When I started this newsletter just one short month ago I wasn’t sure that anyone would be interested in it, but you guys, there are kind of a lot of you here!!! I’m so appreciative of all the feedback and encouragement. I’m going to start introducing some additional content here and there that will be available to everyone, and if you’re a paid subscriber you’ll start to see things like giveaways and little extras pop up too. But until then, buckle up because this is a long one!!!
Creative suggestion: At the end of 2020 I left my full-time job of 100 years (8, actually) at ban.do to venture off on my own. Since then I’ve been working hard to build my business, look forward, and establish my own personal identity. Because ban.do had a very defined aesthetic, one that was different from my own but that I had put so much into building, it was an intimidating leap to make. Do people only like “my work” because it’s a part of this brand they love? Will clients only hire me to make things that look like what I made there? How do I bridge the gap between the reality that my home and wardrobe are all neutrals and the public perception that I live in a rainbow? Instagram is such a strange place where people assume they know you if they’ve followed you for a while and that really, really overwhelmed me.
I had to take some time off social in 2021 to get clear with myself on all of it. As I reflected on how I could use Instagram to better project my inner world, and if I could, I started jotting down thoughts like “context for inspiration images” and “support friends’ projects”. Eventually these little snippets became the basis for what I guess I’d now consider my “why”.
My “why” (or the answer to the question “Why are you here?”) is this: I want to share what inspires me and the things that inform my creative choices, I want to support other artists and designers in their expansion and growth, and I want to build a successful business.
I started brainstorming the ways I could do that: by posting jobs, by showing more of my process and the research I do behind the scenes, by sharing the things I make, by talking about the cool things my friends are working on, and so on. Two years later I still use my “why” as the basis for the things I decide to put effort into, like offering mentorship sessions or sharing my thematic mood boards. I started to treat my own business and its social presence like I would a client’s, being intentional about what it is that I’m putting out into the world.
It’s not like I think about my “why” all the time, but it’s absolutely helped me rework my relationship to Instagram and how I use it. It keeps me from getting caught up in engagement or the temptation to do influencer-y stuff (no shame there, though!) and instead keeps me focused on what it is I’m contributing and how it benefits me.
Anyway, this is getting SO long but the reason why I tell you all this is because “personal branding” comes up quite a bit these days, especially for those of us in visual roles. Instagram and TikTok are like interactive extensions of our portfolios and figuring out how to use them to our advantage (while still having fun) can feel like a giant question mark. I’ll talk about the visual aspect of this at some point, but since working through some of this has benefitted my brain and my business, I think it’s worth exploring first.
If you’re someone who wants to use their social presence in this way (and it’s okay if you don’t!), here are some questions you could ask yourself:
How does being here make me feel?
Is this a public space or a private one?
Knowing that, what do I feel comfortable sharing?
What’s off limits to strangers?
Does this feel like me?
In what ways could I elaborate on my work?
Let me know how it goes if you do end up going down this road — social media is so exasperating sometimes, but I’d be curious to see if any shifts you make impact you like they did me.
Personal recommendation: Completely changing the subject, I need to tell you about an unnecessary and expensive celebrity cleaning product: the dish soap from Courtney Cox’s brand Homecourt. I bought a bottle on a “what the hell, buy the fancy soap” whim a couple of months ago and I’ll unfortunately never be able to go back to normal dish soap. Their signature scent Cece is so so sososo good — it sort of has Santal vibes and makes my whole kitchen smell warm and woodsy. Dare I say it makes me want to do my dishes??? You absolutely do not need $25 dish soap, I promise, but sometimes I like to upgrade things in my house that are boring or gross here and there, and this was a major level up.
Person to know: Scott Csoke. What a special person!!! Scott is an artist based in New York who not only makes work that I would gladly hang on every wall of my home but is also sort of a style icon, as evidenced by their other account, My Gay Outfit.
Scott’s explorations of queerness and of what makes something “gay” are especially poignant, but I also love the work they made during a residency at the Greenbrier and the interior still lifes of their Brooklyn apartment. I’ve been saving my money to eventually buy one of Scott’s paintings — fingers crossed that happens before they inevitably become incredibly famous.
Scott is showing their work at Outsider Art Fair in NYC this weekend, so hop over if you’re in town.
Thanks again for an exciting first month of ÀLC. If you aren’t already a subscriber, free or paid, join the club here!
x
Ali
I love that collage! And I’d like to see your paintings too. You’ve got such a good eye and I hardly remember you working at ban.do. Your “look” is all your own.
Off to buy expensive dish soap...