Freedom Projects Make Cleaner Client Work

I’ve always found it hard to balance my professional creativity with my personal creativity. I’ll dive headfirst into one and completely neglect the other. Multi-tasking isn’t my strong suit—especially when a big branding job and a big film idea are both on the table.

If I’m honest, I’d rather grab a camera and make a film with my friends than polish another brand guidelines document. In a perfect world, I’d always choose the film. But bills have to be paid and mouths have to be fed (mine).

Here’s what I’ve learned though, maybe it’s creative maturity, maybe it’s just wise-ing up: leaning into my personal art projects has actually made my branding work better.

Film gives me a free-form playground where I can go wild and throw the kitchen sink at an idea, push it too far, then push it further. No clients. No market research. No one to please except my self. Branding, on the other hand, lives on a tightrope between creativity and business needs. Without film as an outlet, I used to try to quench all my creative thirst through branding. And it didn’t work. It left me restless and unsatisfied.

But now? The energy I burn off experimenting with film comes back to branding as sharper instincts, quicker decision-making, and more honest design. Paradoxically, giving myself permission to “waste time” on personal projects has made me more efficient, more confident, and even more business-savvy.

So if you’re a creative feeling stuck, maybe the answer isn’t to push harder on your professional work. Maybe it’s to go make something just for yourself and watch how much better the paid stuff gets.