Episode 4 of the clamorate! podcast series is here and oh man are you in for a ride my friends! This episode is an interview with a friend and colleague of mine who has been independent businessman and a creative instigator for over thirty years. His name is David Aiken but to his fans, followers, and clients around the world he’s known at The Checkerboard Guy. He’s a comedic daredevil who delivers the goods – he makes people laugh and he gets paid!

I sat down with him at his home office in North Vancouver to talk about his life as an entrepreneur, the ins-and-outs of his business, creativity, collaboration, as well as some stories from the front lines. His experience and expertise in the entertainment business and his success as a self-marketer makes for some really interesting discussion. Learn more about David Aiken on his website www.checkerhead.com.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 40:40 — 37.2MB)

In March 2011 I joined David duChemin for an 11-day stint on his epic road trip and I brought along a DSLR camera – I had never used a camera like this before. When using a camera I am normally unfocused, flippant, and uninspired. So, on this road trip I decided to explore my creativity from behind the lens; I wanted to practice the art of making photographs. The wrestling match that ensued between my muse and a piece of digital equipment was a wildly tormenting experience but I loved every minute of it—or should I say, I embraced it with a moderate amount of maturity. Here’s an ugly picture I took of the Rio Grande, New Mexico; to see David’s picture of the same place at the same time, visit PixelatedImage.com/blog.

Careful, I’m about to rant!

For the love of Zeus! Don’t forget to explore new creative territory. Creative small business operators, in the name of landing the next contract, project, or sale erroneously focus 100% of their energy and resources on producing excellence but they ignore the investment that got them started in the first place: their creative capital. I think it’s vital to a creatives’ business to dedicate a little time to producing F***king Ugly crap!

Everyone wants to have the best equipment, software, tools, and resources on-hand and learn all the latests techniques and tricks so they can bring the ‘WOW’ every time. But when we fail to explore our own creativity, or different kinds of creative processes, or expose ourselves to divergent ideas we miss out on the excitement that comes from venturing down the path of discovery. By growing your skills, passions, and insights into other forms of creativity you’re adding to your creativity capital.

At the 2010 CREATIVEMIX Ideation Conference in Vancouver I met Kim Werker—a beautiful person who loves to help people make ugly things. Her project is called Mighty Ugly and through it she helps turn the pressure of being creative on its head. Instead of demanding attractiveness, beauty, and function, Mighty Ugly demands hideousness. If creativity is a part of your daily life, taking the challenge may feel threatening, but it’s great for combating creative block. If you walk through life feeling like you’re untalented and uncreative, the “make ugly” challenge is your ticket to creative freedom.

Dave Delnea, who is a close friend and a much more creative person than me, will be doing a keynote presentation at the 2011 CREATIVEMIX conference here in Vancouver titled: Flail and Fail: Finding Success through Creative Exploration and Ad-hoc Collaboration – and I believe whole-heartedly in his viewpoint of exploring new creative inputs and processes with other likeminded people. I’m really looking forward to his talk. Check-out his OnGray collaboration.

Be awesome at what you do, but give yourself a break once and awhile and make something ugly, really ugly.

*** = Freaking

Corwin Hiebert is a management and marketing consultant to creative entrepreneurs (like world-renowned photographer and author David duChemin). He’s the co-publisher of Clamorate, and is the co-producer of CREATIVEMIX (Vancouver’s Ideation Conference). As an educator, speaker, and author, Corwin is an avid supporter of creative risk-takers. Corwin is passionate about helping creative people take action towards their goals and their dreams. You can learn more about working with Corwin on his blog or you can follow him on Twitter. He lives in Vancouver, Canada and drinks very unhealthy amounts of expensive coffee.

It’s here! Our 2nd magazine is hot off the *press. This 34-page PDF is full of articles by subject matter experts who are dedicated to helping creative entrepreneurs live the dream! It’s got an awesome amount of content covering a wide variety of subjects and topics like: collaboration, branding, marketing, social media, tax planning, engaging with clients, project planning, social networking, and public relations! It’s a jam-packed magazine that we know you’ll love.

Buy it Now!

The clamorate! Magazine – Volume 2 is available for just $5 USD ($3 for Members).

Excerpt
When it comes to press attention, we feel like the weedy kid in P.E. class who’s always picked last for the team. But it’s not that we’ve been deliberately overlooked – it’s just that we’re not showing up for the right class.
- Steff Metal

These articles are exclusive to this PDF publication and cannot be found anywhere else! It’s a great resource to add to your business library! Plus, it kicks the pants off those crazy expensive industry mags that are full of garbage ads and have absolutely nothing to offer with respect to growing or managing your creative endeavour.

*No trees were harmed in the publishing of this digital product.