RICOGLYPHICS
Digital Illustrator | Character designer
All Articles are written and images designed by Rico Griffiths-Taitte.
efore the age of social media, I thought of myself as a struggling artist finding it difficult to to get my work seen by the public. I didn't have the confidence to say that I had credible presence and the space to showcase my talents. Self promotion in those days seemed laborious and very overwhelming.
Little did I know that I was about to embark on a new concept of expressing my world on a digital pinboard.
Electric Gallery
In 2010 I was an absolute novice about the power of social media. I doubted its longevity due to not really understanding its potential. I can’t believe that I am admitting this now in 2022, but back then I made the regrettable decision that the Internet was not for me. I can hear Gary Vaynerchuck cringing with utter disdain as I say that aloud, however, I was absolutely awful at social media.
I considered myself to be a private person however I knew that I wanted to give my talent to the world and not worry about the whether i was new to the online game or not. Smart money says I should document my fears surrounding this feeling and put it on Youtube which would have been great content because as we all know,
Its's not about the end result, it's about the journey.
"Process over profit and perfection
is the key!".
So, there I was waiting for a way to announce my arrival as an artist trying different platforms from myspace, remember that one, to having websites yet all I could hear for months were crickets. I waited and waited for clients to notice me and get work as an artist, illustrator or anything to do with drawing. Many years later I realised that just because I had some of my best efforts out there didn't mean that people would be lining up to work with me.
Surely there was a perfect time to strike or wait for the season of clients to notice me. It came as a frustrating and disappointing blow to the ego that no, there is no perfect time and no fanfare waiting for you to announce anything.
There was however, 2 kinds of people that did stand out if they wanted to shine above the rest.
It's as simple as it is blatantly true. There are those that want to be seen and those that do not. Being transparent and honest about wanting people notice me came down to not being so relaxed about the process. It is a process and It takes hard work!
If you are blind in thinking that there will be the perfect moment to unleash your talent, ability or desire to win, I got news for you.
"No-one really cares!".
Oh, my goodness that was a hard pill to swallow when I first started market my business being a full-time artist.
How could I have been so foolish in thinking that I would somehow get the attention that I deserved when everyone else was just as hungry for attention as I was. Only difference is they took action and left my sorry arse literally behind.
After a couple of failed attempts to get clients through putting artwork online and creating websites that did veritably nothing for me, I was forced to get low salary paying jobs while feeling over sensitive about what was happening or rather, what wasn't happening.
My mother was disappointed that the world couldn't see my talents and she called me a bedroom star in some twisted attempt to shake me up and get 'out there' and prove myself.
She was completely right to try and motivate me in that way, but I first had to admit that
there was something seriously wrong with me blaming everything else instead of looking at the bigger picture.
Since we are talking openly, and I believe that you and I are bonding so I can tell you this, I had to also admit that I was really lacking in self-confidence.
Does this sound familiar to your own story? Good, read on because it gets worse.
I used to feel defeated for not being resourceful enough. I thought that generally in life people were doing better than I could ever do, plus I blamed myself for the things that wasn't working. Not having the right platform to showcase my work and get exposure was simply something that I was hiding behind. I tried to get an agent to represent me but again, all I heard was silence, if thats possible!. Anyway, to make myself feel better, I’d cut out images from magazines and place them on a cork board as a reminder of things I desired.
I was well aware of the visual law of attraction long before it became a 'thing'.
However, despite what I knew about visualising the things that I wanted in life, I didn't know how to process it along with having true faith in myself. Deep down inside I wasn't truly walking my path as an authority on self-awareness.
I felt depleted because i've wanted exposure to my art since I was a child and promised myself to pursue that until I was successful.
All Hail the New King in Town
As soon as social media was on everyone’s lips, a wave of creative people were emerging and networking through their Youtube channels. It was another reminder how inept I felt as people seemed to profit from having an on-line personality. I tried again and again diving into the ocean of self-promotion, but I found the tide was a little intimidating and I found myself sinking so much so that I drowned in my own self-pity.
I said to myself, "Yep, that’s it! Forget that Internet thing!" However, I began to see that social media was a tidal wave crushing the hackneyed publicity of the good ol' magazine and tabloid advertising. I sadly resigned myself thinking that there was no room for me in those digital waters.
From a young age I have been called a visionary without me actually knowing what that really was. I knew that I wanted to be an artist from the age of seven and that’s all I wanted to do, but as my mother always reminded me life will get in the way. In my early 20's in became a student of ancient wisdom and studied the power of visualisation from an ancient Egyptian philosophy. During my studies of ancient philosophies, I learned that in order to see things differently in life, we had to change our perspective. Like I said earlier I felt like a fraud because I knew the application of self was a matter of self-belief, so why wasn't it working as I envisioned?
Promoting myself through mantras and manifestation rituals wasn’t giving me the results that I wanted quick enough.
Pinned Down
Before I threw in the towel completely, I looked for something to dig me out of the dullness of printing business cards and going to events to hand them out, you know, the old fashioned way! Then I heard of this new search engine that was unlike the others. This platform would be driven by imagery. Wait! what? A image ridden search engine that People would have the ability to interact with other people and share their visions. You mean that it would be like a digital catalogue where you could furnish your own world and invite people to see your interests?
