Curious and inquisitive are two traits so often associated with creatives. Not only do these traits crop up within personal practice they’re also ever-present when it comes to wondering about other creatives and how they spend their days—particularly if they run their own business or work as a freelancer.
What time do they start each morning? What does their studio look like? How do they cope with tricky clients or cumbersome briefs while balancing other commitments? Well, there’s a website which answers all these questions and more. Extraordinary Routines is a window into a creative’s world, where each entry takes the form of a personal diary—denoting the ins and outs of their daily schedule.
Features include the wonderful designer and artist Stephen Ormandy, fashion print goddess Lisa Gorman and our very own Shillington Melbourne part-time teacher Spencer Harrison (Spenceroni). We’ve highlighted our top ten favourite quotes from a selection of creatives, make sure to check out their full features over on Extraordinary Routines!
Photography Credit: Bri Hammond and Matt Henry
Spencer is a Melbourne based designer and illustrator with a penchant for pattern. He balances his own work with part-time teaching at Shillington Melbourne. Spencer explains how he battles with the creative block and gives some sage advice on managing perfectionism;
“Going for a walk is one of the best things we can do for our mind and body, so if you have creative block it’s a similar type of thing—I just try and take my pen for a walk and eliminate the pressure.”
“Fake it till you make it… don’t let perfection be the enemy” Read More
We’ve all gazed lustfully at Gorman’s beautiful prints. Australian Fashion Designer, Lisa Gorman is responsible for the sartorial wizardry that is Gorman. She shares what makes an extraordinary life;
“An extraordinary life is just about trying to do the things you want to do, and accepting that you won’t always get everything done. Try most of it, and expect that some of it will work.” Read More
Melbourne based craft artist Kitiya surrounds herself with bright energetic work. Producing work like this requires discipline and planning. She shares how learning to go a bit easier on herself when she doesn’t meet deadlines has enabled her to become more zen;
“I used to beat myself up if I didn’t finish everything on my to do list, but I’ve become a lot more Zen because what good is that going to do for me? It just makes me go to bed feeling like a failure and feeling upset that I hadn’t achieved everything. It just spirals into a super bad vibe, so I just let it be okay because there is going to be another day tomorrow.”
Kitiya also highlights the importance of routine to limit stress;
“I think I definitely need to have a routine otherwise I feel out of control of my own life. I found having structure in my day helps to minimise stress and because I’m quite prone to procrastination making my work a daily habit minimises all that kind of craziness that can usually occur in my creative life.”
Read More
Artist and designer Stephen creates wonderful paintings and sculptures with an abundance of colour, and he does so from his own studio alongside a small team. He speaks of procrastination and addressing the dreaded creative block;
“I think there is always a place for procrastination, and you just have to embrace it. Hopefully you have more good days than bad days, but you know you’re having a creative block when the studio is super clean and then you sit in your chair and you say, ‘Oh man this is tidy. I’m in trouble!’ But I also think tidying up is a productive kind of procrastination.” Read More
Letterpress artist Amy Constable is no stranger to an extraordinary routine. Juggling her work at St Gertrude Letterpress alongside her family commitments she’s designed the perfect schedule to keep things running without a hitch. Amy explains how her routine mirrors that of a school day which we think is genius;
“I was a disciplined high-achiever in high school but out in the real world, work expectations and structure were a lot harder to predict, so I decided to create the same structure in my day as I had in school and it has helped me enormously.” Read More
Mark Lobo works in Melbourne as a photographer. Since realising working with a jam packed schedule leaves little time for growth he’s stepped back and now concentrates on a few projects per week which in his opinion have produced much better results;
“There have been too many times, where I’ve found myself stressed out and stuck doing the same types of jobs over and over, only because I thought it was important to have a packed schedule.” Read More
The freelance lifestyle is so often sought after as creatives crave the ability to make their own routine and handle their own workload. During his interview, Illustrator Marc Martin relishes the importance of living by his own rules;
“One of the greatest things about freelancing is being able to make my own rules—I don’t like the idea of having to be at the same place at exactly the same time every day just because somebody said so!” Read More
Lucy Feagins is Editor of the wonderful Australian Blog, The Design Files. Amongst her busy schedule she champions surrounding yourself with other proactive people to spur you on and push yourself to improve;
“No matter how good you are, you should always push yourself to be better. Having other people around you doing great things is the best motivation.” Read More
Extraordinary Routines is also active on social media, follow along on Instagram and Twitter for regular updates.
If you’re curious about embarking on a career with a more varied routine why not head down to one of our Info Sessions to find out more about studying graphic design. Check out the events section on our Facebook where we regularly update details of upcoming Info Sessions and graduate exhibitions.
Want to win some amazing prizes and stay in the loop with all things Shillington? Sign up to our newsletter to automatically go in the draw.