Cat Rose (@CreativeIntro) is an independent graphic designer and founder of The Creative Introvert, a website and community for creative professions who share introverted personality types.
In this conversation, we discuss the oddities of life as a freelance designer, the observed behaviour of creative pros and where they fall on the introverted/extroverted continuum, and the challenges of building online communities and creating compelling content.
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Show Notes & Links
- Cat lives in Brighton, England
- Prescott has visited Brighton, as well as Rottingdean, and the University of Sussex
- Farnham, a picturesque town in Surrey with a 10th century castle
- Cat remains a graphic designer, started as an illustrator
“I don't know anyone who loves self-promo.”
—Cat Rose
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- Behance
“I'm not an artist. I'm more of a mechanic.”
—Prescott Perez-Fox
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- Spaghetti code
“I studied fine art, but it always felt pointless and self-indulgent.”
—Cat Rose
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- Cat draws people’s pets
- Prescott chatted with Matt Inglot on The Freelance Transformation Podcast
“There's something to be learned from every project.”
—Cat Rose
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- Flash (dead in name only)
- How to use Sketch for print design (if you’re a complete animal.)
- InDesign and Illustrator aren’t great for pixel design
- Quiet by Susan Cain on Amazon and on Audible
- “Leg It”
- The Irish Goodbye
- Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, system for determining personality types
- The Big Five personality traits, aka the Five Factor Model (FFM)
- Introvert-Extrovert spectrum
“I started to notice many of my creative friends were also introverts.”
—Cat Rose
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- Ambivert (both introvert and extrovert)
- Brighton Pride parade, a most extroverted affair
- People with “I” in their Myers-Briggs result aren’t considered for management roles
- Would you ever go to the movies by yourself?
- Bill Gates, a well-known, successful introvert
- Empathy is an introvert super-power, as are deep though, analysis, etc.
- Limiting self-beliefs, rather than introversion per se is what holds people back
- Get Your Art Out Summer Camp, a four-week course from The Creative Introvert
- Creative You by David B Goldstein & Otto Kroeger on Amazon
- Learning styles (visual, written, auditory, etc.)
- Is there a link between learning styles and introversion/extraversion?
- Mignon Fogarty aka Grammar Girl, a guest on The Busy Creator Podcast, ep. 67
- “Applesaucing”, re-using your content across multiple forms
- Pat Flynn wrote two articles (1, 2) about repurposing your site/podcast content
- Upcycling and Downcycling, terms from Recycling
- Masterminds vs. Accountability Partners, which do you prefer? (Introverts prefer partners.)
- Meetup.com
- The Awakened Introvert by Arnie Kozak on Amazon and on Audible
- The New York City Podcast Meetup
- Malcolm Gladwell’s Connectors
- The Rule of 3 and 10 for growing organizations
- The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod on Amazon and on Audible
“Once you've started something you're more than halfway there.”
—Seneca
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- Ready, Fire, Aim by Michael Masterson on Amazon and on Audible
- The Creative Introvert
- Cat Rose on Twitter
- Cat Rose on Facebook
- Cat Rose on Instagram
- Cat Rose on LinkedIn
- Cat Rose on Pinterest
Tools
- Behance
- MacBook Pro
- Adobe Creative Cloud
- Trello
- Evernote
- Slack
- After Effects
Techniques
- Set a brief for yourself to make fine arts more of a “project”
- Build lasting relationships as a freelancer, even with your last employer
- Go minimal, if you can. Don’t use a mouse and keyboard.
- Learn quickly, trust that you can teach yourself new tools
- Repurpose your content to serve different audiences (written vs. spoken vs. infographic)
- Be careful when creating a community
- Test and iterate, even on morning rituals
- Replace “routine” with “rhythm”
- Approach fearful projects in tiny increments (a six-second video vs. a feature film)
Habits
- Use the software for its intended purpose!
- Adapt to clients and their workflow
- Compose your thoughts before filming/recording yourself; not everyone is an improviser.
- Wake up 4:30-5:00am for early yoga, journaling, meditation
- Do “the hardest thing” during coffee
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Join the Discussion
Add your experiences in the Comments section below.
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Prescott Perez-Fox is a graphic designer, brand developer, and educator with 18+ years experience in branding, packaging, graphic design, and web design. He runs The Busy Creator.
