Moving Goalposts

2017 was a bit of a strange year for me. I had worked extensively in the comic sphere for a while when projects suddenly started to dry up. It wasn’t that I was doing anything wrong, but I found that the market had stagnated for me. Even with the volume of work behind my name, I was struggling to open doors. 

My first instinct was to email everyone I knew about possible writing opportunities. Nothing materialised. Talking to friends and peers, it seemed I wasn’t alone. Several of us appeared to be struggling. I’d also noticed a shift in my industry; Publishers had become increasingly cautious too. So a lot of us were riding the same wave in the same boat.

Personally, I’m an individual that prefers to be busy and continuously creating so I decided to switch my focus back from writing to design for a while, and began re-imaging popular movies posters in a style that resonated with me. Not for the money, just for some online visibility (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram were invaluable for this).  

It worked a treat! Within 2 months I picked up some freelance poster work that filled the writing void. It didn’t mean that I had given up on my writing, I just shifted my focus to another skillset. For want of a better phrase, I had added another string to my creative bow. 

Not everyone has the luxury to switch fields, but I’ve seen first-hand how effective it is to have something to fall back on and not fixate on the one creative path.

As for now, I’ve managed to refocus the business and look for creative writing in other sectors outside of the comic industry AND continue to create great poster designs too. I’ve also taken this thinking into my day job. We’re now pushing to find ways to break out of the usual design briefs and find it in other areas. It’s working too, and you know what… I just picked up a comic brief from an unlikely source, so things appear on the turn once again.

You can find me on Twitter @AndiEwington