Every Halloween, I’m reminded that I won’t be around forever. I’m only human, after all. But the work I create and the impact it has on others might live on long after me.
I believe everyone has a purpose on this planet, and maybe mine is to share my colourful, joyful and soulful creative world with others. To make people smile, feel something, and see the world a little differently through my illustrations and designs.
Today, I’m sharing this year’s Halloween illustrations, plus my mini series, Freelance Nightmares, where I turned the things that give me chills and keep me up at night as a freelance creative into a set of stickers. Because freelancing isn’t always sunshine and rainbows!
Happy Halloween everyone! 🎃
With Christmas fast approaching, it’s a great time to give your business a creative boost and make the most of the festive season. In a world increasingly filled with AI-generated content, original, human-made design can help your business stand out. It’s personal, thoughtful and shows the care behind your brand.
Got a creative idea brewing for Christmas or the new year? I’d love to help bring it to life.
Contact: opencreativeworld@gmail.com
Freelance Nightmares Sticker Series
DEAD SEASON
No new clients, no enquiries, no projects on the horizon. But rent, bills and subscriptions keep coming. That awkward time when your inbox is completely silent, and you start wondering how long you can keep this business alive.
PROJECT DEADLINE
Everything seems quiet until suddenly three clients need their projects finished at the same time. Deadlines are getting closer, there’s still so much to do, and your calendar looks like a horror story.
OVERTHINKING
You spend hours questioning every little detail. Is the colour right? Does the layout work? Should I change that shape? Maybe I should start again. Sometimes your biggest creative enemy is your own brain.
NEGATIVE CLIENT FEEDBACK
You spend days working on something you’re genuinely happy with, send it to the client, and then the feedback arrives. They don’t like it. Suddenly, you’re questioning every decision you made and wondering if you’re even good at your job.
SELF-DOUBT
You scroll through other creatives’ work and start comparing yourself to everyone. Suddenly, all your own achievements seem insignificant. Am I good enough? Will I ever get there? Should I be doing something else? That little voice can be brutal.
TAX HELL
You spend hours creating something you love, finally get paid, and then spend another evening sorting invoices, checking expenses and trying to understand tax rules. I became a freelance creative to make art, not to become an unpaid accountant.
GHOSTED BY CLIENTS
A client reaches out, super excited about working together. You agree on the project, then you mention your price and suddenly they disappear like they never contacted you in the first place.
CREATIVE BLOCK
When you finally have some free time between projects and can create something just for fun, but nothing comes to mind. Or you have so many ideas that your brain just goes numb and you end up creating nothing.
SYSTEM ERROR
My constant battle with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. The fear of losing hours of work has turned me into someone who saves every single minute. Just in case.
UNPAID WORK
I do this full time, not as a hobby. When a client walks away from a project without paying for the work I’ve already done, or I have to send email after email just to get paid, it’s genuinely soul-crushing.
EMAIL FROM HELL
“Hope this email finds you well…” Not Really!
“Just a few changes.” Not in this life, unless you’re paying extra.
“We need this ASAP.” I have a life too. I’m not a machine.
AI SLOP
Please, just stop. We all know nobody likes this stuff. It destroys the planet, it’s been trained on stolen art, and it’s flooding the world with soulless content. Human-made art cannot be replaced.
Leave a Reply