Swallow your pride... defend your honor?

This is probably the single biggest issue "commercial" artist face, and we face it on a daily basis. I thought I'd break down my thoughts on it.

Let's face the facts. You run a small business yes, but ultimately, you are still here to please the Man. Yes yes, that's the dirty unrelenting truth. Our endgame is to make customers happy in as creative a way as they'll allow you to do so.

I'll never forget something one of my professor's told me in college about designing for clients. "Sometimes a crappy project, deserves a crappy solution." I don't think he meant you should try to do low-caliber work, nor do I think he was saying be lazy about a project if you don't like the client. The point he was trying to make is that not EVERY job is suited for your most "creative" work. I use the proverbial air quotes here, because creativity is not an inherent fine art, but a skill that you develop. Creativity does not directly correlate with "artsy." So yes, while EVERY job deserves a unique creative solution, not every job deserves your artsy-est ambitions. You have to ask yourself "Am I ready to die on this hill?"

Sacrifice the client for face? Or give in to design by committee?

There's a fine line here to walk. There is no right answer. There is only how much you can take, and still sleep at night. As an artist looking to sell his/her wares in the world, you will certainly be offended. Quite often I might add. And as a small business owner, you have to ask yourself, where is the line between this being a productive relationship and becoming a production artist for the client. There is no right/wrong answer, except this. If I am sacrificing clients left and right for my creative integrity, I am probably not in the right business. If on the other hand, people are beginning to see me as nothing more as a production artist and going elsewhere for their truly creative work, I am probably not defending my design enough. Which brings to surface an important underlying question: Am I presenting my design well, so that the client understands the idea behind the design, and understands that I put serious thought into this (Not time, but thought)? Are they persuaded by my argument?

I find this one difficult in this day and age when presentation/communication rarely happen face-to-face. We must put forth the effort to communicate our reasons for our designs. We do still have them don't we?

And after you have done that, and the client still disregards your thoughts, ask yourself. "Am I ready to dies on this hill?"

Creativity getting in the way of Business or vice versa.

I'm finding more and more these days, that my focus is and will likely always be torn between 2 different worlds. 

The Creative world is the one where I'm constantly out there thinking up new ideas: I really need to start shooting, I should try to start a photography thing on the side; my new website needs to be cool... not just okay, but really amazing, or I'm not going to get any "cred"; screw all this mindless corporate design, I need to be illustrating in blood, dumpster-diving on the weekends, stop showering so much... okay well that might be pushing it, but you get the idea. 

The Business world as I'm going to call it for now, is the one in which I'm no longer concerned with what I'm working on creatively, because what I really want to do is grow my business. To be successful in a business sense to in my personal time I can do creative things, like paint, shoot, whatever. So all my focus is on productivity, getting things done, being as efficient as possible, making the money, client relations, keeping good books, etc. All good things, but for a creative person somewhat unfulfilling. 

Don't get me wrong, there is something creative about writing a business model that you can believe in and has a shot at success. If you take care with it anyway. 

So it begs the question, where's the balance? If anyone knows exactly, let me know, I'd like to patent your answer. I think all we can do is to nurture both sides, realizing there is room for both, and in the creative field it is important to have some of each. But too much of either will put you with one leg in the boat and one on the dock when the boat's leaving. Instead, enjoy your time abroad in creative thought while you are there... (I've begun blocking time to do so... sounds forced, more about this later). But when it's time to come back ashore, and resupply as it were, remember that this is the life you chose, and your creative respites will not be so serene if you don't get your business done when you need to. 

Conditioning your mind to be creative on command. 

I mentioned that I've begun blocking out time each week to allow myself to be all artsy and creative and out of touch with reality. Just don't email clients during this time. 

This is guaranteed to feel awkward at first. But try it for a month. Depending on how much time you to get in the zone, block out 2-3 hours a week to go there. Do it at either the end of the day, mid-week (or whenever you are likely to have fewer deadlines. If possible, do take a break, stop your work completely, and allow yourself that time to just do whatever feels creative. Work on your own stuff, redesign your website, blog, paint, shoot, browse your favorite designers or illustrators, brainstorm new self-promotion campaigns, whatever it is. But don't expect to get anything done during this time. This will keep you fresh emotionally and creatively and it will keep you sane the other 37-57 hours of your week. 

If running your own business is wearing a million different hats at any given time, the creative hat is that one that you bought on a whim and only wear on a rare occasions, but gets you the most compliments when you do wear it. It might be weird or a little out there, but in the right company, it sets you apart from others.