The art of getting 'unstuck' with art director, Sam Myrdek

In the advertising world, there’s immense pressure to always bring your best creative thinking to the table. In the day-to-day, that’s not always easy, and we've all found ourselves stuck at one point or another. Whether it’s writer’s block or swirling thoughts that just aren’t coming together in a meaningful way, we’ve all had moments where coming up with a creative idea felt daunting. This “stuck-ness” that every creative mind has experienced — and if they say they haven’t, we suspect they’re fibbing — inspired this series, which is a window into how Mythic’s creative team gets “unstuck” in these moments. This month, we spoke with art director, Sam Myrdek, about where she finds inspiration.

Sam Myrdek, Art Director

?? Hidden Talent — parallel parking

?? Listening to — Music: Anything and everything Taylor Swift | Podcasts: Per Our Last Email, Illustration Hour, Creative Pep Talk

?? Reading — Anything and everything Taylor Jenkins Reid?

Whether you’re panicking over parallel parking downtown or coming up with that next big, pie-in-the-sky idea, having Mythic art director Sam Myrdek along for the ride makes getting “unstuck” a breeze.?

When those daunting, open-ended briefs come through the door, Sam’s a big believer in starting with a brain dump. Imagine the CSI-style evidence boards with strings connecting all the dots, except more advertising-focused and just in a Microsoft Word document. Sam’s pieces of “evidence” are any words that come to mind when she thinks about the brand or product. Sometimes Sam even brings these brain dumps to the virtual table when she’s with other creative team members.?

“One random word can spark an association with someone else on the team and result in a great idea,” she explained.?

But Sam admits it takes a series of small steps to get unstuck. It’s never as easy as completing a brain dump exercise and immediately arriving at that “ah-ha” moment. Sometimes, it takes walking away from the project to get her creative juices flowing. In those moments, Sam finds solace in the quiet of the gym. She likes to set a 30-minute timer, walk on the treadmill and jot ideas down as they come to her.?

Other times, when she needs more visual inspiration, Sam turns to her Pinterest boards to explore how other artists interpret a word or idea through painting or illustration. She tends to follow artists who lean into illustration, including Steffi Lynn, Lisa Congdon and Hoodzpah Design Studio, to start thinking about the project at hand from a new perspective.

“There’s so much more flexibility when it comes to illustration,” Sam explained.

“You can solve any problem by creating the solution yourself. You’re not limited to a library of stock photography or vector icons. With illustration, everything you create is unique and original, which is also a plus to a brand that embraces illustration in their work.”?

When Sam’s not busy coming up with creative solutions for Mythic’s clients, she’s still bringing big ideas to life through a sticker business she and her two best friends from college started when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Faced with a surplus of free time, much like the rest of the world, Sam and her friends went to the drawing board. Together, they decided to transform a greeting card line called Little Something Co., that only existed as an idea from Sam’s college thesis, into a sticker business.?

After putting their heads and respective talents together, they decided to use Portland, Maine, the tourist destination where they live, as a source of inspiration. Now, nearly two years and 98 sticker designs later, their products are available online and locally at the L.L. Bean Homestore in Freeport, Maine.

Interested in getting to know more about our creative team and where they find inspiration when they run into a speed bump? Stay tuned for our next “Unstuck” profile for more tips and tricks for getting into a creative headspace.?

In a world where attention spans are limited, we're glad you stuck with it and made it to the end of this article because we certainly think it was worth the read. If you like what you saw and want to know how you can partner with a team that's brimming with creative ideas, reach out to our CMO, Taylor Bryant ([email protected]), and get a conversation with Mythic started today.