The Value of Experimentation for Black Women in the Creative Industry: Reflections on My Journey
Discovering My Unique Voice and Perspective Through Experimentation
As a Black woman in the creative industry, I’ve faced a number of challenges in my journey to find my creative outlet and establish a successful career that worked for me. This pressure came from a variety of sources, including societal expectations, the need to prove myself in a predominantly white and male industry, and the pressure that I needed to “represent” my community.
I came into the advertising industry through a programme named D&AD new blood shift, whilst it opened me up to a number of advertising experiences that would otherwise be closed off, I still found myself met with imposter syndrome when I got my foot through the door. This resulted in feelings of depression and eventually withdrawal from the industry altogether. At first, I tried to deal with this by conforming to what I thought the creative industry expected of me. I focused on developing a specific skill set and trying to fit into a particular box. But no matter how hard I tried, I wouldn’t fit and never felt completely satisfied or fulfilled in my work. It wasn’t until I discovered experimentalism that I started to find my creative outlet and feel more confident in my abilities.
Experimentalism is the act and mindset of exploring and trying new ideas, methods, and approaches. It’s about taking risks, being open to failure, and embracing the unknown.
I stepped away from the creative industry for a time, as I identified it harmful for my personal creative development and I found it disheartening being pigeon-holed into dead-end internships. I decided to opt for a retail job at Liberty oxford circus. Working in the homeware department, I found myself inspired for the first in a long while. I started to tap into different sides of my creativity that I hadn’t indulged in before, like illustration, and found myself drawing some of the sculptures I saw on lunch. It was refreshing feeling inspired again, I treated my portfolio as an extention of my play and exploration of my creativity, I even started to call my portfolio ‘my playground’ for a time. All this to say that the weight that wore heavy on my shoulders was lifted and in its place a passion and lightness. I knew I didn’t want to let go of this playfulness as I slowly started to reintegrated myself back into the creative industry.
Freelancing
I saw an opportunity in freelancing — a financial risk being so early in my career, but a needed one. I made sure to choose jobs that challenged me and fuelled my interests, it was gratifying when I’d receive job offers based upon the strength of the work seen in my portfolio. I had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects that fit my skill range and interests whilst avoiding workplace cultures often harmful to Black women.
Tasha Bailey, an accredited psychotherapist and member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, explains that Black women being torn between authenticity and assimilating is very common. “Cultural assimilation in the workplace is when someone has to adopt the dominant culture to resemble everyone else," see article.
I decided to only commit to a full time job if my employer offered the space for me to continue my creative explorations. I later took on my first full time job as an integrated designer. It can be challenging to find the time and energy for creative projects when working full-time, but it’s important to find ways to make it work.
What I have learned
As a Black woman in the creative industry, I know firsthand the challenges of breaking away from traditional ways of doing things and finding my own path in a field that often doesn’t look like me. It can be intimidating to go against the grain and try something new, especially when you’re bombarded with messages telling you that you need to conform to certain expectations and ways of doing things in order to succeed.
Embracing experimentalism as my personal philosophy has allowed me to tap into my creativity and come up with unique solutions to problems whilst carving my own way within the creative industry. It’s not been perfect, but it’s allowed me to grow an invaluable confidence in myself, helping me to learn and grow in ways that might not have been possible if I were confined to a single field or discipline. And best of all, it’s given me the freedom to play and discover new territories, which is an incredibly liberating route for someone who likes to explore lots of things.
I believe that the path of experimentalism can be especially helpful for Black women in the creative industry who are navigating careers that can be challenging and often counter intuitive. By embracing a mindset of experimentation, we can free ourselves from the pressure to conform and instead tap into our innate creativity and find our own unique voice and perspective. It also gives us the freedom to play and explore new territory, which can be especially valuable for jack-of-all-trades personality types who have a wide range of interests and skills.
What does this look like:
- Investing in personal projects as a way to explore, learn, and try new things.
- Documenting your process, including failed experiments, can help you to reflect on your journey as a creative, or used to inspire future projects.
- Having a clear intention of what you want to do in your current job, or desired job. Having a clear intention or goal for your work helps you to stay focused and move with direction.
- Collaboration. This allows you to explore new ideas and approaches with others which is also great for creative problem-solving.
- Job hopping early in your career to find work that fits your needs and helps you grow. While it’s not meant to be a long-term solution, it can be a useful tool while you’re still discovering your path and looking for opportunities to grow.
- Using social media to share your work and experiment with new ideas. This can help build confidence and create connections with people who are interested in your work, which can lead to potential opportunities.
