Dye Happy
For this week’s blog assignment, I’d like to talk about the personal project that led me here. When reading about the way personal projects transformed Chase Jarvis’ life, I drew many connections with my own experience. During the pandemic, I was working a dead end job and had no real direction with my life. I wasn’t passionate about anything and I felt like my life was at a dead end. In order to shake myself out of that and get into something that actually interested me, I started a personal clothing brand. For the brand I make the designs, take photos of the clothing, create marketing pieces for the products, and manage the website that I sell items on. I had always had an interest in art, fashion, and photography so it was a way for me to exercise all of those muscles at the same time. It gave me something to do when I got off work, and gave me a sense of accomplishment, like I was actually creating something. This was very important for me as it brought me out of a difficult time in my life and gave me a direction. I finally felt like I had a north star to move towards. Making clothes by hand; carving stamps and printing on hand died garments, led me to learn Illustrator in order to improve my designs. After almost a year of Youtube tutorials, I made the decision that I wanted a formal education in order to take myself to the next level. The Creative Academy was one of the best schools I found and was the best match for my situation. If it wasn’t for my personal project, I wouldn’t be here writing this blog assignment. I’d probably still be working the same dead end job that I was before I started.
Photography
Another personal project I’ve been thinking about starting is nature photography. Being in the wilderness is a big part of my life and I love taking my camera out there. Nature photography is an area I want to explore more and it’s something I would love to make more than a hobby one day. If I continue to do it regularly over the next few years, maybe I could start selling my photos to stock websites or outdoors brands. And the best part of that project is that it wouldn’t cost me anything. I’ve already invested in a decent camera so it would just require me to get out in nature more which would be a win-win for me.