creative

Intelligence and specialized skills are par for the course: we have to find ways to pair them with purpose, opinions and drive -for ourselves and our teams

Last week, I unveiled the new brand of my business and this newsletter. Previously known as Creative Companion, I made the transition to the new name: Creator Science. I’m proud of how smoothly the transition has gone thus far, but I wish I could have avoided a rebrand entirely

Every shade and stripe of every possible variety of connection is about wanting, above all else, to be known; for someone else to see as much of you as possible. Shared experience is important. It’s not everything, but it’s something, because nobody wants to be explaining at forty to a hostile audience why they are the way they are, but you don’t want to punch below your weight class, either, and wind up with somebody who only loves you because they don’t know any better—because the day they do know better is the day they’ll walk out the door.

Be careful how you pay the bills

Beethoven started going deaf in his late 20s.   Already famous by age 25 for his piano sonatas, at 31 he was traumatized by losing his hea...

Trying to 'game' social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter and others with odd spacing, click-bait/copy-paste lists from Wikipedia etc doesn't accomplish what you think

The biggest trend in branding this year appears to be one of the oldest trends — signature models. From shoes to guitars, old-school brands are flooding the market with products stamped with a creator’s personal brand. A “brand” is just a “reputation.” The bigger you get as a company, the

Initially published on April 17, 2020

Finding a niche is not helpful early in a creator journey. Instead find a mode where you can keep showing up and feel connected to yourself

Reviewing The Generalist's first 12 months.

What makes a work of art beautiful?

From the late painter’s irresistible journals of 1970s New York

Why great things never came from comfort zones? Because the world is always changing. We need to face uncertainty to move forward.

Here are my 10 best survival tips

Lower the barrier and master the art of the start.

Two years ago, frustrated with a long list of unfulfilled project ideas in my phone notes, I decided to give myself one week to try each idea out in its tiniest form.

It’s a stepping-stone, not a compromise. The media and our culture push us to build something for everyone, to sand off the edges and to invest in infrastructure toward scale. But it turns ou…

“Not to eat but to think.”

Most are probably unaware of the effort involved in maintaining a personal website or of the benefits that result.

Hello, everyone. I'm going to be taking an extended break from kottke.org, starting today. I've been writing here for more than 2

Hey, you. You're doing great. Click here to read this on the web. Source: ATJ's bulletin board Welcome to the 112th issue of Total Annarchy, a…

I felt like I somehow needed fame. In retrospect, there was a lot of self-loathing from tough childhood experiences, and I desperately hoped that love from without (i.e., from masses of other peopl…

From the iPhone to Snapchat and Notion—when words escape us

Pitching Nirvana

If you care about a creative practice, my guess is that you’ve already seen Peter Jackson’s new Beatles movie. If not, go check it out. It’s a miracle that the movie exists at all…

Commoditizing tweets’ complement (the algorithm) will increase usage and rebuild trust

Pushing yourself vs. letting things come to you—the eternal dilemma