Inspire, Create, Repeat

This year the XD team had the privilege of attending Circles Conference in Grapevine, Texas. This is the best local conference you can go to if you are in the creative industry. The line up was jam packed with great speakers, all the swag is beautifully designed, and you get to meet some fascinating people. The best part of this conference is meeting people who inspire you to be a better designer, a better employee, and most importantly a better person.

I love the tagline of this conference because it explains the frustration and awesomeness of the creative process perfectly: “Inspire, Create, Repeat.” We go to conferences to be inspired and take a break from the everyday grind that can sometimes wear you down. Creative folks need this breath of fresh air from time to time to realign themselves. I love knowing that I was created a certain way and my brain works the way it was intended to. I will definitely make this conference a recurring event on my calendar.

Some of the people who inspired me spoke to the artist in me from days past and some spoke more to the artist I hope to become. James White is an amazing artist and since I have a deep love for drawing, he is someone I connected with and his presentation was amazing. He truly embodies the “Inspire, Create, Repeat” mentality of this conference. There were other fantastic speakers who inspired me to be great at my craft like Helena Price, Dan Cassaro, and Tad Carpenter. There were also speakers who inspired me to be better like Kelli Anderson (brilliant) and Jeremy Cowart. I enjoyed hearing about Eight Hour Day (a design firm I have been following for years) and how they continue to grow in their success.

Although the conference was a few months ago, I still feel inspired by it and I can’t wait to see what the next year has in store for me as an artist, an art director, a husband, and hopefully a father.

• UX
• Designers
• Circles Conference
• Creative Industry
• Inspire