The Round Up January Edition
Get in here! January Issue: A Shift in Mindset, Creative Tools, and More!
Hello and Welcome to the Round Up!
Some housekeeping :)
Hi there! Welp, it’s been a long time since I’ve done this but I’m back and here we go.
For a little context, I began a newsletter this time last year called Create Pop. Create Pop was created to be a one-stop shop for creative needs including a tip for shifting your mindset, beauty recs, social strategy advice, and a creative highlight.
Typing it sounds like a lot, and executing it was even harder. While I’m proud of the issues I’ve posted, it was difficult to bring my vision to life. I stepped away to shift my focus elsewhere. The break was longer than I expected, yet I’m thankful for the time to regroup, rest, and receive the new vision that is the Round-Up.
Create Pop will become the Jurisdiction focusing on pop culture, lifestyle, and other op-ed pieces. Round Up will be a Hodge podge of Create Pop, with additional goodies, but a digital presentation will be attached with the write-up.
Please click on the link to view/access the presentation!
That’s all. I would love for you to share, subscribe, and comment as this is my first issue - I would love to know your thoughts!
Let Us Begin…
Mindshift: The Practice of Savoring and Including it in Your Mindfulness Practice
🖊️ Tip: Choose moments throughout the busy day to slow down and savor.
Currently, I’m enjoying the act of savoring. Like savoring all the juicy, tender, buttery, and flavorful notes of your favorite meal, you replace food with moments.
As this Dr. explains you take time to zero in on the details of anything around you allowing your mind to focus on movement or stillness. Examples include focusing on the edges of a fallen leaf, water curling at the end of a brook, or the stillness of a mighty oak in front of you. Push past your need to cringe and realize the impact the importance of slowing down.
Our brains are constantly racing, processing, and analyzing leaving us tired and stretched at the end of the day. We must instill thoughtful practices that allow our minds to rest and recharge. Savoring grants me this steady motion to be still and I believe it could do the same for you.
Additional Mindfulness recs: Thoughtful Creator - Taylor Nandone
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Taylor Nandone is literally my 60-second therapist. His format delivers truth, wisdom, and faith in bitesize videos. For those of us who don’t have or care to use TikTok (RIP), he also has a podcast! Check him out!
Beauty Recs: Bisou Balm, Boum-Boum Milk, and More
🅱️ BeautyTip: Violette_Fr’s balms is the cure to your winter lip blues…
Now don’t get me wrong I am very much a Vaseline girl for skin protection and moisture. However. Bisou Balm was recommended to me and I can’t rave about it enough. This sheer, matte balm works well for everyday use with variations throughout the line if you need to jazz it up a little!
Violette_FR was created by French self-taught makeup industry vet Violette Serrat. In my opinion, her brand is curated for the self-aware girlie. Bold colors, matte, sheer, vegan and cruelty-free. Even her packaging gives sleek, Joie de vivre vibes.
More beauty recs by Violette: If you're looking for protection for Winter skin but want light wear with hydrating results, give Boum-Boum Milk a try. It’s a 3-1 skincare guarantee for moisturizing skin.
Nasty blemishes popping up? Zap them with Invisible Bandage - a zip zapper and primer all in one. The perfect, pocket beauty tool.
Creative Strategies, Tools, and Opportunities
For strategy, I wanted to focus on something a bit different. In the past, strategy involved analyzing algorithms, SEO metrics, and more, as we creatives are always looking for ways to showcase our work. Now, the strategy section will include tools and program developments, unique opportunities, and additional elements that help fuel creativity.
📒Call to action: The importance of archiving your work + helpful tools for creatives
I believe now more than ever archiving your creative poems, work, writings, and property is vital. I’ve been thinking of several ways to do this, primarily using TikTok as a digital time capsule. Though its future hangs in the balance, screen recording and documenting my work to access offline is essential.
By this I mean, for the most part, our work is constantly being saved in real-time.
