Inspiring My Own Creativity

Inspiring My Own Creativity = Creative Time for ME!

I'm so excited to share about the Typography class I just finished up at Nicole's Classes. So excited.

For quite some time now I've been really wanting to get myself a bit of a design refresher course, but I've been quite nervous about the time investment (as I quietly whisper something about that daunting financial one). I've been holding off by trying to absorb information on my own, but let's face it--it's really hard to be creative in a silo. That constructive feedback loop is just oh-so-important. Ridiculously important. Plus, there's that whole being held accountable thing! I'd like to say that none of the above apply to me, but the hard fact is that all of the above apply directly to me! So it's been easy to make excuses.

Nicole's Classes

I don't remember how, but I stumbled on Nicole's Classes a few weeks ago and started following their blog. I was always excited to see their posts pop up in my reader. The content just felt so relevant to me and fun. I decided to start with the Typography because it's one of the mini two-week classes. Low commitment, very affordable, and a topic I was excited about (Typography was one of my favorite classes in undergrad). I wasn't disappointed...the class followed through on all counts.I learned (and re-learned) a lot in just two weeks. Definitely the creative boost that I was looking for.

The practical homework and feedback I got from Melanie was incredibly helpful. I completed the class with two pieces that I am pretty excited about and became Featured Student Work (Yay! No really, go look, there's a great student collection on their blog). If you're like me and your creative juices need a pick-me-up, Nicole's Classes is a great resource. I really suggest checking them out. (I'm taking the Illustrator 101 class now- same experience- good stuff!) Hoping to take a Photography class soon too! Even if you aren't interested in a class, they have a lot of great free resources, tutorials, and printables on their blog, facebook, or twitter!

Need a little extra inspiration?

I love this message from Ira Glass (video by David Shiyang Liu). Creativity not living up to your potential? "The most important possible thing you can do is do a lot of work." Love that. Really is about practice, practice.

Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

How do you stay creative? How do you sharpen your skills and continue growing?

PS- No worries, more kid stuff coming your way soon!  (Just gotta get my "after" photos done and I'll get those up here too!)