Are you feeling stuck in a creative rut? Struggling to find the spark to work on your own projects after a long day at the office? Trust me, I’ve been there.

With over a decade in the design world, I know first hand how challenging it can be to muster up the energy for personal projects when you’ve been staring at screens all day.

But here’s the thing – those personal projects? They’re your ticket to growth, satisfaction, and maybe even your next big career move. So let’s dive into how you can build an awesome portfolio of personal work without burning out or losing your mind.

What are Personal Design Projects?

Before we go further, let’s define what I mean by personal design projects. These are self-initiated creative projects that you create outside of your regular work or client commitments.

They can range from a series of illustrations to a complete brand identity for an imaginary company, or even a fully designed product concept.

The key is that you have full creative control and the freedom to explore your interests and push your skills.

Why Personal Projects Matter 

Let’s talk about why personal projects are so important:

Power-Up Your Portfolio 

Your personal projects are your chance to show off what you’re really capable of, without client restrictions or workplace limitations. You can tailor your work to align with what kind of work you want to do and the clients you want to attract. 

You can find a list of our portfolio tips in our article, Why Every Designer Needs a Portfolio.

Ultimate Creative Freedom 

Let those wild ideas loose! Personal projects are where you can truly express yourself. This is a chance for you to explore topics that are personal to you and feed your curiosity.

Skill Expansion

Work on stuff that’s way outside your day job. Trust me, it’s incredibly refreshing. Consider projects that are adjacent to what you normally do to start expanding your skills. For example, if you’re a Graphic Designer, why not try a packaging project. This could lead to learning more about Industrial Design. 

Audience Building Bonanza

When working on your own personal projects it’s vital to share your work. Share your projects and start connecting with like-minded creatives. You never know where it might lead!

Put your work on online platforms like Behance and Dribbble. Use social media to help you promote your work and build an audience. Create your own website with Adobe Portfolio or Bluehost (we use Bluehost to run this website if you’re wondering). 

Learn how to divide your project up into content that can be shared in several stages across multiple platforms. 

By sharing your work online, you open yourself to more opportunities. You can find potential clients through social media, monetize your blog posts, and build awareness for your skills as a designer.

Choosing the Right Personal Project

When selecting a personal project, consider your career goals. Are you looking to transition into a new area of design? Choose a project that showcases skills relevant to that field. Want to attract a specific type of client? Create work that would appeal to them. Here are some examples across different disciplines:

• Graphic Design: Design a complete brand identity for a fictional company
• UX/UI Design: Create a mobile app concept for a unique user need
• Industrial Design: Develop a product prototype that solves an everyday problem
• Fashion Design: Design a mini collection inspired by a specific theme or era
• Architecture: Conceptualize a sustainable home design

Remember, the best personal projects are those that excite you and align with your professional aspirations.

Thinking Out of the Design Box 

Now, here’s something they might not have told you in design school (unless you went to one of those fancy-pants elite universities): You’re not limited to just one type of design. That’s right – you’ve got the power to be a multidisciplinary design superstar!

What does that mean? It means you can dabble in graphic design, UX/UI, industrial design, fashion, architecture – you name it! Mixing it up not only keeps things interesting but also makes you a more versatile and valuable designer.

At Nollie Design, we want you to understand that design is a skill with many overlapping skills. Multidisciplinary Design used to be the norm and is seeing a resurgence as we need diverse creative teams to tackle today’s complex problems.

Companies are increasingly seeking designers who can wear multiple hats and bring diverse skills to the table. By developing multidisciplinary skills through your personal projects, you’re positioning yourself as a versatile and valuable asset in the job market.

You can find out more about why we need more multidisciplinary designers in the future in this article.

We’ve broken down the multiple fields of design into 12 categories, each with it’s own merits that you can use as inspiration for your next project.

How to Find Motivation to Work on Design Projects at Home

1. Mix It Up

If you’re a graphic designer by day, try 3D modeling for your personal project. Web designer? Give illustration a shot! The change of pace can be super energizing. You get the idea! Try something well outside of your comfort zone.

If you’re an established designer, chances are you have Adobe Creative Cloud. With over 20 different creative software in their package, you have access to a wide range of state of the art software that’s used in the design industry. 

It provides you with the resources to make Fashion, Graphics, Web Design, 3D Visuals, Video, Photography and more, all from the one subscription. So you have plenty of opportunity to explore different creative projects!

If you don’t have access to Adobe, don’t worry we have a list of alternatives to choose from.

You can check out our Best Software for Multidiscipline Design Guide.

2. Start Small

Don’t pressure yourself to create a masterpiece right away. Begin with quick, fun exercises to get the creative juices flowing.

