How to Develop a Signature Creative Style
There are many unique approaches to creativity, but this 5-step guide—with fun exercises—is designed to stimulate your imagination, so you can build habits and bring your dream projects to life.
Developing your signature creative style is an ever-evolving process that involves research, discovery, experimentation, and persistence. No strict rules, labels, or boxes are required. If anything, it grants the artist, writer, designer, or [insert creative role] pure, unadulterated freedom.
How does one begin? The choice is yours, but there is a framework creatives can follow to find their rhythm once again.
Follow Your Instincts
Gather Inspiration
Create More Drafts
Find Patterns
Ask Questions
These steps may sound simple, but when combined, they unlock a world of possibilities. Let’s dive deeper and explore some methods, examples, and exercises.
Follow Your Instincts
As artists, our paths are not set in stone. Our only certainty is that the road ahead is unpredictable. This is a fact that makes creativity both terrifying and exhilarating. Even in the midst of discomfort, we are constantly learning, evolving, and expressing. This is when the magic happens.
If you feel stuck, plagued by overwhelm or indecision, it’s important to take a deep breath. Although frustrating at times, hitting the proverbial wall is completely normal, a clear sign to reset and reflect.
Speaking of reflection, I have a question for you. Do you remember why you started creating in the first place?
I truly believe that our younger years hold many answers. They help us remember where we come from to know where we’re going.
In the moment, you may not have been aware that a person, place, or event altered your brain chemistry. Yet, the interaction sparked your curiosity, and you couldn’t stop thinking about why.
Take a few moments to chart your artistic development, returning to past and present milestones. This process has less to do with numbering achievements and more to do with treasuring the experiences that remain.
Here’s a snapshot of my formative years:
From the age of 7 on, I “escaped” to fantastical realms found in books, films, and television series. Some of my favorites were Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, and The Hunger Games. I dreamt of traveling to faraway lands, and fortunately, I did.
While visiting family in Eastern Europe, I explored some epic castles and Medieval cities frozen in time. The art, architecture, and language captivated eleven-year-old-me for years to come!
In middle and high school, I always gravitated toward history, foreign languages, and English classes. Stories about ancient civilizations, lost languages, and rare artifacts ignited my imagination.
During film school, I studied a range of subjects: art history, world theatre and drama, and prehistoric archaeology. These courses influenced my perspective on storytelling and creativity. (There is something profoundly special about piecing together the past—one brushstroke, line of dialogue, or pot sherd at a time.)
Traveling abroad, reading speculative fiction, exploring museums, and watching history documentaries are still my favorite hobbies. My past experiences as an adolescent nurtured my interests as an adult. Storytelling has always been a central part of who I am. Although this vibrant instinct manifests in different ways—writing, graphic design, illustration, photography, and filmmaking—my passion for capturing powerful people, places, and themes persists.
The more we experience, the more we grow. Keep following your curiosity. You never know where it will lead!
Days, months, or years later, when you step back and view the tapestry of your life, you might locate a common thread. Follow every twist, turn, and snag until your instincts come into focus.
Exercise: Set a timer for 5 minutes and write down what captured your imagination as a child. Your memories could occupy 1 page or 5 pages.
Gather Inspiration
You know the saying: if you’re in a creative rut, go for a walk. It’s not just about moving your body and breathing in fresh air. A change of scenery works wonders for one’s imagination.
Have you ever experienced an epiphany when you weren’t actively creating? Many innovators have gathered their best ideas while showering, folding laundry, gardening, or cleaning. While engaged in these mundane physical tasks, our minds enter a state of flow.
If anything piques your interest at the moment, write it down, take a photo, record a voice memo, etc. It could be as simple as a vintage poster’s layout or a stranger’s whimsical handwriting. Or it could be as complex as a building’s intricate Art Nouveau-themed elements and the moving animations in a binge-worthy TV show’s opening titles (à la The White Lotus). No detail is too small!
I usually file inspiration away for review on a later date. Here are some free resources I appreciate or want to try:
Organize screenshots or photos into custom galleries on your phone, tablet, or computer.
Save your favorite websites in the “Bookmarks” tab on your phone or computer. Or you can add individual links to your “Reading List.”
Customize spreadsheets in Google Sheets (nerd mode activated).
Experiment with free templates in Notion.
Create mood boards on Pinterest.
Forge connections on Sublime.
Make mind maps on Milanote.
For me, utilizing the above tools is less about being perfectly organized and more about freeing up valuable space in my mind. Overwhelm and distraction are the enemies of creativity.
Exercise: Venture out and capture what speaks to you. Sketch, photograph, or journal. Don’t review your discoveries until morning. Which subjects ignite your passion?
