
Sarah Sansom
graphic designer
Street Art & Creativity
What do cats, coffee and creativity have in common? Graphic designer and street art photographer, Sarah Sansom!
Sarah designs packaging for food & drink brands during the day, and spends much of the rest of her time discovering and photographing the latest street art. Sarah aims to inspire others through positive, uplifting expression, whether it’s in your kitchen cupboard or discovering new artists you love. And her two entertaining cats, and husband (also a designer) keep her balanced and grounded in between.
Sarah’s Instagram: @catscoffeecreativity
Inspiration
PureWow
Digital lifestyle brand dedicated to finding ways to “make your life more inventive, beautiful and manageable”.
ADAM JK
Illustrator who wants you to feel better about yourself, about the world and about creativity. His illustrations are hand-drawn, blown up and “look very imperfect, which is kind of encouraging”.
Street Art Photography Tips
Add a focal point
Overcome challenging shots by including other things in them. Add that focal point by waiting for a person to walk by (known as a stride by).
Mute your colour palette
If the environment is visually really busy, mute it with something like a black and white filter. Then those pops of colour you let through really have an impact.
Develop your own style
Be inspired by others but don’t copy them!
Differentiate yourself
Know what the common shots are for your subject and differentiate yourself by doing something a bit different.
Tips for Being More Creative
Design exercises can help fire up creativity.
If you don’t think you’re creative, the key is to just try something! For instance, give yourself 1 minute to draw the person sitting opposite you, without looking down or taking your pen off the paper.
Break down an overwhelming task.
And (no matter how far you get) commit to doing it for 20 minutes.
What would "they" do?
A lot of creative problem solving is just about putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. Working in a team is all about getting other perspectives and a diversity of ideas.
Style Notes
Just because everyone else wears brown in autumn (or black in winter), that doesn’t mean you have to as well. Dare to be different.
Knowing your colours through something like seasonal colour analysis helps give you that confidence to make some style waves.
Go on then, get out there and be fabulous!