The creative Upgrade. Episode 05
You’re Not Hired Just for Your Skills
One of the biggest realisations I’ve had over the years working as a creative is this:
You are rarely hired purely for your technical ability.
Of course, your skills matter. They’re the entry ticket. But they are not the whole reason people choose to work with you.
When someone hires a designer, animator, illustrator or creative, they aren’t just buying the output. They’re buying the experience of working with you.
Your thinking.
Your taste.
Your communication.
Your reliability.
Your energy.
All of these things shape how people perceive your work.
Early in my career, like most creatives, I believed the most important thing was simply becoming technically better.
Learn the software.
Master the tools.
Improve the craft.
And while those things absolutely matter, I slowly realised something interesting.
Some incredibly talented creatives struggle to build sustainable careers. And some creatives with solid (but not necessarily world-class) technical ability build thriving businesses.
The difference often isn’t skill alone.
It’s character.
Creative work is collaborative by nature.
Clients remember:
Who made the process easier.
Who communicated clearly.
Who stayed calm under pressure.
Who brought positive energy into the project.
They remember the experience.
Your reputation forms quietly through these interactions.
Over time, I’ve realised that the creative industries are much more human than we sometimes like to admit.
People work with people they trust. People work with people they enjoy being around. People work with people who bring curiosity and positivity into the room.
And that reputation compounds. Skills evolve. Software changes. Styles shift.
But the way you make people feel when they work with you stays with them.
Which brings me to something else I’ve been thinking about.
Creativity is not a scarce resource. No one owns curiosity. No one owns the idea of expressing something meaningful through design. And no one owns the concept of creating something positive in the world.
Styles overlap in every creative industry. Styles repeat. Illustration aesthetics cycle. Motion design trends echo each other.
That’s culture.
Because our creative taste isn’t formed in isolation. It’s shaped slowly, over years, by the things that inspire us.
For me, a lot of that started in the 90s and the cartoons I grew up watching.
Shows like; Ed, Edd n Eddy, The Powerpuff Girls, and Courage the Cowardly Dog.
Bold colours. Strange characters. Playful typography. Weird humour.
Those things leave an imprint on you long before you realise they will.
Later, studying fine art and design opened up a completely different layer of influence. Movements like Bauhaus with its focus on form and function, bold colours and simple shapes. The energy and selectiveness of Pop Art. The elegance of Art Nouveau and the strong geometric beauty of Art Deco.
Even the cultural movements surrounding fashion fascinated me.
I was a MOD and I spent a fortune on Fred Perry. I still dream of future me owning a french navy Vespa and scooting along the south of France. This interest lead me to research how the movement was shaped by politics, culture, and social change.
Things like old American roadside signage, typography, colour, and graphic simplicity that somehow felt timeless.
All of those references sat quietly in the background of my mind for years. And eventually, they started to show up in my own work. Absorbed.
This is how taste is formed. It’s rarely a conscious process.
It’s a slow accumulation of influence.
Everything you watch. Everything you study. Everything that sparks curiosity. All of it feeds into your creative voice.
Which is why style isn’t something you can really “own”.
It’s something you develop.
And if you want to understand your own creative voice better, sometimes the best thing you can do is look backwards.
What inspired you growing up? What visuals stuck with you? What art, culture, or design made you feel something?
Those clues are often the foundation of your taste.
When I think about the creative communities I admire most, they all share one common trait.
They encourage people to try. To experiment. To learn. To share work while they’re still figuring things out.
Because creating anything takes courage. Especially in a world that can often feel cynical, critical, and heavy.
When someone decides to learn a skill, post their work, or explore an idea they’ve been sitting on for years, they are doing something quietly optimistic.
They are choosing curiosity over cynicism. And I think that deserves encouragement.
Not gatekeeping.
Encouragement.
Because the more people who feel safe enough to create, the more interesting the world becomes.
And the creatives who last the longest in this industry are rarely the ones trying to protect their corner of it.
They’re the ones expanding it.
They share ideas.
They encourage others.
They contribute something positive to the culture around them.
They understand something important:
Your voice is bigger than your style.
And your character is bigger than your portfolio.
Clients hire you because of your craft.
But they continue to work with you because of your mindset.
Your professionalism.
Your generosity.
Your perspective.
Those things are what build long careers.
So if you’re learning right now…
If you’re experimenting…
If you’re sharing work while you’re still figuring things out…
Keep going.
Your curiosity matters. Your voice matters. And if you see someone else creating something new… Encourage them.
Because the creatives who lift others up along the way are the ones who shape the culture we all get to be part of.
—
Pauline 💛
