Working Together: Why Creative Collaboration is Essential for Artists and Makers

Collaboration, according to the Oxford Dictionary, is “the action of working with someone to produce or create something.” Oxford also defines it as “traitorous cooperation with an enemy,” — but for now we will be ignoring our enemies, which may even be our own creative brains, for the sake of this article. 

Practicing creative thinkers and makers can often feel that every actualized, fleshed-out idea needs to come directly and solely from the source. All too often the trope of the lone wolf artist is romanticized. The solo genius who is able to dream up endless brilliant and fully realized ideas at the drop of a hat. Our egos can get in the way and may say something like, “True creativity means generating everything from scratch, alone,” or the notion that if someone provides feedback or helps with the ideation/creation process one’s intrinsic value as an artist will be diminished. We can’t forget the outside influences that say that collaboration and feedback are “cheating.” 

These thoughts can be stressful, painful, even debilitating. Stopping the flow of ideas and creative practice in its tracks. In reality, this narrative is simply not true. Brainstorming, skill sharing, research, and discussion are all necessary activities artists and makers need to take part in to be well-rounded, thoughtful creators. 

Besides, isn’t it getting a little lonely doing everything on your own? Community can be a beautiful thing. Influence is an essential part of the creation process. 

How to be in Creative Collaboration

There have been countless famous creative collaborations throughout the centuries. The artists and makers at the helm of these infamous collaborations ability and worthiness as creatives are not diminished or called into question. Think Warhol and Basquiat, Smith and Mapplethorpe, Frida and Diego, or Salt and Straw… seriously, the chocolate potato salad flavor in the spice mustard ice cream was a true artistic masterpiece. 

If you’re looking for a more contemporary example, Ten Hundred’s worldwide collabs with fellow YouTube makers speaks closely to how many artists and craftspeople network and collaborate in our current era. 

Collaboration strives for a shared vision, a collection of effort and ideas from the whole. A product is more than the sum of its parts. In the Playing Possum Podcast episode where we talk to the duo that are Alchemy of the Unknowns, photographers, James David Tabor, and Lisa Tang Liu, Tabor talks about the process he and Liu take when viewing their developed images. “We try to pick images to show that have near equal representation of both of us in them.” 

Sometimes the audience, critics, and exhibitors favor pieces where one collaborator’s contribution outshines another, where the representation of one contributor is dominant over others. Often leading to complicated feelings among other effects. 

That said, collaboration isn’t always easy. Collaborators often don’t come with completely symmetrical skill sets or tool kits, which is also part of the beauty and utility of collaboration. Often, collaboration can be hard or feel unequal. There are countless challenges creatives and makers can, and often do, experience when working together. 

That is not to scare you away from seeking collaboration dear reader, in fact, we address this issue to empower you to seek it.  

Free Collaboration Tools for Co-Working Creatives

Now, before you run off and buy subscriptions to Adobe, Monday, or even a website — here are five free tools you can use and master to be an effective collaborator. 

1. Honest and gentle communication - Communicating honestly can be tough in any situation, it requires one to be vulnerable and sometimes even say something that the other half of the conversation may not want to hear. Remember why you are collaborating though — you wanted to have a creative experience with your collaborator(s) and they wanted to have one with you. Like all relationships, honest communication is required so everyone remains on the same page and conflicts can be resolved. While speaking of conflicts, the other important part of honest communication is that it is both direct and takes the others feelings into consideration. Imagine you were shown a draft of the project you were collaborating on and you just didn’t like a shade of green your collaborator picked out. You might think to say something like, “That green is awful! I can’t believe you chose that green! What were you thinking?” That can come off as harsh and shut down the conversation. Try to be honest about your feelings while not being kind and opening up space for dialogue and solutions around the conflict. Try naming something you like or agree with, then something you’d like changed, and wrapping it up with a way to keep the conversation open.  Something like, “I really like the flow and balance of this design. Though this green is not my favorite, I think a warmer tone of green would work better with the rest of the color palette. Do you have any other color options on hand? We could look through them together.” While this is a suggestion for approaching conflicts, this is not a rigid framework. Try communicating gently and honestly in a way that feels authentic to you and your collaborators.

2. Receptiveness to feedback - As we talked about earlier, you have a lot of stake in your ideas, they’re personal and you care about your vision. When working collaboratively, the project is about a shared vision between all collaborators. Be open to feedback. Try not to take the feedback personally; remember we are working on communicating honestly and gently with our collaborators and by being willing to receive feedback we are also creating a safe place for our collaborators to be vulnerable and honest about their thoughts and needs. Being creative with others is a two-way street that requires good communication skills in both directions.

3. Regular team meetings - Find a time that works for your team, we suggest the same block of time every week so that it becomes a regular part of individuals’ routines and collaborators can plan to block off that chunk of time in advance so there is no guesswork. By choosing the same time every week collaborators also save time by skipping the constant negotiation of schedules and allowing the team to set up recurring meeting links if you’re using a conferencing app to meet. Arrive at the team meeting with a schedule or list of items to work through, even if that task list is to just flesh out a task list to get started on a project. Allow some time to chat and have fun but ultimately keep on the clock and move forward on a task while you have the time together. Additionally, setting up co-working sessions or team-building hang-out sessions can help strengthen bonds and vision while being held accountable to complete work tasks in a leisurely atmosphere. Make this a fun and fulfilling time that you’ll want to keep showing up to. 

4. Create a project or team Google account - Creating a shared Google account gives the team a shared place to organize planning documents and a home base for outgoing communication with galleries, art walks, and clients. It’s good practice that all collaborators can log into the account and create shared documents in that account so that no shared work is lost if someone steps away from the project.

5. Flexibility - Remember, you are part of a team which means you need to be flexible about the product and the process. We’re not saying compromise your standards, rather you may need to pick up a little slack from time to time when life gets busy for your collaborator(s) or even relinquish some control over your expected contributions when your responsibilities are not allowing you time to finish your tasks in time for an important deadline. Flexibility also goes for your expectations of the outcome of the project, what it will be, or what the project could become. The sky's the limit. 

Working Collaboratively as a Creative

Using the collaboration tools we discussed in your collaborative creative practice will make the process easier and help you put your best foot forward. Conflict and disagreements are normal in any relationship and the successes are much more sweet when shared. 

As we close out this article, we’d like to leave you with a challenge. Should you choose to accept it is on you. When you are done here, open a notebook and write down five artists or makers you’d love to collaborate with, then take a few minutes to flesh out what those collaborative projects could be. Reach out to the one that stands out to you the most in a natural and appropriate way.  This may be introducing yourself and networking, or it could be tapping a friend to share your latest vision. It could even be opening the door to possibility with a creative acquaintance. 

Whatever it looks like, it is the first step in creating opportunities for collaboration and building a vast community of fellow artists and friends.