Why not even deliberately make some work that’s designed to be disposable. Maybe you can create a throwaway account to upload your work. 

3. Set Micro-Goals

Break your project into tiny, achievable tasks. Checking off those small wins can be incredibly motivating.

I’m a firm believer in the power of setting to do lists and journaling the creative Process. If you want to see how you can use a notebook to track your project’s progress why not check our our Design Journalling: 8 Ways You Can Start article.

4. Find Your Peak Creative Time

Are you a night owl or an early bird? Schedule your personal design time when you’re naturally most energetic and creative.

5. Create a Dedicated Space

Carve out a special area for your personal projects, even if it’s just a corner of your room. Make it inspiring!

6. Collaborate

Team up with other designers or creatives. Working together can spark new ideas and keep you accountable.

If you’re a design student, why not ask your peers? If you’re in a creative role, would any of your colleagues want to work together? Perhaps you can create work for someone or a brand you’ve always idolized, you never know it could lead to something bigger!

7. Get Weird With It

Use personal projects to explore those off-the-wall ideas that might be too wild for your day job. Let your freak flag fly!

Nothing gets me more creative than when I start deliberately taking the piss before reigning it into something more realistic and tangible. Taking the piss is almost second nature in Scotland.

8. Learn Something New

Challenge yourself to incorporate a new skill or tool into each personal project. Growth is motivating!

9. Share Your Progress

Post your work-in-progress on social media or design forums. The feedback and encouragement can be a huge motivator.

We have a community Reddit, r/multidisciplinedesign, where you can post your work.

10. Remember Why You Started

Keep sight of your passion for design. Personal projects are about joy and growth, not perfection.

Embracing Multidisciplinary Design 

Now, let’s talk about multidisciplinary design. This approach involves combining skills and methodologies from various design disciplines to create more innovative and comprehensive solutions. It’s about breaking down the silos between different design fields and embracing a more holistic approach to problem-solving.

Read more in our post What is a Multidisciplinary Designer and How to Become One.

Here’s a secret that’ll blow your mind: the skills you learn in one area of design can totally level up your game in others. That logo design experience? It’ll make you a better UI designer. That 3D modeling hobby? It could revolutionize your approach to packaging design.

By exploring different design disciplines in your personal projects, you’re not just having fun – you’re becoming a more well-rounded, innovative designer. And in today’s rapidly changing design landscape, that adaptability is pure gold.

Overcoming the Motivation Slump

Look, there will be days when the last thing you want to do is more design work. That’s normal! You can start by setting aside one day to create personal projects. On those days, try these tricks:

Do a 15-minute design sprint

Set a timer and just create something, anything, for 15 minutes. Often, you’ll find yourself wanting to continue once you start.

Sometimes the idea of just starting is harder than actually doing the work.

Seek inspiration offline

Go for a walk, visit a museum, or flip through a design book. Sometimes stepping away from the screen is exactly what you need.

As we look at multidisciplinary designers from history like Charles Rennie Mackintosh in our Past Masters series, you notice there are little habits that these designers do to help them gain inspiration. With Charles Rennie Mackintosh he sketched a lot of nature, which then began finding it’s way into his creative work.

I highly believe travel is one the best thing you can do to get your creative juices flowing.

Join a Makerspace

These are spaces that allow public access to design equipment like 3D printers, Laser cutters and much more. There are over 1750 Makerspaces around the world and chances are there’s one in your area!

The community aspect can be super motivating. You get to build a network of local designers in your area, you can have access to tools that would be to expensive to own, and the possibilities of what you can make in these spaces border on endless.

Reward yourself

Set up a reward system for completing personal project milestones. Treat yourself to something nice – you deserve it! 

For me, I use gamification to help me get to where I want to be. For example, when I hit a certain milestone I can say that I’ve completed Level 1. Make the reward for achieving these milestones pretty great and something you’ve always wanted to do. Why not tick something off the bucket list? 

My next milestone is once Nollie hits a certain number of weekly readers, I can take my wife to a fancy dinner from a chef she really likes. It’s my way of celebrating a milestone, and allows me to thank my wife for supporting me as I left my role as a Project Manager in the Design World to set up Nollie.

If you want to support this page and what we do here at Nollie, please sign up to the Nollie Newsletter. It really helps the mission of demonstrating multidisciplinary design, and my wife can get a nice dinner too!

Conclusion

Remember, personal projects are your playground. They’re where you get to experiment, fail, learn, and grow without the pressure of client expectations or work deadlines. So embrace the process, have fun with it, and watch as your skills and portfolio expand in exciting new directions.

Now go forth and create something awesome!