Commercially Speaking

It doesn’t matter how good of an artist you are. If it doesn’t sell its garbage.

I recently came across a video by Campbell Walker on YouTube where he was talking about the problems with the internet. That’s when it hit me, I’ve been screaming about this my entire career. So, I decided to pen my thoughts.

“It doesn’t matter how good of an artist you are. If it doesn’t sell its garbage.” This is what the entire world has taught us. And commercially speaking, that is the truth. If you can’t pay your bills, you are going to end up on the street. But the problem is bigger than just this.

When I was working as a freelance graphic designer and used to be a so-called “Instagram Guru” I faced a scenario that made me quit Social Media once in for all. Whenever I made a design, all I was thinking is “Will it go viral?”. If you can’t see the problem in this statement lemme put it this way, “I trained my creativity to suit the algorithm”.

The moment I realised this, I deleted every Social Media account I had, even WhatsApp. I took a small break and wanted to see how I can undo this. I eventually realised the best way to get over this is to create without caring. I stopped taking client work and started working on stuff that I liked and it never left my computer. I was done with wanting public approval and all I cared about was how that made me feel.

I still make a lot of designs and write about a lot of stuff that doesn’t leave my person. I do client work and run my design studio. The feedback I get from the client doesn't affect me, it just affects my work. I right now feel that I have my creative mojo back.

Yours,
Shasha

Just hit reply and let’s start a convo!