Creative Curriculum: Vol. 03
How to become disgustingly creative with homework assignments + community.
Welcome back to the creative curriculum ~ a fortnightly assignment guide for anyone who wants to nurture their creativity with a little more structure and a whole lotta community. This cohort runs for 8 weeks, you can join at any stage!
Creativity isn’t a talent, it’s a way of thinking. And like any muscle, it needs reps to grow. This curriculum is here to give you that structure, whether you’re someone who makes things every day or someone who’s just getting started.
Each assignment includes:
Source material to feed your thinking
The brief to make something
Homework to go deeper
Plus a little note from me at the start of every edition <3
Subscribe to get these sent directly to your inbox. Join our Discord to connect with the community and we host a fortnightly calls for those who can make it RSVP for our next on the the 2nd of June.
This was inspired by my previous article called “How to become disgustingly creative in 2026’, give it a read if you haven’t already!
Here is a link to volume one. Here is a link to volume two.
It’s finally warm here in nyc.
And i say that with the full weight of someone who moved here just before what the locals describe as the worst winter in a looong, long time.
I read somewhere that people who live in four season climates tend to form ‘more’ memories than those in milder ones. The theory is that the environmental contrast gives your brain more to hook onto.
Juxtaposition makes it easier for a memory to anchor onto something, making it feel like you have more memories, maybe because it’s easier to recall things with an anchor?
But, turns out, that is also how collages work.
A (very brief) theory of juxtaposition
There was a famous experiment in the 1920s by Soviet filmmakers who took the same neutral shot of an actor’s face and cut it next to three different images, a bowl of soup, a coffin and a child playing. The audience saw feelings of hunger, grief and joy… in a face that was completely neutral and exactly the same every time.
So, what did they prove? The emotional meaning wasn’t found in the face or the juxtaposing material. But rather, the cut or the connection between them. It created a third source that didn’t exist in either element alone.
This is the idea of a montage or a collage (not to get confused with a mood board). A collage is the combination of images, that when specifically curated together mean something. Which also for what it’s worth, is most of what being a creative director actually is.
✷
🔗 The Women Artists Who Find Freedom in Collage — Aperture A good overview of the history of feminist collage, from Dada to now.
🔗 Man with a Movie Camera — Dziga Vertov (1929) We watched this in a film class during my art history degree, and i still remember the montage of the eye in the camera lens.
🔗 The Guest List: Katie Zana from Pearler — Brand House I interviewed Katie Zana, PEARLER last year and her creative brain is one of my favourites. She rates digital collages 🎨🎨🎨🎨/ 5 on her creativity bar, just below channelling her inner child.
You guessed it, make a collage. BUT! with a point of view.
Note: Not a mood board or a vision board.
When building a mood board, you often gather things you like until something feels right. This brief asks you to work the other way. Start with a message or a sentence and build the collage to express it. The images are in service of the idea, not the other way around.
It doesn’t need to be deep. It just needs to be thoughtful, not aesthetic.
Analogue, digital, whatever is easiest for you to go from idea to creation.
P.s. I highly recommend this digital collage set from collage queen herself, Katie Zana, PEARLER
✷ What does your ideal creative day look like? Be specific.
✷ Is there something you used to make that you’ve stopped? What got in the way?
✷ What’s one thing you’re really proud of that you never really talked about?
✷ What are 5 core beliefs you hold, about yourself, the world or art, that could be a core message of your artistic practice?
✷ Share your collage in #Vol-03 on Discord!!
🔗 RSVP for our next on the the 2nd of June.
Hi, I’m Eimear — creative director, brand and social strategist, and founder of Coffey Media, a brand and content studio for people highly allergic to boring thinking.
Creative Curriculum is just one part of what I do here. I’m usually talking about how to build brands that get remembered when the phone gets put down.
If you’re ready to build a brand with real voice, real edge, and real staying power, subscribe for more brand thinking or let’s work together.
I’m glad you’re here.
Thanks for this! It’s exactly what I needed
yessssss to all this and also squealin about my 2x mentions