The purpose of any creative work is to communicate.

The purpose of any creative work is to communicate. Without purpose, your work is just decoration. With no clear reason for the design decisions made, your work may look good, but it will be hollow. If you see something that has been built well, but there’s no clear purpose or use for it, it’s just decoration. What gives your work purpose? When the purpose is clear, it guides the decisions you make. Composition, tone, color, contrast, typography. Your work has a purpose, and therefore your work communicates, without needing to say a word. That’s when your work is timeless. When the purpose is clear, it transcends the moment. You can keep coming back to it. You can learn to understand it more deeply over time. That’s when you’ll have consistency. Without purpose, your work is just decoration.

So how do you find purpose in your work? Start by answering the questions above. What am I making, and who am I making it for? You don’t need to have a grand vision here. Just an intention. An intention to solve a problem, to help someone, to bring value to others. Once you have a clear intention, you’ll have a guiding light to help you make decisions in your work. Instead of throwing a bunch of paint at a canvas, and stepping back to see how it looks, you can make informed decisions about how to get across your message. With clear intention, the creative process gets simpler, easier, and faster. The end result is also more likely to communicate the intended message. That’s when your work starts to feel like it’s got purpose.

When you know what you want to achieve with your work, you can make progress towards it. Instead of measuring your progress by what others think of your work, you can measure your progress against your intention. Your progress as a creative person becomes less about seeking validation, and more about seeking to express yourself more deeply. That’s a huge shift. Once you make that shift, everything becomes more fulfilling. You start to feel like you’re doing work that matters, and it’s less about what others think of you, and more about what you think of yourself. Your work starts to feel like a representation of your values, not a need for validation.

The best thing about having purpose in your work is that it brings consistency. If you have a guiding intention behind your work, you’re more likely to make the same decisions, and therefore you’re more likely to develop a consistent style. Consistency doesn’t mean doing the same thing over and over. Consistency means you’ve got an underlying intention that guides your work. When you’re consistent, it doesn’t matter what medium you’re working in. It doesn’t matter what platform you’re on. It doesn’t matter when you’re working. Your work will still feel like it’s from you, because you’re guided by your underlying intention. That’s when you start to build trust with others. When you start to build consistency, you start to establish an identity. An identity that people trust, and can rely on. Over time, your consistency is what will set you apart. It’s what will make you distinct. You will start to stand out because you’re consistent, and because you’re not swayed by the whims of others. You have a clear vision of what you want to do, and you stick to it.

The final reason purpose is so important in creative work, is that it transcends mediums. What does that mean? It means that no matter what tools, or platforms, or medium you’re working in, your purpose remains the same. You can work in any tool, and still produce the same kind of work. Your purpose guides the way you express yourself. When you have a clear purpose in your work, you’re not just building a skill, you’re building a practice. A practice that will outlast any tool, trend, or technology. A practice that will bring you fulfillment, joy, and purpose. A practice that will make your work meaningful. A practice that will make your work consistent. A practice that will make your work feel timeless. With a clear purpose, you can do anything. You can pick up any tool, and start creating something meaningful.