I've taken time recently to reevaluate some priorities within my life, and with that, came some fresh revelation in regards to my 'style' of work. I'm sometimes conflicted about my style because I don't feel like I've ever come close to finding a 'box' that all of my work fits into comfortably enough to be considered one thing. This discouraged me for a while, but as I've grown over the last few years, I've realized that I should be encouraged by the fact that I've not arrived at a comfortable place this early in life.

I've always been fascinated with artists, directors, and prolific creators in the arts industry. For a long time, I tried to pinpoint what their style was, and what made it so prominent and loud in a sea of voices, begging for their work to be seen and validated. Within such a vast industry that's constantly expanding, some have such good style that it surpasses expected norms and pushes the boundaries. But is it really style that’s paving the way for such creative notoriety? Or is it their approach?

Within the last 90 days, a lot has shifted for me personally – some of my closest friends have moved away to pursue their craft, I've moved to a new place, and I've been involved with a handful of projects that stretched me creatively. And throughout all of this, I've realized that great things oftentimes have nothing to do with fitting into a box or a certain style. It has everything to do with approach.

For several years, I've actively made it a point in my day-to-day life to be more aware, stop, and appreciate good things when I see them. Architecture, branding, type placement, or an untouched and unobstructed beam of sunlight, spilling out onto the floor. However, I’ve recently noticed my lens for observing beautiful things has been refocused and pinpointed on different aspects of what makes something great.

I used to equate great creative style to how good something looked as a final product. I would boil down everything I observed to what I believed was the objective face-value truth. If it looked good, and it made me feel something, it was a style that I could respect and covet. But I was overlooking the intention and the approach that was molded and built up to achieve these great projects that I appreciated so deeply.

I believe great ideas and noteworthy expressions only happen when the approach is one or all of three things –

1. Dialed and precise

2. Pure with intention

3. Self-aware

Any creative project that is started should be treated like a vessel that's being meticulously crafted to hold all of your intentions, planning, and message inside of. But when a project is executed without these 3 things it lacks integrity, and without integrity, the lack of authenticity and honest creative expression will leak from the inevitable cracks that are left untouched. And when a vessel intended to outlast its creator is leaking… It will eventually become empty.