Building a Body of Work Instead of Chasing Trends
Hold your nerve and stand out from the creative crowd | The Krafty Chameleon way
When I first moved from the certainty and structure of corporate life into the creative world I underestimated just how disorienting that shift would feel. I was used to clear processes, defined outcomes, and knowing what success looked like and suddenly none of that existed in quite the same way. Instead, there were trends to keep up with, styles to explore, and an unspoken sense that I should be designing very specific things at very specific times. The structure and process that had been essential to success before was actually proving rather crippling in this new creative environment.
It was exciting, but it was also unsettling, and it took time to realise that finding my footing as a pattern designer wouldn’t come from chasing what was current or expected of me but from allowing my work to evolve slowly into something cohesive and recognisably mine.
✨ Starting out and feeling pulled in every direction
When I first started out on this surface pattern adventure I felt pulled in absolutely every direction.
There were so many styles to explore, so many themes that seemed relevant, and so much unspoken pressure to be designing the right thing at the right time that what was initially exciting very quickly became disorienting.
Should I be prioritising trends over what spoke to me, producing Halloween collections in January or taking my colour palette inspiration strongly from the Pantone colour of the year? Were the things that called to me to bring them to life somehow less relevant because they didn’t feature within the years trends and vibes?
🧭 The pressure to follow trends in creative industries
I’ve discovered that in creative industries, trends move quickly. I mean really quickly.
There’s a constant stream of seasonal palettes, popular motifs, and “what’s selling now” conversations. It’s really easy to feel like you’re behind if you’re not responding immediately, that you are not relevant if your portfolio isn’t packed full of collections that are meeting the contents of that quarter’s trend report or like you should be designing something simply because everyone else is.
That pressure can quickly and quietly override intuition and its your intuition and points of difference as a designer that make you unique and relevant and special. That’s not to say that trends can’t be a part of that but let them be trends created in your voice, with your recognisable hand and not produced out of a sense of creative guilt and a fear of losing relevance without them.
🎨 Exploring different styles as a developing designer
Early last year as I was taking my first steps on this creative adventure I explored widely. I experimented with different subjects, styles, colour palettes and moods. That exploration was valuable, probably in fact essential as it got a creative rhythm and drawing practice established. It helped me establish what I was capable of doing, what I knew and far more importantly all the things I didn’t yet know but at the same time it made it harder to feel anchored.
I constantly questioned whether I was being unfocused, whether I was “playing” or just indulging myself in producing things when I should be being strategic and focussed and dare I say it “commercial”. In reality I was still learning who I am as an artist and how I wanted my work to speak. This time spent discovering what felt natural to my hand, what was effective or and just as important what didn’t lend itself to my style has been such a critical part of my creative discovery and one I realise will be a constant as I continue to develop. While I questioned it’s value a few months ago I now hope I will never stop “playing” within my creativity.
🌿 Shifting focus toward building a cohesive body of work
The real, noticeable shift came when I stopped thinking in terms of individual designs and started thinking in terms of my creative continuity.
Instead of asking, “What should I design next?” I began questioning, “What belongs with what I’ve already made?” What can I put together and when I do that where are there gaps that would bring a deeper cohesion the work I have
Patterns started to connect and ideas intertwined and evolved. Themes deepened rather than fragmenting and the individual pieces that had been created in relative isolation started to weave together.
Quite organically a body of work began to emerge. A body of work that came from my heart and that spoke with my voice; something that was, from its very core the Krafty Chameleon aesthetic.
🔁 How a body of work builds creative confidence
As that body of work began to very naturally form I realised that when work builds naturally on itself then confidence follows.
I started to realise that decisions were becoming easier, the Krafty Chameleon visual identity was strengthening and most excitingly the self doubt begins to take a back seat. There’s less anxiety around following trends, making the right choices or heading in the wrong direction because the work has its own internal logic. Patterns started to feel like chapters rather than standalone moments and I felt myself curating them and editing them without the second guessing and perfection paralysis that had come before.
That sense of cohesion is so grounding. I could feel myself breathing out and trusting myself; for the first time I realised I am beginning to think instinctively as an artist.
🌱 Letting trends inform rather than dictate design
Having said all of this trends aren’t the enemy. I am in no way repelling them or putting my fingers in my creative ears every time a trend report is published.
They offer wonderful insight into colour directions, scale preferences, or broader mood shifts. They’re a valuable source of creative data but I don’t fell the need to let them lead the work.
I’m learning to filter trends through my evolving creative voice and as a result they are becoming wonderful imagination fuelling tools rather than restrictive pressures.
🤍 Choosing the long game in a creative business
Building a body of work is a long-term commitment. In fact a whole career’s commitment. It’s never finished, never still. Its not something you can ever put your paintbrush down on and proclaim it complete.
It asks for patience, repetition, and trust, especially when it feels slower than chasing what’s popular. It requires a steady nerve and a belief in the strength of my own growing creative voice but over time, that steadiness is starting to create depth, clarity, and a sense of creative integrity that would not have found its voice if it had been rushed or hustled in the direction of the moment.
For me, choosing the long game has been one of the singularly most difficult but also most grounding decisions I’ve made. I have spent decades moving at speed; adapting and pivoting fast and producing a high level output under time pressure. To work in completely the opposite way has taken a bravery and been a test of nerve that I was not expecting to encounter on this new adventure and it has been the most precious thing to discover not just creatively but personally too.
🌈 Connect with me to chat creative journeys, how you build your body of work or potential projects or collaborations: rachelanne@thekraftychameleon.com