You don’t need to be cool to be creative

Or to be creative to be cool.

I was on a panel late December last year, saying ‘last year’ in January feels very disorienting might I add, & was asked the one piece of advice I would give my younger self. Now there are MANY pieces of advice I would give my younger self, but the one that I felt overruled them all was that “you don’t need to be cool to be creative.” I’ll explain.

What you have to remember is, I went to University in 2017 (gag) and I went to an arts uni (shoutout Harrow Campus, Uni of Westminster 4eva). Now as this was the arts campus, as you can imagine it housed the best of the best degree wise. From film, to animation, to art, to fashion- the latter being something they are quite prevalent for. Now if you have seen any of the interview videos on the first day of central saint martins, you can imagine the outfits that were regular feats at my university. The people gave absolutely 0 fucks and they looked amazing for it.

Enter me. A media student, not from a wealthy background at all (not that that has any baring on fashion sense or coolness, but just for context) completely out of her comfort zone & not knowing how to belong in this space. I felt like the odd one out, like Lindsay Lohan at the start of Mean Girls. I felt this innate sense that if I wasn’t defined or registered as cool amongst my peers, that my entitlement to be there was far lessened and as a by product for not fitting in at a creative campus meant I did not fit in as a creative.

A lil snippet of first year Bobbie, who so desperately wanted to be cool. Case & point, I didn't drink Brewdog.

Now the real answer here is that, the only way to belong in this creative space- is to create. Which I did for the most part. But I felt that that creating, held no currency, that to be a creative I had to look the part and in that case look cool, act cool and be cool. So my mind would often focus on how I could accomplish these things, whilst simultaneously not acting like I was trying to accomplish these things. I spent so much energy and time and money, which was in small supply, buying items that I thought would hold that coolness currency- that would make me look as if I belonged. That would make me look as if I was creative, completely forgetting that it’s not a visual playbook, but instead an aspect of personality and brain chemistry.

To many nowadays, the notion of wanting to be cool is so cringey- who wants to do that. Don’t act like you are any better darlings, being cool is just a by product of wanting to belong- its following trends, its taking on micro niches, its brat summer and clean girl aesthetic. We are all a victim of it. Even now, I see myself looking at East London baddies and thinking to myself- how am I in the same industry as these people in my blue jeans and white tee- perhaps I should get a tooth gem? (No hate to people with tooth gems who can actually pull it off).

I don’t think it’s just me who thinks like this, if you asked anyone what a cool person looks like they will probably tell you a Tyler the Creator meets Emma Chamberlain meets Adam Sandler meets Nadia Lee Cohen entity- which actually sounds really cool, can someone fuse them all together somehow? But whilst they are also arguably intensely creative people, so is Rick Rubin. Not conventionally cool, but this has no baring on his creative abilities and exploits.

Look at this as a metaphor in the natural world. Sure there are some of the most beautiful, striking and stunning birds. But one of arguably most beautiful songs comes from the nightingale- which isn’t visually very original. Or look at the pigeon, definitely not the most ‘cool’ bird in an aesthetic sense, but due to their homing abilities were integral in first world war to send across messages- some even securing medals. They also despite their appearance got made into a bag by JW Anderson, so who really is winning.

Who's laughing now peacock?

What I’m suggesting and maybe this is more a monologue and reassurance to myself, is that you don’t need to be what is considered conventionally cool in order to creatively succeed. You can take light in the knowledge that your energy can remain solely focussed on your art and that is what will define you as a creative. There are the people on this planet who are very creative and express this in a visual manner on their persons, which translates to them being defined as cool. But for the most part when you look at a set, or an advertising office, or an animation studio, or a recording studio- a lot of people look pretty average, but their minds are what you don’t see on first glance, they’re instead something you need to experience through conversation and their art.

Whilst this is a tangent at best, I hope it gave you somewhat peace of mind.

If you for some reason like my thoughts & opinions why not check my recent article on my In’s & Out’s for 2025.