The importance of relationships for a flourishing creative career.
Strong professional relationships are the foundation of any successful creative career. In this article, Pete Clayton explores how collaboration and community can open doors to new opportunities, foster meaningful connections, and strengthen creative practices. From working with peers to engaging with local networks, Pete shares valuable insights on building a supportive and thriving creative ecosystem.
I have always felt that nurturing strong professional relationships is something very important to keep a creative business going. Be it with clients or industry peer groups, a good relationship enables more commission opportunities and meaningful connections. Below I have outlined two ideas around this which will hopefully give you some food for thought.
Collaboration
With creative peers, collaboration can be beneficial in creating exposure for both parties. In the past I have worked with other artists on little projects on Instagram. These works were then shared, tagged etc on one another's profile creating content and publicity for both of us. Indeed, working with other creatives can strengthen your own practices and expose you to new techniques, processes and ideas.
It doesn’t actually matter if these collaborations come from the same industry. Cross-disciplinary collaborations are fun too. I have previously worked with a fundraising initiative, producing artwork for a food bank charity with a host of other artists and makers. During COVID times I even produced a series of colour-in at home posters which people could stick up in their windows to show support for the NHS. These posters were part of a Plymouth community initiative. I forgot the name, sorry. With this kind of collaboration make sure it is not free work. By this I mean make sure it’s not a big corporation or someone taking advantage of your good nature. Also, if it’s a charity (like the food bank mentioned above), make sure their intentions are good and also align with your values.
Even with client commissions, I am a great believer of collaboration over ‘working for’ someone. I value a shared journey… like two travellers road tripping and heading to the best creative solution together. Admittedly, this can’t always be the case but I do try to be friendly and work with people rather than being a hired gun. I believe that being yourself and having the above approach to work helps create better connections and then opens the door to more opportunities and job referrals by word of mouth.
Community
A shared community is so valuable too. We’re really lucky in Plymouth to have Plymouth Design Forum and Creative Homework. These are two community driven initiatives which bring the wider creative community together within the city with monthly meetups and talks. Creative work can be isolating if you work alone, so these networks of like-minded people can really be a boost for creatives emotionally. Communities like this also help you gain industry insights, education, and forge creative opportunities… and who knows, maybe our next creative opportunity could come from a chance meeting at one of these meet-ups?
One tip is to always, always say hello at these meet-ups and events. You never know what can come from a simple hello.
Going Forward
A collaborative mindset and community spirit is so valuable in nurturing those important relationships. Don’t get me wrong, being good at what you do does have something to do with it too. But beyond making good work, a good relationship is so good for keeping credibility and reputation flourishing. A collaborative and community driven attitude is, I feel, the perfect formula for a flourishing career. No community to join? Create one… either online with socials or mailing lists or in person with monthly meet-ups. No collaborations coming your way? Reach out to your creative peers and heroes and see what you can do together. It should only lead to positive outcomes. So why not keep these things in mind?
Thanks for reading
