Many personal projects often get left on the back burner to cinder. But our free-to-download creative brief will kickstart your personal projects into motion. We've also outlined what you need to think about as you fill in your brief to ensure you get the most out of your personal creative projects. 

What is your creative project?

Try to distil the idea for your creative project into one clear sentence. Gaining clarity over what you want to create helps to:

• Set creative boundaries.
• Reduces the feeling of overwhelm when getting started with a project.

To write a clear project sentence summary, use specific but straightforward language. For example:

Reimagine illustrations for my favourite children’s fairy tale. 

This project summary, though simple, leaves many questions unanswered. A more precise version could be:

Reimagine three illustrations to go alongside the Russian fairy tale Vasilisa the Beautiful.

This project summary gets clear about where you're channelling your creative energy.

 

Why do you want to work on your creative project?

It's vital that your reason why goes beyond the outcome outlined in your project summary. By digging deep, you'll discover an internal metric against which to measure the project's success.

For instance, let's return to our example project summary. Perhaps the illustration for Vasilisa the Beautiful didn't turn out as you envisioned. But your 'why' behind the project was to become more confident with digital art. Having an outcome that isn't tangled up with the result of your creative project means you:

• Won't get caught up reworking the same piece.
• Will be able to move on with a sense of accomplishment.

How long will your creative project take to complete?

If you're having trouble creating a clear project summary, your project may have too many moving parts. But we can overcome this by pairing down your project into a creative sprint. A sprint is a project that can be completed in a matter of weeks. So, split your creative project up into as many sections as needed until each section has a one-sentence summary. Then dedicate your project brief to the first part of your project.

The benefit of working in sprints is that you'll feel more inspired to create more overtime, as completing projects is super motivating. Plus, you'll have time between each creative sprint to rest, reflect and refine the process for your next project.

 

When are you going to work on your creative project?

Knowing when, where and for how long you're going to spend on your creative project increases the chances of it getting completed. As we've already paired down the scope of your project into a manageable size, there is no need to put your creative project off until you have an entirely free weekend. Using the time you have available during your regular schedule will be enough to get your project rolling. But remember, most people creatively tap out at the four-hour mark. So be kind and realistic with yourself when blocking out time for your project.

To start with your first creative time block, list the three things you need to do to get your project underway. Then, when you've completed your work within that creative block, note down the next three tasks. Creating a paired back task list reduces the friction of getting started when you return to your creative project.

Once you've completed your project, remember to celebrate your creativity by taking yourself out on a well-deserved artist date! If you need inspiration for your next creative project, check out our blog posts on:

• What’s Inspiring Me for Spring
• How to Skyrocket Creativity with a Simple Mini Studio
• 5 Ways to Get Inspired for Free

 Download the creative brief here

Written by Caitlin Layfield.