I just got back from the Philippines and I'm feeling super amped up and inspired so let's get right into!
Creative Juice is a weekly newsletter published every Monday morning so you can start your week feeling inspired creatively to make cool sh*t and get paid for it. Every Monday I share something gorgeous, a portfolio of the week, three creative finds, one amazing post from social media, and one lesson I learned recently.
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TL:DR
- SOMETHING GORGEOUS: Who Knew Traffic Cones Could Be This Gorgeous
- PORTFOLIO OF THE WEEK: Everyone Should Have a Playground
- CREATIVE FIND 01: My Type of Girl
- CREATIVE FIND 02: Welcome to KidSuper Studios
- CREATIVE FIND 03: Pixel Perfect Hoam
- ONE GRAM: Obsessed With Lego Art
- ONE LESSON: Why I Am Hyper Focused and Energized in 2024
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Something Gorgeous
Who Knew Traffic Cones Could Be This Gorgeous
CONES for Lichtfestival Ghent 2023 by SpY
Who would of thought that traffic cones could be so gooorgeous. **Just me?..**Still you gotta admit, when repetition is used correctly, it can create some wonderfully beautiful outcomes. CONES is a site-specific installation of hundreds of traffic cones wrapped around the front columns of the Aula Academica at Ghent University.
I have a soft spot for everyday objects used in unexpected ways so this jumped right out at me. Reminds of the big scrubbers at a carwash or a rolling pin of thorns. A good reminder to think out of the box and use the things around you to really transform anything.
Portfolio of the Week
Everyone Should Have a Playground
Alessandro Giammaria
Alessandro Giammaria is an italian freelance graphic designer who may still be working on their portfolio website but had something that caught my eye and wanted to talk about this week.
A playground!
I'm gonna skip over most of Alessandro's portfolio website and focus on this one specific section because of a couple of reasons. The first being I've seen this word used a lot after viewing a ton of designer's portfolio websites. The second, I get a ton of questions on TikTok about how to present work outside of client projects or campaigns from full-time jobs. So let's get into it.
Whether you call it a playground, blog, sketchbook, or what have you. This is a section that can be used to show the bits, pieces, and experiments you create while working on or in between projects. It can also be a place where you show things that are totally unrelated to your design work. In my opinion this section shouldn't be used to wow a visitor but paint a better picture of you, your personality, and design taste. Why? Because this section should not take away from your actual finished and polished design projects. Those are the projects that should impress visitors, show your experience and skills.
Can a blog section be done wrong? Absolutely yes...
I believe that it is important to differentiate between your selected work and blog section. For example, with Alessandro's blog section, you can click into the blog items and view them as individual pages as you would a project page. They may not have nearly as much information as the selected projects above but they are very similar in layout and presentation. I would avoid this and keep anything that lives within the blog a simple image to showcase your creativity. For me, less is more with a section like this and presenting too much can actually take away from the rest of your work. There is nothing wrong with leaving something for the imagination of your visitors to think about.
If you have a bunch of 'things' that fall outside of the work you want to do more of and don't know where to put it. Consider adding a section or a page like this somewhere on your design portfolio website. Experiment a little and see if people notice it.
What do you think of Alessandro's design portfolio website? Do you have a favorite section or project?
Score: 6.3/10
Built with: Wordpress
Creative Finds
My Type of Girl
GIRL Visual Identity by GIRL
I love when organizations present their own visual identity process. It's kind of like a badge of honor. "We make visual identities and if you don't believe it, look at ours". I am in love with the custom typeface they put together for this.
Welcome to KidSuper Studios
KidSuper Studios Website
If you aren't familiar with KidSuper he is a fashion designer with his own line. He recently released a line of bags and jackets focused around kissing. I love this digital experience they put together for the studio website, bringing you into their New York neighborhead. Reminds of Drake's shoppable mansion website.
Pixel Perfect Hoam
Hoam Visual Identity Ordinary People
I really loved this visual identity for the Hoam Museum of Art. While the majority of the visual identity is set in Helvetica, the wordmark is pretty cool and the accompanying signage and icons are nicely unified. I think this project is a great example, that not all design has to be absolutely polished and formal and corporate-y. You can still have fun and be playful.
ONE GRAM
Obsessed With Lego Art
Jaime Sanchez
Yes, I am obsessed with all things art and lego and was delighted when this work from Jaime showed up in my feed. Another great use of repetition and taking items that we are familiar with and subverting them.
PS. Sorry if I already shared this one but I love it.
ONE LESSON
Why I Am Hyper Focused and Energized in 2024
I am back at my home base now in Bali after 14 days in the Philippines and wow. I am so ready for 2024. I fell in love with the Philippines and have now added that as one of the places I would like to live when I'm old. While it may not have as many amenities as Bali or other places, like solid wifi, and water fountains with cold water. These limitations are part of the reason why it felt so beautiful. There were things that were completely out of my control forcing me to get comfortable with the uncomfortable. **But Jon what do you mean the 'uncomfortable' you get to travel all over? **Well I'll tell ya...
When I travel, almost 99% of the time I bring my laptop. Yes I live in another country and travel a lot, but that does not come without a lot of hard work. I am pretty much always on when it comes to my clients and work. I mean, I'm writing this newsletter on the weekend. Sometimes the stuff you enjoy just doesn't stop and you do it no matter what. This trip in the Philippines was different.
Prior to leaving I heard from more than a few friends that the wifi was very very limited and to expect there to be only few places that would have decent connection at best. Knowing this I went ahead and told my clients that I would be completely offline for the beginning of January. This was a first for me. But I am glad to report back that it felt amazing. Yes, I might've opened my laptop here and there. But other than that, my mind was completely checked out and focused on only what was in front of me. Amazing friends and beautiful memories waiting to be made.
So why am I energized for 2024? You probably guessed it. Yes because, my mind was switched off the majority of this trip. But also because during that time, I had space to think. I wasn't worried about any projects or deadlines. I wasn't worried about any emails because I literally had no service most of the time. And I didn't care at all.
Why am I hyper focused for 2024? Well maybe it's comes as a result of now being 32. I reflected a lot on previous years where I worked on so many different projects at once with very little to show for them in the end. Yes I am 32. Don't feel sad for me cause I'm not. It's awesome! But after looking back, I kind of just said I'm tired of working on so many different things at once. Yes it's fun to do it and honestly it was super helpful because while I may not have made a ton of progress on those various experiments. It helped me find clarity and discover the things I am truly passionate about. I may have enjoyed them in the moment as it can be really fun to learn and try new things of course. But maybe the reason they didn't continue to grow was because they just weren't the things I'm suppose to be doing.
I have some big plans for 2024. Just before I left the Philippines I broke ground on a design challenge that will help you save time and structure your portfolio website homepage before touching any visuals. I am also formulating some ideas around a paid digital community where we will have either monthly or bi-monthly video calls for other designers and creatives to discuss burning topics and connect. And also I'm making more connections within the design industry to continue to develop helpful tools and resources for you.
What are most excited to focus on in 2024? Is it design related or something completely out of left field. I'd like to master my spanish this year but we shall see!
PS. Let me know if you are interested in any of the plans I shared above and I will make sure to send you more information as soon I make more progress.
PPS. Thank you ❤️
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