealing path to victory - like CandyLand or Chutes and Ladders. There’s something about seeing the specific steps it takes to get from “here” to “there” that makes my creative, illustration-loving brain super happy.
So for this round of HOMwork I borrowed that concept to chart my own journey as a creative entrepreneur!
When I was thinking about what I wanted to highlight about my creative journey, a “career path” illustration made the most sense. I tend to share a lot of bite-sized nuggets of info about my career on socials but I don’t often get to offer bigger-picture views.
An illustrated depiction of my creative work progression as a creative freelancer lets me dig a little deeper than usual and get you some more “macro” information about the twists and turns my career has taken over the years.
Like most HOMwork projects, this one totally delivered a moment of realization: illustrating my creative work as a journey is a great way to show my ”niche for now” version of creative growth.
Here’s what I mean by niche for now:
If you look at my current portfolio you’ll see a lot of different things that aren’t obviously related in terms of thematic cohesion. For instance, I include teaching, hand lettering, illustration, graphic design, chalk lettering, food, etc...
The context of my portfolio is really important! The point that often gets lost in bite-sized social media posts is that I started with one creative skill or focus, mastered it, got validation in the form of payment and industry recognition, was able to add great projects to my portfolio, and then moved on to the next thing.
In other words, I am always doing focused, niched work, but the products change as I evolve as an artist. I tend to dig into specific skills or audiences and spend a lot of time and energy learning and getting comfortable in that space before I move on to a new niche.
Niche for now means my “path” is pretty wavy, but I think it’s a really interesting journey to see from a bird’s eye view!
What does YOUR path look like?!
Your assignment: Design or illustrate a pathway or a journey you’ve taken.
Thought starters: This could be ANY journey. Mental health, salary, fitness, whatever journey is important to you - that’s the one to create for this assignment.
The skills that are going to be important for this assignment are your design chops and your ability to self-edit. I left a LOT out of my career path illustration because I was trying to focus on the key moments of that particular journey.
And remember, the environment you build around your path will contribute to the overall mood of the piece. A journey that looks like a dirt path with wooden signs and woodland creatures is going to have a different vibe than a racetrack with bold colors and speeding cars.
Put some thought into the visual “theme” of your journey so that it complements and supports the information on the pathway itself.
Caption ideas: Per usual, share details about your journey. Why did you decide to share this particular bit of your life? What feels compelling about it? What do you hope people realize as they learn about your journey?
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Don’t forget to tag me @homsweethom and use the #HOMwork & #HOMwork2021 hashtag when you post on Instagram. I love looking through your excellent creations and sharing a few of my favs every week in my IG Stories before the next assignment is posted.
x Lauren
P.S. I created a free PDF worksheet to help you brainstorm after watching my 2021 Adobe MAX presentation! It contains five prompts & tips to help guide you towards the right digital product idea for your creative business. (There's a link in the worksheet to watch the replay of my session if you missed it!) #AdobePartner