Archiving is the extra step to categorize, file, notate, date, and authenticate your work into another system, and access OFFLINE.
Now, this may read across as another chore to do but it doesn’t have to be, nor does it have to be for everything you make. I am suggesting this as a strategy for larger or lengthier projects or works you deem of value and would like to have.
The Creative Independent has a great write-up on how to get started. AGAIN, I add the step of saving my work offline on a Hard Drive or USB.
Opportunities and Tools for Creatives:
🐧Penguin Random House is Hiring several remote positions!
🌹Harlequin is looking for writers and is accepting manuscripts without an agent - this could be a lot of fun!
✍🏽Timeline and StoryMapJs - Timeline, and StoryMap JS are incredible tools for presentations, works, or audio you want to present in different formats.
The Jurisdiction: Book List for February 2025
I am so excited to dive into some of these amazing reads and media. Some I’ve had on my list for a while - others have come across my radar recently.
📗Book Recs: James by Percival Everett: James has seemingly made its way on the most niche book social accounts and I am here for it! James is the POV of Jim, an escaped slave from, in the Adventures of Huckleberry & Finn. Witfully crafted and imaginative, it comes highly recommended by many and I can’t wait to sink my teeth into it.
📕The Odyssey: Maybe this is because of all the news of Nolan's upcoming film, but now and again I hop back into my Greek Lit phase, and Odyssey is scratching that itch. I read this for the first time when I was 12 (voluntarily) so I’m excited to dive back into it.
📙Juke Joints, Jazz Clubs, and Juice - Cookbooks have squeezed their way onto my reading list and I devour them like novels. I’ve been researching and learning more about historic foodways in the south, and Toni-Tipton Martin is one of the great researchers and storytellers in this field. This book discusses the history of Juke Joints in the South, demystifying the reputation of liquor and its roots.
Creative Highlight: Vocal Type by Tre’ Seals
The revolution will not be televised. The revolution will be type(d).
I saw the Type In Action exhibit at MODA (Museum of Design Atlanta). It was liberating.
Created by Tre’ Seals, a Maryland native, Tre’ began drawing at an early age showing impressive talent that landed him in some of the prestigious design firms in the States. However, after reading a striking quota about the few working black designers in the country Tre’ founded Vocal Type to fill that void.
When a singular perspective dominates an industry, regardless of technological advancements, there can (and has been) only one way of thinking, teaching, and creating. This lack of diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, and gender has led to a lack of diversity in thought, systems (like education), ideas, and, most importantly, creations.
-Tre’ Seals
Tre’ and his team worked with several global brands commercially and began designing early fonts that represent social change.
Then George happened and everything changed.
Fueled by the need to process and combat cultural events, Vocal Type partnered with the experimentational design studio Civilization, and ‘Type In Action’ was born. Each figure’s type was crafted from the inspiration of significant moments around them or from that time.
Ruby's font reclaims the original font from the Jim Crow South.
Marsha’s font is inspired by the hanging sign from Stonewall.
Harriet’s font paid an ode to textiles and their ability to tell stories.
Spike Lee’s font was made up of a family of three styles.
Lastly, inspired by the very march he helped organize, Bayard Rustin’s font was a unique take on the Sans serif used in the titles for the March On Washington.
This exhibit opened my eyes to the power of art’s fluidity. Standing before those walls felt akin to being in the Colosseums of Rome. I realized how much we take for granted. The struggle. The sacrifice and the craft.
A portion of the exhibit was interactive, featuring guidebooks, pens, and markers for the newbie designer, such as myself, to create my own font and research roots where I can take inspiration. There were newspapers printed in the style of ‘Type In Action’, leaving you with a takeaway that can spark something else.
As a whole, that exhibit was by far one of the most stylish, interactive, and impactful exhibits I’ve seen.
It didn’t just make you an observer of the movement, it gave you the keys and tools to be a part of it.
I hope you all enjoyed taking in this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please share this and comment, I’m happy to hear your thoughts!
Until next time!