We recently connected with Raphael Pierson and have shared our conversation below.
Raphael, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I think that without a doubt, the best teacher for me has been experience. Forcing myself to dig in and commit to learning is certainly where it started and in fact still drives me to this day. I think that when you’re both industrious and committed to learning, the information that you need to catapult you forward is going to be found in one way or another. I’ve learned and honed skill sets by setting courses and practicing, reading forums, comments, YouTube, conversations with total strangers, and again, practice, practice, practice. The point is, is that when I’ve wanted something bad enough, I can literally learn from damn near every little thing.
Knowing what I know now, I think a few things that could have sped up my learning processes would be ( 1) Accept and be ok with being sh*tty at things. We’ve ALL had a starting point and guess what? Newsflash: We’re all pretty terrible to start. I know that I’ve spent a lot of time questioning whether or not I should even be doing creative thing X,Y, or Z because I’m either concerned about releasing sub-par work OR I’ve spent so long comparing my work to others that I can’t stand the sight of my own creations. Which leads me to point (2) SHIP IT! SEND IT! STOP SITTING ON YOUR WORK! If you can’t create and then clear the cache of the bandwidth attached to those things, you’re going to be doomed to repeat then same awful cycle of self doubt and subsequent burn out. And number (3) which honestly should be number 1… You’d better be enjoying what you’re doing! If there’s no joy and emotion behind your work, then you’re just making uninspired creations and guess who doesn’t like uninspired work? Basically everyone.
As far as what skills were most essential to learn, I would say the foundations have always been the most important, they’re the bedrock of our skillsets. Without them, we’re just lost and destined for trouble. In photography, it’s things like the basic functions so that you can manipulate the camera to get the specific photo you’re imagining. In design it’s the basic understanding of commands, functions, strokes, so that you can once again get the image that you’re picturing in your mind. It’s not the sexy work, but without a supreme and efficient understanding of the basics, we’re nowhere. It’s also about understanding the “why” behind the actions that you take. For example two photographers could take an underexposed photo. The amateur underexposed because they didn’t have a solid grasp of the fundamentals and their final image suffered in quality because of it. The professional underexposed because they understood the “why” and “how” to manipulate their foundational understandings to convey the message they wanted for that particular scene.
Some of the biggest obstacles I’ve faced that have stood in the way of my ability to learn more or at a quicker rate are pride, insecurity and comparison. Pride works the way it does because it pairs with our insecurities and stifles our ability to move forward. If I’m too prideful, I don’t want to push myself into new creative territories (which WILL most certainly make me a better version of myself) because of the insecurities around being new to, or being bad at something. Comparison, I think likes to dovetail with the pride and insecurity to create the trifecta of inaction. We compare, then we delay because our pride and insecurities lead us to believe that we’re not good enough… and the cycle can be put onto a constant loop if we allow it. The quote “comparison is the thief of joy” is one of the truest statements out there.
These are things that as an artist I will always contend with, sometimes more, sometimes less. I do however try to remind myself that if I’m enjoying what I’m doing then that’s actually enough for me. So it’s a reminder to myself to check in, as if I’m happy… if the answer is yes, the KEEP SENDING IT!
Raphael, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I was ushered in to the world of art and creative expression from both of my parents at an early age. Even though they’d been separated from the very beginning of my life, they both always urged the exploration of art and creativity through many different mediums. So throughout, my life has been a series of deep dives into many things. From sketching portraits to water color, graffiti, photography, rapping, graphic design, and so on. I’ve always had the drive to do things for myself, it’s like an unquenchable thirst. I don’t know, I think that maybe I attribute a portion of it to growing up on welfare but I feel like the attitude has always been “if you want it, you’re going to have to do it for yourself”. So that’s been a hustle mechanism that I’ve had from an early age.