Create More Drafts
Don’t let perfectionism stand in the way of your next idea. (At least, this is what I tell myself.) During this stage, it’s essential to prioritize quantity over quality. Not every project will be revolutionary, but one day, you’ll admire your progress and unearth some “diamonds in the rough.”
Begin with a daily practice and create more drafts. It could last for 1 hour or 10 minutes each day. When you have a goal, establishing a routine is life-changing. And showing up consistently—even if you aren’t motivated—sets you apart.
Our favorite artists, designers, writers, and filmmakers were not born experts. They shed blood, sweat, and tears to make their dreams brilliant realities. Sure, some possessed innate gifts, but they made sacrifices and refined their abilities over time.
We all have to start somewhere. Inspired by watercolor painters, one of my current goals is to finish a sketchbook. It will take plenty of patience and diligence, but I’m determined to hone my craft—and have fun along the way!
Have you heard of Nerdforge, led by Martina and Hansi? I highly recommend visiting their YouTube channel. The couple constantly challenges themselves with epic projects. Some episodes document how they design a coffee-dispensing PC, fabricate fantasy armor, build a rotating 14,000-page book, or tuft a 170-square-foot rug. On the way to the finish line, they face obstacles and doubts. But through their tenacity and passion, they bring the impossible to life.
THIS is one of my favorite videos, in which Martina paints a 300-page sketchbook in 12 days! Instead of focusing on perfectionism, she heightens her skill by experimenting with techniques well beyond her comfort zone.
Exercise: Start your own handmade notebook (at least 7 pages). Every day for a week, practice your skill by hand without erasing. There is something magical about transforming a blank page into something new and finishing what you start.
Find Patterns
We are constantly exposed to content, but there are certain pioneers who stand out from the crowd:
Writers like Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Leo Tolstoy, J.R.R. Tolkien, Margaret Atwood, and Stephen King.
Artists like Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, René Magritte, Georgia O’Keeffe, Mark Rothko, and Frida Kahlo.
Photographers like Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams, William Eggleston, Annie Leibovitz, Steve McCurry, and Cindy Sherman.
Filmmakers like Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli, David Lynch, Mira Nair, Quentin Tarantino, Wes Anderson, and Sofia Coppola.
The above artists enriched their respective fields, crafting stories—books, paintings, photographs, or films—filled with compelling themes or patterns.
According to the dictionary, a pattern is “a particular way in which something is done, is organized, or happens.” In the context of art and design, a pattern manifests as a regular or irregular repetition of shapes, lines, colors, and textures. These elements—also known as motifs—unite to form a cohesive visual identity.
Motifs comprise a pattern, but several patterns lead to the development of a signature style. Over time, you’ll start to notice more than one pattern emerging across your own works.
Do your subjects consist of animals, landscapes, or food? Do you prefer making digital art or getting your hands dirty with more tactile techniques like watercolor or oil painting? What if you pursue a combination of techniques like mixed-media collage?
Reflecting on the specific methods, techniques, subjects, and styles you return to brings clarity to your creative endeavors. Most importantly, it provides a sense of purpose and direction.
If you can’t determine one pattern after brainstorming, divide your time between a few. You could even combine two different ideas to create an entirely new framework!
Exercise A: Study your favorite artists and make a list of the patterns that emerge across their works.
Exercise B: Pick 1 subject and replicate it across 3 different styles. Does one inspire you more than another? If you’re a writer, you could try telling the same story across 3 different genres or points of view.
Ask Questions
When people engage with your content and demand more, it objectively proves that your unique voice made a positive impact. Social media metrics—“likes” and “comments”—are not always indicative of success, but they can serve as guideposts.
Instead of waiting for results, ask your closest friends and family members—the people who know you best—to answer some pointed questions about your work. These will depend on your end goals, but here are some examples:
What stands out to you?
Does the composition feel balanced?
Is the contrast strong enough?
Did you notice a common theme?
Do you understand the story?
What do you think I was trying to achieve?
How does this piece make you feel?
Listen to everyone’s initial impressions, but take them with a grain of salt. Receiving constructive criticism can be uncomfortable—especially when you’ve poured your heart and soul into a project—but don’t get defensive, over-explain, or justify certain choices. It’s best to talk less, listen more, and write down the feedback for later review.
Exercise: Pick 3 questions to ask your friends and family members about a particular piece. Write down 1 response that stood out. Based on their feedback, experiment with changing 1 or 2 elements in your project.
Follow your instincts, gather inspiration, create more drafts, find patterns, and ask questions. All of these stages can help you develop a memorable, creative style that is authentically yours.
There is only one you, and your story matters. Scribble it in a journal or shout it from the rooftops. Either way, please start telling it!
If you found this article helpful, let me know in the comment section below! I’m excited to see where this creative journey takes us all.
