Category Archives: Motivation

How I Got to Be an Illustrator at Google, with No Qualifications

In the summer of 2012, I was hired on a freelance-basis to work with Google in their Mountain View HQ (now remotely) as an illustrator.

I’m self-taught and have no qualifications in art or design. A lot of people have asked me how I did it.

Why No One Likes Your Art: 26 Reasons

You work hard at creating pieces of art, design, writing, music, song and dance. But do people truly like what you do? If you want to do well, earn and survive in this industry, it’s quite important that at least a few people do.

Red Lemon Club Interviews Illustrator Dan Matutina

I first came across Philippines-based illustrator and designer Dan Matutina’s distinct work many years ago. His hard-edged, original and absorbing creations drew me in, and I featured his earlier stuff on my other site Ape on the Moon.

26 Tools for Chipping Away at the Fear and Becoming More Socially at Ease

As people of planet Earth who share an absolute necessity to relate and connect with one another, we see ourselves at an interesting checkpoint in our history. We are, as a whole, less at ease socially than ever before, even with the connective power of the Internet and the relatively advanced state of society in general.

10 Daily Habits that will Empower and Strengthen you as a Professional Creative Person

There is no doubt that a large chunk of what determines the fortune of a person is rooted in the little things that we as people do every single day. As such, the power that lies in a habit, good or bad, cannot be overlooked as we all find a means to get ahead in this busy world.

Ignorance and Self-Loathing: the Two Most Important Hurdles to Progress and Success

This is a fairly bold statement, though it has not been made without some thought on my part. I honestly think these two concepts, if addressed, can lead to a big reduction, if not complete obliteration, of various or most problems at all levels, personal up to international.

26 Lifestyle Changes Guaranteed to Substantially and Quickly Boost your Creative Productivity

Being makers of things, one of our most important assets is our ‘creative productivity’. In this case, our ability to actually create new things through doing; through taking action, not just thinking about it.

The 'Red Lemon Creative'. A 10-Point Manifesto for Successful Creatives Who Stand Out

Having now worked on Red Lemon Club for close to three years, there is so much I’ve learnt and so much that I yet want to explore, learn and share.

The more time I spend researching for posts and thinking about the ideas behind the site and the people that drive it, the clearer an idea is formed in my brain as to what it is that makes up who we are. We, being those people drawn to the ideas discussed here.

The 20 Most Useful Lessons I've Learnt as a Creative Blogger Over the Last Few Years

As you’ve no doubt seen me write about a good deal, keeping a blog* is one of the things I most consistently recommend as a means to so many fruitful things, including self-promotion, building credibility as an expert in something, and self-teaching/learning/discovery.

How Not Being Creative is Harming Your Very Survival

Creativity and survival are more closely linked than you might think.

I read recently that one of the things (and I think this is majorly important) that holds people back from enjoying life, seeing success and moving ahead, is a little thing known as reactivity.

On Why It's No Good to Try, You Must Do!

With the passing away of hugely influential science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury I wanted to cobble together a quick post to discuss one of my favourite quotes of his:

“Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things.”

Though the first part of the quote is hugely important, I’d like to take a closer look at the latter part (which relates to the first part anyway).

15 Reasons to Stay Focused on Developing your Craft

Let’s great straight into this idea of ‘craft’. What is it, and why is it worth pursuing?

My own thought on craft is that it is more a honed skill, style or application, than a tangible object. Craft is your technique; your brain’s neural connections, sculpted over hours of practice. Your craft is the way in which you apply paint to a canvas, how you think about a new musical composition or how you structure your written sentences in a short story.

25 Inspiring Quotes for Creative People

I find one of the most effective solutions to feeling unmotivated or disinterested in what I’m doing is to read a couple of quotes from others who have been and done it.

How to Get Laser Focused by Designing Your Perfect Client

If you’re a creative professional, freelancer or business of any sort, one of the key parts of attracting regular clients, is in deciding on and determining a target market.

These are the people you are not only creating your finished product or service for, but the people you base your entire brand around. Your existence as a creative professional who earns good money from what you do depends on them.

Red Lemon Club Motivation Tip #10 Leave School

Most of us have been through school, and experienced all the highs and lows that accompany those years. High school-level school is a period in everyone’s lives when one is impressionable and easily molded by the pressures to fit in and conform.

29 Ways to Stay Creative Animation

The guys at TOFU design, have come up with a nicely executed short animation providing some straightforward ways to be and stay creative. Despite the simplicity, it’s useful to get a nicely packaged reminder of all the good stuff, we need to keep doing. Have a look!

Red Lemon Club Motivation Tip #9: Find Your Inner Einstein

Every one of us has the capacity within us for genius. You probably already know what it is.

Make sure you don’t neglect that element of you. You can do this by using your imagination, and then using it some more. Spend time writing down or sketching out your imaginative ideas whenever you can, like a child would plan building his fort. Bring a notebook around with you to document your plans, dreams and ideas.

Red Lemon Club Motivation Tip #8 Swim Laps Under Water

It’s so easy to forget about how easy it can be to strengthen the most important organ of our bodies: our brains. Getting oxygen to it can increase your mental and creative power by 20% or more.

Red Lemon Club Motivation Idea #7 Create a Career-Shifter Goal!

We’ve all heard about the how great it is for your career or business to set goals, right? I’m a little sick of hearing about them personally.

The thing is though, they really are important, and really can get you some awesome achievements if you stick to them. But how to stick to them? Sometimes it’s hard to motivate ourselves towards goals.

Don't Just Do Something! Red Lemon Club Motivation Idea #6

Think about what we tend to do least of on a daily basis.

Is it doing your admin? Is it promoting your work by calling up people? Is it exercising in between long desk-based creative sessions? I’ll be willing to bet doing absolutely noting at all is actually something you barely do.