Power to the artist who can propel her/himself through this world by creativity alone but for the vast majority of those of us lucky enough to deem ourselves successful, there comes a point when one must make peace with the idea of being, in some capacity, commercial about our inspiration. I feel it’s important to understand what drives us onward because fatigue sets in all too easily for even the most driven artist that makes a living through commercialism.

I’ve heard so many compelling arguments that say commercialism is not art, and to an extent I agree with the central message. Commercial use of art is first and foremost about earning the client the greatest reward for the most efficient investment. But understand that either there is an artist within you that compels your soul to put forth its greatest possible work or that, as the financier in the operation, your contribution is to put rules and boundaries in place that define the target called Commercially Successful, the mutual goal of the commercial artist and the commercial producer. As the artist involved in this production, you should be driven to create a masterpiece and flexible enough not to for the sake of efficiency.

Efficiency then, from the commercial artist’s perspective, is all about filling one’s available time with ways to make a best effort as time-efficient as possible. Practice the tools of the trade, whether through continuing education, study peers’ works, and create personally significant work with no commercial value. In short, the art purist inside is driven to be a Swiss Army Knife of creativity, skilled enough and imaginative enough to unleash one’s best effort on-demand.

It’s that demand that is the sticking point for those who would argue art is not commercialism, and commercial products cannot be art. Art is all about personal expression, so how can the soul be expressed through the demands of another? In my opinion, personal expression in commercial art comes from two important ingredients.

Firstly, I seek a philosophical fundamental: seek out the good in someone, in this case the client. I always try to see the good in what I create, and in the decade I have been creating in varying capacity, I have never failed to find a good reason to proceed on behalf of the client, and in nearly all cases, the client proves to be very altruistic. And I love my interactions because they almost always immediately interpret my enthusiasm for their project as genuine, and I appreciate that quickness to reciprocate.

Secondly, the definition of what is artistic is much more broad in my opinion than what is defined as the finished product. I tend to regard the metaphorical and actual brush stroke as much art as the product itself. The dexterity with which the artist wields the available tools is as much a personal expression of craftsmanship and a mark of the value one places on his or her contribution to the world. This is not egotism; it is a drive to exceed even the most unrealistic expectation, and it is most evident under strict deadline and tightly scrutinized restrictions on the finished product.

The value of loving the process as much as the destination is in the reward of making the journey together. We call ourselves collaborators, co-conspirators, artists. The counter-culture in each of us designates collaboration of this sort as somehow unworthy of praise but there is art in the smallest of details, and the artist who can embrace this will overcome fatigue. There, through balancing efficiency and craftsmanship, is creative power.

“Heaven is where the police are British, the chefs Italian, the mechanics German, the lovers French and it is all organized by the Swiss. Hell is where the police are German, the chefs British, the mechanics French, the lovers Swiss, and it is all organized by the Italians.”

“The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thanks to MLK, Jr. for the inspiration, to Seth Godin for taking the time to share the sentiment and to Megan Morris for getting it in front of my eyes.

The new site has a lot of room to grow. The portfolio page is hardly representative of the body of work I’ve amassed over the past 5 years.  And I can’t wait to share some war stories from back in the day, as well as try to relate those to the person I am now or the art that I get to make daily.

This year I’ve got lots to be thankful for.  Great co-workers and clients, a loving family, a lot of fun hobbies and a brand new website come off the top of the mind. So raise a glass, and happy new year.

It’s tempting to want to be everywhere. And rather than tell you to put yourself on one channel over another, I would suggest recycling content on channels you don’t completely like or feel like are underused by your audience. Additionally, cross-promote with a goal.  Use Twitter solely to promote Facebook.  Use Facebook strictly to publish the blurbs from your email and web stories.  In the end, you get more blog subscribers while picking up avid Facebook Users and Tweeters along the way.

Know why you want the audience.  Is it just because everyone else is doing it? Maybe sit this one out. You’re not going to make any customers by ignoring the channel you spent so much time and money to promote in the beginning.  You likely hear people use (and misuse) the term “brand engagement” all the time now.  Consumers develop emotional attachments to well-marketed brands the way they might develop an affinity towards a friend. And just like in a friendship, with social media done right, there is a two-way communication. Brands put forth a message. People reply. Brands reply back.  One-to-one communication ratio there.  Feeling spread too thin yet?

This is where hiring a social media guru comes into play.  Some folks do what I do which is getting the ball rolling. We paint the pathways, dress the set, train you in the ways of communication and then (if sometimes painfully) kick you out of the nest.  If the part about getting the boot and learning to fly sounds at all scary, you might consider hiring the other kind of social media guru too. Once I do my thing, the other kind of guru is the kind that lives at your business.  They eat, sleep and drink your brand, and they act as the social voice. Their job is to know what your customers are doing right now and, perhaps more importantly, what your brand is doing right now.  They are the front line, the best defense and offense, all wrapped into one person and a smart phone.  Sound like someone you already work with?  Promote from within! Just don’t leave your social brand image to its own devices because that’s abandonment waiting to happen. It’s abrandonment. Waka waka.

Social media is like many other aspects of life. It’s a rich experience, full of layers of conversation, and if it sounds confusing you can always ask for help. The keys are moderation and having fun with it.

I am an art director in a small market which means that I do a LOT of things. I am a graphic designer, and I edit videos. I write SEO-friendly copy, and I make outdoor ads. I consult on prospective projects, make 2D motion graphics, code up websites, administer social media pages, design logo and stationery packages, and I oversee sign installations.  I have not, to date, vinyl-wrapped a bus, but I’m working on it.

I needed a website that moves at the same pace I do, and that’s where content management systems save me time. Rather than having to write new code every time I wanted a fresh gallery of photos, I just publish. Rather than disabling my prior versions or creating archive UIs, I just categorize my posts and continue publishing.