Week #7: Motivation
Last week my theme, Coffee World, got hard-rejected by ThemeForest. This means that the theme does not live up to their standards - as a matter it's so far off, they won't even provide me feedback.
First I felt devastated. This was a huge slap in the face. But then I realized: this is just the first slap of many. Being a solopreneur and being a freelancer will bring along many more slaps, so better not sink in self-pity. Also, I previously decided to follow the wisdom of successful entrepreneurs, which is to fail fast. So yeah, I did that. Yay!
Feelings
I love what I do. I love designing, love coding, love writing, and love building a brand. And what's great is that I'm not just enjoying what I do, but I am also driven.
I am driven because I have a goal, and I have a plan. My goal is to work on my own terms, have more freedom regarding what types of work I do, and have it be financially more rewarding. To achieve all this, I have a very clear vision. It's doable.
I also have a problem that I need to attack, and that's corporate employment. I've realized over and over throughout the years. In my first employment as a programmer. In the second. In the third... and now in the fourth too.
No matter how good the circumstances were or how awesome my workplace was, at some point the moment always finds me sitting at my desk in the office, wondering
"What the hell am I doing here? I don't belong here. I don't want to climb the corporate ladder!"
Therefore, I am fueled by both sides of the feelings spectrum: both negative and positive. I have goals and anti-goals too. I am experienced enough to know what awaits me at the end of the road if I don't take over the wheel, and I also know what's possible if I play my cards right.
"If others made it..."
I have a fallback thought that is not so nice and kind of cocky, but it works:
"If others - less talented folks - managed to make it, so can I!"
I remember thinking a lot about it when doing final tests in high school or when learning to drive. Now I started to think about this in the business world too.
Sure, finding success in business is a bit harder than getting a driver's license. But the sentiment still stands. I believe in myself. I am creative and driven. I have the skillset, and I have the ambition. I am convinced that if I manage to
- remain consistent
- keep increasing my luck surface
- keep putting work out there that builds up to the same goal
... it must be only a matter of time before I make my vision a reality.
Building my personal Shopify portfolio
Visuals help me think and stay motivated. That's why I love putting up whiteboards on my wall and designing posters about my ideas.
Maybe that's why I needed to start working on my portfolio website too. My website is built with Ghost - an open-source blogging platform. I've built my theme by first designing it in Affinity Designer and then vibe coding it using Cursor.
I am quite satisfied with the direction of the brand. I merited inspiration from two companies: Affinity and Nike.
Inspiration from Affinity
Affinity is a company behind three canon-size software: Designer, Photo, and Publisher, which are one-time purchase alternatives for Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. They are amazing, and I am a huge fan.
The Affinity website has a very clear design and awesome typography. The whole website is just super organized and plays well with white and black UI elements that are supplemented with enormous colorful images. The site feels like an awesome, colorful magazine.
Inspiration from Nike
Nike, on the other hand, has a very high-contrast, laser-focused design with huge, bold typography and uppercase titles. They condense and emphasize their messages into small titles that read well.
I tried to merge the two: creating an uncluttered interface and using bold typography with huge images.
Obviously, there's much work to do, but the direction is set, and I like it. When I have more to add, I'll know what tools to use and how to extend the brand, because the foundations are not set: my typography, my colors, and my design guidelines.
Plans for next week
Even though it felt good designing my website, and I am happy about the result, I have to admit that probably this was not the task that moved the needle the most. So I'll have to get back to my original task, which is to release the performance fixes for my theme and upload it to my site.
Since ThemeForest is out of the game, I've decided to take a different route: simply upload it to Gumroad with a pay-what-you-want pricing model and add it to my website. This way I am not pressured by standards and review processes. I don't feel bad about asking for money for my first Shopify product, but I still have something to add to my portfolio.
Bonus: a book recommendation
I've started reading The Freelance Manifesto: A Field Guide for the Modern Motion Designer by Joey Korenman. ChatGPT assured me not to be scared away by the "Motion Designer" part of the title because the book is about freelancing - only the examples are through motion design, which you can probably easily translate into your own industry. I am only in the beginning of the book, but so far, the book is very motivational.