As creative professionals, it’s important to flex our creative muscles to keep them strong. For a high-intensity creativity workout, variety is better than volume. Pushing yourself to crank out another two design concepts, draw up five more logo ideas, or explore another angle on a client’s strategic positioning can build endurance, but it might not have the energizing impact you really need. Instead, consider doing something out of the ordinary, “flipping the script,” trying a new task that challenges and surprises you—and is also just plain fun.
In October, LMG took our own advice and hosted a calligraphy workshop for our team. Lindsey Buck, owner of the The Hive Studio, provided each attendee with a complete starter kit, including a calligraphy pen, a “nib” (the pointed tip that disperses the ink), a calligraphy notepad, and a few worksheets.
We spent two hours chatting, snacking on chips and salsa (and apple cider mimosas!), and clumsily tracing the letters on our worksheets, slowly gaining confidence with each stroke. Lindsey taught us how to mix our own ink, the proper grip for holding the pen, and ways to incorporate our own handwriting style into the art of calligraphy.
As the session came to an end, all of us shared our work. We wrote our names, our kids’ and/or pets’ names, “Happy Halloween,” and “Hello fall.” Every one of us also shared how much we loved the workshop, and most of us agreed that this was something we may never have tried on our own.
Since the workshop, we’ve started to find opportunities to incorporate this new skill into our everyday work. For example, our designer Laura experimented with a handwritten/calligraphic style for a logo design. Maybe next year LMG’s holiday cards will feature a greeting in calligraphy. Even for those of us who haven’t directly applied what we learned, the experience paid off in enthusiasm and inspiration. And you never know when calligraphy might come in handy. The possibilities are endless when you continuously learn new skills to keep things fresh.
Erin leads the content team in achieving effective content strategy, on-brand messaging, and overall consistency and clarity. Using her background in journalism and graphic design, she can identify the right story for the right audience and visualize the right connections between content and design.
Outside of LMG, you can find Erin pedaling the bike path, kayaking on the river, or hiking the local trails with her husband and two labs.
Erin’s favorite brand to follow: Pinterest
“I love the practicality of Pinterest. As a brand designed to showcase other brands, their app makes it so easy to find and organize inspiration for all areas of my life—whether it’s for home DIYs, recipes, travel ideas, etc.”
As a marketing agency serving retail and finance brands, we are close to the consumer and the merchant. As a result, we’ve defined five trends for 2023.
When the pandemic hit nearly three years ago, we were fortunate to have the structure and technology in place to easily switch to a work-from-home model—leveraging the unique talents of our team members to serve a diverse set of clients all over the country with creative and strategic solutions.