I continued to explore creative outlets and mediums throughout my teenage years and well into adulthood, dabbling in many areas but still ultimately unsure of a specific field I really wanted to pursue, though I spent a great deal of time with film photography as well as painting with both acrylic and watercolor. I had my professional career in construction contracting that allowed me the financial freedom to explore creative outlets yet it hampered me in my my creative execution because of the output that it required of me. It’s been a difficult one to try and balance over the years as I’ve often sacrificed my creative drive for the option that pays the bills. I had a handful of stints providing some logo design help for small businesses as side work and frankly was underwhelmed, uninspired and just ultimately didn’t get the warm fuzzies from what feels like baseless graphic design. In the wake of those opportunities it was made abundantly clear was that I really enjoyed designing for myself, and I was certainly not a good fit for the generalized areas of graphic design. I have both a unique sense of style and perspective and the more that I work to honor those things, the better my work becomes and the more value I can provide.
In the last five or so years I’ve focused my efforts heavily on photography, design, and lifestyle branding and the relationship that they share with each other. Utilizing those elements to tell a story and generate emotional responses are something that I feel super passionate about and when I find something or someone who aligns with those same feelings…well it’s a damn good fit. With photography, I love to work in natural environments and subsequently shoot almost entirely with natural light. Much of my work focuses on automotive elements and subjects though I feel highly passionate about many photographic mediums whether automotive, street, fine art or architectural styles of shooting. My graphic design style dovetails well with my style of photography, in which I work hard to capture and convey moods and feelings. I am highly inspired by nostalgia, in fact I’d wager that it may be my favorite of all the emotions. Many times I look at creating as though I’m creating the ultimate playlist, (which yes, I am from the era of dubbing mixtapes and playlists) curating the correct elements to help set the mood and propel the viewer through what I hope to be an amazing and thought provoking experience. Music is one of my biggest sources of inspiration. The way that it captures and conveys an emotion through such a small sample of time, and the way that it is exactly the same time and time again, I want to do my best to convey that ability through the mediums that I choose to use day in and day out.
As I’ve moved into an area of greater personal understanding of my own creative skillsets and passions, I realize that I’ve got to feel inspired with what I’m creating in order for me to execute at any sort of high level. So with that said, I am ultimately very selective about the work that I do with others so that I can ensure we’re a good fit to collaborate. Otherwise, I just continue to work on and develop my own personal branding projects. As of late I have been working with a few hand selected clients to build their own brand identities centering around the marriage of their personal styles and their businesses. I have also been excitedly building my own personal brand called All City Motor Club for the past few years. It’s a personal project that centers around creating a unique and stylish voice for automotive culture and the community building aspects of motor driven things. It’s as much a lifestyle brand as it is a digital/print media house. Just like it’s as much a nostalgia driven interpretation of style as it is a newly cut style all its own. I’m super excited to continue to roll it out over the course of 2023.
I believe first and foremost, that passion sets me apart from others, it’s behind everything that I do and create. I’m willing to work harder, grind longer hours while refusing to compromise on quality, character, or principle. You’re only as good as your word, so I choose to walk it out at every turn. Everything that I create has purpose, there’s no baseless, arbitrary creations loitering in the wings of my mind, for that would be a waste of time.
I am most proud of my artistic vision as well as my creative approach to problem solving, especially when it comes to client work. I have sharp and refined instincts, that help identify and execute solutions in credible and unique ways while also having enough self awareness to be able to adapt to any circumstance.
The mission is simple, create for the pure joy of creating, and there will never be a ceiling to contend with.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is quite simply the voice that it gives you. You have nobody to please, no rules to cater to, none of that. I look at art as a rebellious and exploratory form of communication, that doesn’t require you to follow anything other than your own creative vision. And that is frankly one of the most refreshing aspects that I could possibly find in a world that so often wants you to conform.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
Hmm, that’s a great question. I think that my main goal is to always make sure that I’m enjoying whatever it is that I’m creating. I want to continue to create based off of inspiration and passion, and I want to be able to share that with the masses.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theillvibe.com www.allcitymotorclub.com www.signalhouse.us
- Instagram: @ill__vibe @allcitymotorclub
Image Credits
All Images and designs credit to Raphael Pierson.