I am used to cutting images out of magazines and collecting them, and now i can do this digital, is that what your'e trying to tell me? The answer came in the dorm of my curiosity as I learned that I could showcase my ideas and share the way I see things. It was a platform for visually minded people and its name was Pinterest.
Art of the matter!
When I discovered Pinterest it restored my faith in having a visual presence. It made perfect sense to be associated with a platform that allowed me to build my brand led by imagery and a space to grow. When I think about it, anyone that has ever embarked on the journey to put themselves 'out there' is nothing short of being courageous and considered admirable.
I think a better way to label those willing to provide online content, simply as being a visionary.
The Perspective of a Visionary
There are many variables in being a visionary. There are even greater shades and definitions according to the dictionaries that describe its use.
Yes, being a visionary is useful and is more than simply having foresight and imagination. It has a great advantage in being able to see things that otherwise would not be visible to the naked mind’s eye.
I say that because the mind is a terrible thing to waste, and when you are using the power of imagination you can reach a greater number of possibilities than with linear thinking.
I like to think of people that use Pinterest as creatives who use the platform to connect visually but with a different reach than others mediums. I hope that you don’t think for a second that I am being sponsored to write this for Pinterest. I am just someone who was looking for a place to hang my images to show and tell why it’s worth displaying your passions.
Since the inception of the Pinterest platform there have been similar spaces that use its same ethos and approach but I have to say that those others pale in comparison to the clean user interface that Pinterest offer.
Don't get me wrong as I have had my issues with the platform also. I once had a profile with many different boards and one day my boards had been deleted, and not by me. Upon contacting support there was no real definitive answer for deleting my boards, yet everything that I had painstakingly put together other months, disappeared overnight.
I didn't have salacious material, nothing lewd or crude but I guess it is their policy to remove a profile if they see fit, especially if you appear dormant for a while.
Does that bother me? Of course it does, but you have to be active and meet the metrics and use it as a tool. Only then can you fully appreciate where this ol behemoth of a search engine can take you. to support this perspective I advise not putting all your eggs in a Pinterest basket either. It would be wise to have your work spread over different mediums.
Below are 6 Inspirational insights to make you more Visible!
1. Inspirational.
People who are daily content creators on Pinterest are called ‘Pinners' where it is possible to have their pins go viral. That being said I personally didn’t go with Pinterest because it boosted my pins. I loved the concept of just seeing interactions with the things I liked like a gallery.
Picture the things that you like because this is social media at a glance. Visual is the way forward and it is even more beneficial to know that the pins you make are eternal. That is of course if they don’t delete your board.
Remember when I told you that my boards were deleted? I somehow got my pin account back and sure enough all my boards and pins were still intact…so…. yay.
2. Igniting passion and Creativity.
I mean let’s face it, sometimes it’s hard looking for inspiration as a blogger, author or just content creator. All you need to do is type in the subject that you are interested in and there is a wealth of visuals can open up a ton of ideas and perspectives.
3. Open Mindedness.
Looking at other pins from other like-minded people makes it easy to see the mountains of information and visual concepts that even suggest things that you might not have considered. Keeping an open mind is healthy especially if you are just clicking around and getting inspiration
If you dream big, they encourage dreaming as a clickable sport.
4. Pinterest pimp.
I have discovered things that I wouldn't otherwise have found so easily on Pinterest. Like I mentioned earlier that it's a search engine, a visual catalogue. I know I sound like a Pinterest Pimp…maybe that’s a thing now.
Pinterest create cultures where individuals have the freedom to promote their best work and take pride in their efforts. You can tell a lot about yourself with the boards that you create
Once you start things as a true Visionary, you will profit from seeing visions of abundant possibilities everywhere.
5. Optical Business.
It can be the shop front to your business. Branding can be uniquely placed done in a strategic way using Pins. Hey, listen I’m obviously not telling you anything new here I’m just a consumer.
If you want to be seen as an authority it wouldn’t hurt to use this platform as a show and tell for your personal brand, because that’s what you are, you just need to recognise and honour that a picture paints a thousand words.
6. Blogger’s paradise.
As a blogger you must have your blogs push and shove their way to be seen. That is of course if you are not pinning your blogs using Pinterest. The ability to have everyone access your content through imagery is the start of more opportunities to showcase what you can do. Consider posting your own blogs and vlogs to this visual community.
Announce your latest posts with this electronic billboard and encourage clickable links that uses imagery to get noticed That’s how you become a writing visionary, using visuals to stand out and get noticed.
My Final View
As a recovering perfectionist, I didn’t want to start something and then get bored as I usually do. Pinterest restored my faith in being a visionary online and finding the friends that I made through this platform have paid off where I benefitted greatly
Since ‘pinning’ my artwork, my perspective and my business on Pinterest I have gained great interaction with an audience that would otherwise be unknown to me.
It seems that we were all born to be visionaries although some have accessed their minds-eye quicker than others. I now understand that everything is image-conscious and it’s time to see how our lofty dreams can be achieved once we engage with the new age of virtual expression.
Pin up or shut up
Grab my cheat sheet to building great character!
