Creative Process

What I learned about the creative process...

UMD Stories in Stickers taught me the importance of time management throughout the creative process. Coming into this project, I knew it would be difficult and need patience, but I didn't realize how challenging it would be to edit a documentary while also creating sticker designs and finalizing them in time for Arts Fest, all while managing my other classes as well.

I struggled a lot at the beginning with the digital designs for the stickers, because I have always been more of a hands-on artist. I wasn't used to drawing digitally or even editing. I had to redo many sketches and even find a different drawing app that worked better for me. At one point, I felt so frustrated that I told my friend I wanted to give up on the sticker idea completely. I slowly built my schedule around to give time for both this project and my other classes and exams, which helped my time management and organization skills.

In CPSA250, we learned about "kill your darlings," which means removing parts of your work that don't actually help your overall project, even if you worked hard on it (MasterClass, 2021). I used this strategy when editing my documentary and my sticker designs. It was difficult to cut parts of the interviews out, but after getting feedback from my friends, I realized some parts were repetitive or unnecessary. This helped me make my project clearer and more focused.