It was such fun to get to do my Find Your Archetype Workshop twice this week and spend time in this fertile playground for brand building - I love the conversations that come up when doing archetypal inquiry and I love this work. It’s deep, real, connective, playful and kind of blissful to tap into the inherent energy channeling your business or personal brand. It’s a landing into knowing that unlocks brand potential.

Creative Writing is the art of making things up with words and expressing ideas in an artful way, but it's more than that; it's also conceptual and strategic. Copywriting is the standard in terms of branding and marketing copy, so how does Creative Writing fit in? Well, it doesn't. It's layered and nuanced and more experiential.

We’re working harder - and faster - than ever, so it's no surprise - in fact, it's about damn time, that the four-day work-week movement has arrived. Countries and companies around the globe are starting to explore this approach in the new aka. post-pandemic world. The five-day work-week was created during the first Industrial Revolution for factory workers. It was a different time and a different type of work.

I once knew a musician who routinely performed at open mic nights in bars across London. He had this romanticised swagger about him; just a man and his guitar case cruising the grey streets in search of the next stage he could strum and sing his acoustic covers on.⁣

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step: Publish. I've been working on aitch's new offering for the past few months (and also, years) and well, here I am; setting my intentions to co-create a new kind of magic with the push of a button. Hey Creative, it's time. I'm talking to myself, but I'm also talking to you, Creative. You making your art and singing your creative song behind the scenes and not knowing how, or when, or even why! to put yourself and your work out there. So let's do this together.

‘Data’ has become this buzz word bandied about by everyone; we apparently need to collect all this data all the time in order to see, understand and get on a human level with our audiences. But what is the use of collecting all this information, if it’s not intelligently processed and channeled - creatively and effectively - back into the place from which it came?

Gen Z, “the loneliest generation”, has found a way to process pervading depression and toxic positivity, and find solace in community: with trauma memes. When you think about what this group are dealing with; trying to find themselves, find love, build careers and lives with purpose - with the ongoing chaos around them; it’s not hard to see why there’s a mental health crisis happening amongst them right now.

Oh but I love this. I'm partial to a bit of L.I.S.H myself. L.I.S.H = Length-Implies-Strength Heuristic. I love reading chunky quotes and passages that take the time to get into the momentus swing of language at play. To really go deep and get expressive. That is literally the best part about writing for me.

This year I gave myself permission not to have all the answers; and my god, it felt good to drop all the armouring and scaffolding, to say ‘hey now, bye now’ to relentless perfecting and question-answer questing, to just tuck in the elbows, trust the process, and let life float me in the right direction.

Read that again - in creativity, and indeed, in self-creation, no experience needs to go to waste. It can all be channeled into your invention! Into your self-invention or your re-invention... Invention is a process of iterating on an earlier prototype, harnessing the learnings and lessons and using them to shape something new.

During the first lockdown last year, I created a bunch of digital collages that I never felt moved to share. The wry humour reflected a moment, and a mood, I was able to access during a perpetual season of intense transition - life, the layers, the lessons... Oh yes, and the virus.

I recently had an interaction with someone I worked with on a project a couple of years ago - a project that cost me valuable time, but ultimately, never took off. It was evident in the exchange, an email thread tying up the final loose end, the person was clipped in their responses. It's one of those things that's hard to not feel bristled by - your frontal cortex can't resist but stew in the mental mirk.

This story blows my mind. I hadn't thought about Britney in years when it came to my attention she was still living under the conservatorship for 'mental instability' since 2008. She's been allowed to perform in sold out shows and make multi-millions, while being deemed too unstable to manage her own finances and make basic day to day decisions. Her father and the people behind it, have long since been thought to have her best interests at heart.

I’ve been settling into my new home after moving house, taking an unofficial hiatus to be in the moment, packing up our life and moving it to our new destination and unpacking it again. Seeing how it looked different in its new space. A little more room, a lot more light and more one with nature. Feeling how a new space inspires you to live differently; a whole new sense of potential.

Storytelling for brands is the art of crafting a story that creates connection and engages customers on a deeper level. But it’s more than just a personality-laced narrative; the right brand narrative can increase your brand’s reach, impact and boost your revenue 20-fold.

It’s hard being a creative! A creative freelancer, independent, business owner, solo- or entrepreneur. Wherever you are in your journey, there’s no guided path or ladder to this gig; it’s a calling, a desire to create, and a passion for another way to live. It’s a harnessing of the maverick spirit and a commitment to personal freedom that becomes your life’s work. But it’s true what they say; it’s not easy, otherwise everyone would be doing it.

I call this the beautiful woo of brand architecture - building a brand interior from the archetype up! I love this work, because it starts from a wholly holistic and emotionally intelligent place; our innate sense of knowing.

Many brands start talking before they’ve had their first conscious thought! They start socialising their offering before they’ve considered who they are and how they speak. Establishing the foundations of your brand essence and finding your core archetypes gives your brand it’s edge. The place from which all communications should come; a structured and considered frame of reference.

There’s a lot of buzz about storytelling for brands these days, more so than ever before. Like the avalanche of content that rolls down millions of screens every day, storytelling for brands has evolved to become a pertinent part of the modern-day marketing strategy. Welcome to the era of the ad that never ends.

For years the tech scene has dogged my creativity. I speak for myself, but many creative types can probably relate - the world of impressions, engagement and reach, or PPC, SEM, UGC and other 3-syllable jargons a few letters short of a good time, do nothing for the creative mind, nor the creative soul, mind you.

The best #worklife thing that’s happened to me this year - me and the words have melted back together. Like two choc-chips having a reunion inside the folds of a slowly baked chocolate croissant - yes, it’s as hot and cosy as it sounds.