Do it your way, part two

Because it is important to like what to do and not lose your passion for it.

Hey there, how was your week?

Here I took a break to start photography again. I say “again” because something like one year ago, I wanted to do more photos. I spend a lot of time outside, in the woods or in the mountains and I wanted to take the opportunity to keep these moments. Photography seemed to be the best way to me, like a mindful moment. Here is a photo I took last winter with my film camera, the Olympus MjuII Zoom.

fchouquet

A post shared by Francis Chouquet (@fchouquet)

But each time I went out, I did tend to try to take the best photos, I tried to take photos I could post on Instagram (like above ^^). And to achieve this, I spent a lot of time trying to setup my camera (at least the digital because the Mju is a point and shoot). And really quickly it became overwhelming. I stopped. I actually did not enjoy my hikes anymore. Was I there for fun and disconnect or for showing everyone I spent great time in the wild?

So this week I took my camera out again. This time my digital and lovely Fuji X100F. And I went to the Vitra Design Museum, not so far away from home, to take some pictures. And I loved it. I was there only for me and my creativity. I took many photos and did not feel the need to share everything online. Here are some shots I did.

This is not the wilderness but architecture is great to photograph too :)

I am not sure what it is about, but we do tend to do things in order to please others. We tend to do things in order to be loved. And I think that last year I had that mindset to share everything I did so people can see and like my photographic work. Like if I was taking it seriously. But I totally lost the joy of being out there and try to capture the moment.

This is what I want to achieve right now. Just being out with myself and capture the moment. Be mindful. This is a creative moment, not a performance. This is for me, not others.

And in my work as a lettering artist, I understood that a few years ago. And if you follow me you may have seen that transition.

I started full time lettering career in 2015. That is also when I started to use Instagram seriously. Lettering was a huge trend at that time. It was everywhere. And it was “easy” to get new followers… as long as you were producing trendy work… And this is when it started to be complicated.

You could see online many people producing work everyday, not client work. Just lettering work for Instagram. They got lots of likes, lots of followers. They were actually there for that goal. So many were doing the same kind of work, every day, because it was what was working. We were overwhelmed most of the time by mediocre work.

I tried to go my own way but that was not trendy. And that was difficult to follow people doing what I called “shit” and have many likes + followers when I did not get any visibility. I was really struggling.

So I started to change my style in order to get that visibility. I did many sketches and took great pictures of them. They were “looking” good. So they got more popularity. But weeks after weeks I felt that stress. The stress that I was not doing what I liked but what people liked. And even if I tried to change that, I could not post something I was afraid did not reach people, or at least they would not like it. Instagram was killing me and my love for lettering.

fran6

A post shared by Francis Chouquet (@fran6)

That is when I decided to start a 100-days challenge (above first shot of first challenge). And the goal of that challenge was to produce and publish a lettering piece everyday, even if I did not like it. So I would learn to get away from that fear of rejection by followers.

The more I was producing, the more I was practicing what I liked. It seems obvious but it was not for me. I practiced everyday, everyday I had to find new ideas, and it led me in the direction of my style. And you guess it, that is where I got the most popularity. My post were popular while doing what I liked. I was not searching for a community anymore, I was producing stuff I like so people who liked it could follow me. My work created my community.

I did that 100 days challenge three times. And each time, I was going deeper in my style, in what I liked. And each time, my community was behind me, commenting each day. What could be better than that? And that was because I decided at some point to do my thing my own way. I decided to not follow the trends or famous letterers. No. I did build my own identity. I went out of perfectionism and perfect curves, which are so important in the lettering industry, to strive for imperfection and emotions.

That is how I got great projects with great clients who did like my work. That work that was part of myself. Not all projects were great unfortunately haha, but it was still way better than before when I was trying to be someone I was not. Your best asset is you. Just be you.

Why did I decided to talk about it today? Because I want to do the same with my photography. I want to do it my way, in my style, with my techniques and maybe stay away from what works on social medias. Just do my thing the way I want to.

And I also wanted to share this because I see too many artists out there, in lettering, illustration or even photography who are looking for validation from people on internet when it could be much beneficial to do what they like and let people who like their work come to them. Many, and maybe you, are struggling so hard.

I know this is easy to say. Been there, done that. But I do think it is worth the risk. And it is way better for our sanity. You chose that orientation in your life to express yourself, to do great work for you or your clients, to be creative in a way you like. Not to please everyone. So do it your way, think about what could take you there and you will see that success is not always having more followers but perhaps doing a type of work that is nearer to who you are :)

Let me know what you think and let’s start a discussion about it. I would love to hear your thoughts about that subject.

Let’s get inspired now!

From today on, I would like to share each week a book that I read and that was a great pick. I have many books at home or at the atelier, and many are so impiring that I want to share one with you each week. And for today I chose Big Type from Counter Print.

1. Big Type

This is a fantastic book about the use of typography on large formats, like billboards, buildings, trucks, etc. And this is for me a great advocate for the cause of “more letters in branding”. When you can vehicle a concept, a visual and a message together, the impact is strong. With great colour palettes, it can be so impactful. This is my kind of shit :)

2. Graphic Design History Resources

Here is another link to be inspired. Alistair Hall from agency WeMadeThis created a huge resource of websites about Graphic Design History. You will find many many sources of works from different times in history. Really worth checking out.

Here is the link to his post about it and the link to the Twitter thread where he shares all the links.

To finish with, I would like to share with you something I am working on these days and that I shared already with the paid subscribers. I am working on a kind of challenge for promoting my fonts. This is a first glimpse of what I will show and post in a near future :) Here a billboard with my fonts Basalte and Cuatro in use.

Stay tuned for more, coming soon :)

This is all for today. If you are not a subscriber, don’t hesitate to become one, and if you like what you read and want to support that publication, don’t hesitate to become a paid subscriber and have access to several benefits :)

Enjoy your weekend and see you next week :)

Francis