10 designers and their 2023 creative resolutions

Reflection and goals are a crucial part of creativity, allowing us to learn from past experiences and get a clear idea of where we want to go next. The start of a new year is when many of us choose to engage in this kind of thinking, as it’s an ideal turning point. If you’re looking for inspiration to do the same, here are 10 designers with their creative resolutions for 2023.

1. Embracing beginner’s mindset. Designer Fahub Ahmed went from being a lecturer at Ravensbourne University to a designer himself and has had to fully rediscover the art of beginners mindset. His creative resolutions for next year are focused on staying naive and open-minded, ready to challenge and be open to opportunities.
2. Sustainability. Margaret Nolan is the creative director of Denomination, and her creative resolutions revolve around minimising waste and maximising sustainability, showing clients the way when it comes to packaging etc.
3. Completing passion projects. Katie Murphy, graphic designer at BLVR is going to use 2023 as the opportunity to push past fear and just create, committing to one passion project per year.
4. Refining practical skills. For 2023, senior designer at Marks Amsterdam, Yann Maigret, is focused on improving practical skills with a view to using these to empower designs going forward. 
5. Weirder and more unusual things. Venetia Thorneycroft, senior designer at Ragged Edge, intends to do ‘weirder and more unusual things’ next year, pushing her creative output and making more time to feed the inspiration for this.
6. Presentation skills and confidence. Al Connolly, designer at Thompson, has a key tip for setting creative goals: make them as specific as possible. His main goal for 2023 is going to be honing his skills to become a more confident and engaging presenter.
7. Keeping it realistic. Senior designer Richard Robinson of Robot Food is all about staying open to unexpected experiences and new opportunities – and how they can impact the creative mind. He’s also an advocate of keeping things realistic and resolves to focus on smaller goals that can unlock bigger ones next year.
8. New activities and mediums. Stephanie Zabala, associate design director at team in NYC wants to delve into how exploring new activities can avoid the creative tunnel vision that can restrict the creative mind.
9. Connection and collaboration. Grant Knapp ECD at Grizzly is all about collaboration in 2023, having spent most of 2022 connecting with new people, new ideas and pushing himself to think outside the box.
10. Creative community. Raissa Schpatoff, graphic designer and art director at FutureBrand, intends to prioritise her creative community in 2023. After a recent relocation, the focus has been on building new connections and the designer has been reminded of how creative collaboration affects her own process as well as her view of the world.

As 2022 has come to a close, these are just some of the creative resolutions that designers from around the world are making to ground their focus for 2023. From collaboration to honing skills and building community, the list is exciting and inspiring.

Contact Scott Fleary on how we can help you with any creative construction projects in 2023.