Creating Alone vs Creating Together
Creative collaboration is something I've come to really love over the past year. After a lifetime of always being a go-it-alone kind of girl, working alongside other creatives and seeing the benefits of putting two different heads together to create something better than you could alone has helped me grow in so many ways as a creative.
For someone who would openly admit to being somewhat of a control freak, and an introvert in every single way, creative collaboration at first completely petrified me. Opening up my process to the ideas and voice of others was scary business, and I still relish the areas of my work and side projects where I completely create alone. There are pros and cons to each, and in my personal experience a mix of both is the perfect balance, and today I wanted to talk through my experience of both and encourage you to consider creating together from time to time.
Creating Alone There is so much freedom when creating alone. You can decide everything, from the initial concept straight through to its execution. Solo projects and work allow us to really tap into our creativity and create something that is a true extension of us, and allows us to create without compromising our ideas and vision along the way. That inner pride we feel when we create something from scratch can't be described by words alone, and the creative growth of digging in deep and committing to a solo project is something I wouldn't give up for the world. I love the quiet and peace I find when I'm just working away on my solo projects and the complete freedom I find in my process.
There are of course downsides. It can be very lonely working solo day in day out, and we will always be limited if we close ourselves off from other voices and ideas. All the success is yours to keep, but that also means the failures are all on you too. You have to self motivate, keep yourself going when times to get tough, and be your own biggest fan and your own worst critic. But then at the end of the day when you've created something from scratch from the depths of your own creativity, the struggle and exhaustion is almost always worth it.
Creating Together Finding your creative soulmates can change everything. I have two, my partner in crime Rebecca and my actual soulmate Alex who is as much my life partner as he is my creative other half. Building ALO together with Rebecca from scratch is hands down one of my proudest pieces of work to date. Working on ideas, conceptualising our brand and what the magazine stands for, and bouncing off ideas for concepts and features is a process I couldn't imagine my days without now. Over the past six months or so Alex has become a huge part of the Jennypurr brand, he's my extra pair of ears and eyes when I'm planning and building content and a day rarely goes by when I'm not talking through ideas and my side projects with him. I feel crazy lucky as I get to play a similar role with him too. He recently launched an awesome side project Sonics (definitely check it out if you're a UI/UX developer) and being there every step of the way as he built it and supporting him and seeing his creative process was an experience I'm so glad we had together.
I couldn't imagine not having creative partners now. Rebecca and I have some really exciting plans for ALO this year, and working alongside our super talented team is one of the most fulfilling things. Alex and I are currently in the very early stages of an exciting side project together and I can't wait to build it together little by little this year. Giving up complete control and freedom is scary, but with your creative partners in crime you can create something way bigger than you could alone. Good communication and knowing your roles are key, it only works when you're both as committed to the cause as the other one is. Creative collaboration can open us up to so many new ideas and approaches, it has without a doubt pushed me to be a better creative in every single way, and creating together is so fulfilling when you find the right partnership for you.
How about you? Do you prefer to create alone or to create together?
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