The Importance of Work-Adjacent Hobbies

Feeling creatively stunted and uninspired sometimes seems to creep up like a wave — cyclical and unavoidable. Even in the most creatively liberating role, restrictions of specific branding and stakeholder review inevitably shape your approach to any given project.

I felt I couldn’t make art by way of visual design if it wasn’t for a job. I feared it would suck any remaining creativity out of me that belonged with paid work. I’ve learned that the best way to truly improve in a professional creative role is to experiment and play through a work-adjacent hobby.

I am a deep music lover, I’ve been called eclectic in my passion for classic rock as well as folk, indie/alternative — the list goes on. I’ve had this fantasy of tying my interest in music into my love of design and loved the idea of creating album cover art. I thought I needed to illustrate something intricate like Santana’s self titled album or Cream’s Disraeli Gears. However the recent trends suggesting that anything can be album art allowed me the freedom to be grungy and unrefined.

I’d describe my design style as clean – I adhere to a brand guide, to a grid, I consider balance and hierarchy and marketability to target audiences. Releasing myself from these rules has allowed me to develop my design skills with overlay, color, texture, and typography. I’ve been creating with these faux band’s personality, genre and aesthetic in mind. It’s also been incredibly fun to make up band names, such as Unabated Banjo, Big Trick Little Pony, Mammalia Regalia, and Ivy and the Trail.

I have found a way to break my own rules in the same programs I use to design my professional assets. I now dare to experiment and receive push back rather than sticking with what I know will work.

It’s hard to carry that feeling of play into your work, but is essential to succeed in a creative role. Finding a way to transform your work into something fun and freeing will better inform the real limits of your role and abilities beyond the ones assumed and self-imposed. By pursuing borderless passion projects you can remove those professional pressures, give yourself the space to play and see how far the boundaries of your craft really reach.