Why Being a Creative Is the Toughest Job You'll Ever Love

On the pull and push of being a creative in the commercial world

After a mini break over the holiday period, I’ve found myself thinking a lot about the career path I chose. Yes, I love my job. But let’s not sugar-coat it: being a creative is hard.

It’s not just the pressure to conjure new, exciting, award-winning ideas—sometimes after a sleepless weekend, sometimes when life is falling apart. It’s also having to defend those ideas, refine them, or, worse, scrap them entirely because someone higher up (who, let’s be honest, probably doesn’t get design) said so.

It’s a constant balancing act: your vision versus someone else’s expectations, all while trying to stay inspired. Maddening. Exhausting. Often thankless.

And this time of year? Don’t get me started. While corporate friends send tipsy texts from Christmas lunches that bleed into boozy late nights, I’m racing to finalise a campaign, an email rollout, or the planning for PS25 before my two-day Christmas break. Most industries slow down. Retail? Picture “it picks up” multiplied by a million, tornadoed with festive chaos.

And yet… we keep coming back. Because there’s nothing quite like taking a flicker of an idea and turning it into something real—something that resonates, something that connects.

So why are so many of us stuck on this pendulum swing of exhilaration and burnout?

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Creativity is subjective—there’s no escaping it.

Photography: @laurenluxenberg Creative Producer : @tj.saw1 Credit : @houseoferrors

What’s gold to one person might be garbage to another. I’ve watched work I knew was brilliant get torn apart in a pitch meeting, every painstaking detail unravelled like it was meaningless. The hours spent conceptualising, designing, and perfecting? Suddenly dismissed.

And yet, I didn’t walk out of the room feeling any less creative—or any less capable.

Why? Because I’d done my job. I answered the brief, and I answered it well. Sometimes the work isn’t wrong—it’s just not their vision. With a different client, they might’ve been jumping out of their chair, ready to pop champagne.

That’s the thing about being a creative: you have to separate your worth from someone else’s reaction. Trust your instincts, build your confidence, and remember that not everyone will love your work. The real question is—do you?

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The Client Always Wins

You can have the boldest, most groundbreaking idea, and it might still end up on the cutting room floor. It’s maddening. It’s the feeling that your vision is constantly being diluted—that you’re just a cog in a machine, churning out their version of creativity.

So, how do you stay true to yourself? Honestly, I’m still figuring it out. But here’s what I’ve learned: keep your original vision alive—somewhere.

Think of it as your personal Director’s Cut. Save the unfiltered ideas, the untouched designs, the version of the work you’re actually proud of. Let your portfolio tell the real story of your creativity, not just the compromises. Sure, the client’s version might be what the world sees, but your version—the one that reflects what you’re truly capable of—can still exist. And trust me, people notice.

When I moved in-house last year—brand side, if you prefer—it felt like I finally had a little more control over that tug-of-war. Don’t get me wrong, agencies got me to where I am today, no question. But let’s be real: you rarely get to choose which clients land on your desk. Moving in-house to a brand that aligns with your vision isn’t a shortcut—it’s a workaround. And it’s not an easy one. Finding the perfect fit takes time, but when it clicks, it’s worth it.

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Being a creative is inherently vulnerable.

Every piece of work you put out there is, in some way, a reflection of you. And putting it up for critique—whether in a pitch meeting or on social media—is nerve-wracking. It’s like standing in front of a crowd and saying, “This is me. Please don’t hate it.”

But here’s the thing: rejection is part of the process. You have to learn to take feedback without taking it personally. Some of the harshest critiques I’ve received have led to some of my best work—because I listened, I adjusted, and I grew. The trick is knowing when to take the feedback on board and when to stand your ground. Not every critique is worth your time, and not every opinion deserves a seat at the table.

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So, if it’s all so hard, why do we do it?

Because there’s nothing else like it.

The moment when an idea comes together, when the visuals match the vision in your head, when a client actually loves what you’ve created—it’s magic. And it’s worth every late night, every soul-crushing critique, every email that starts with “Can we just tweak…”.

Being a creative is tough, but it’s also a privilege. We get to make things. We get to tell stories. We get to connect with people in ways that no one else can. And, if you ask me, that’s worth the struggle.

Being a creative person demands resilience, adaptability, and an unshakeable belief in your own abilities. It’s about learning to navigate the noise, stay true to your vision, and, most importantly, love what you do—even when it feels impossible.

Yes, it’s tough. But it’s also the best damn job in the world.

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Thank you for reading!

***Just a little disclaimer: everything shared here is purely my opinion. I’m fully aware that the title of this article is a touch dramatic—there are certainly harder jobs out there than art direction!

THE ART DIRECTOR is a reader-supported publication, written by Lottie Bisou, a Senior Art Director and Visual Curator in Womenswear Fashion and Beauty.

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