Originally published May 23, 2014 at the blog of School Datebooks Inc.

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I am the type of person who likes to dive headfirst into impulsive projects. In my apartment, there are probably four unfinished projects at any given time. I start things and end them when I have time. Sometimes I can crank projects out in a day, and other times my creativity wanes with the passing months.  

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At School Datebooks, being creative is treasured. A clever marketing campaign, an artsy brochure template or a new cover design is valuable to the company and always in demand. While most of my work is menial tasks such as exporting files, I have had the opportunity this week to show my creativity. 

After attending a meeting where new designs for brochures, choices books and cover templates were unveiled, I was inspired by one of Leslie's less-favored designs. She created a watercolor cover, and although it wasn't received as well as the others, I saw the potential in it. I decided to try my hand at designing new covers, while Leslie walked me through InDesign – I still mess up the commands after two weeks.

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I consider myself lucky enough to be unattached to my creative work. For example, as an English major, I have had to write and rewrite papers. My mother teaches English, so I usually run papers by her before I submit them to a prof. She has taught me to be distanced from my work, because editing goes hand in hand with creativity. No idea is immediately perfect; all creative work will be subject to scrutiny. 

I try to apply that to my artistic abilities at School Datebooks. My designs can always use some tweaking, and I try to not get bent out of shape over edits and revisions. Being creative is a collaborate effort that starts with an impulsive idea, and ends after being pruned to a desired shape. With this in mind, I will start my third week at SDI on Tuesday after a long Memorial weekend.

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Until then,

-Em