Your creative reset this summer

It's not about searching. It's not about creating.
It's about finding and expressing your experience.

Insights from the month of May - a reset newsletter for our creative summer of 2026, including practical steps for reconnecting with your ideas, rhythm, and mission through the wisdom of Gio Ponti, Verner Panton, and Rick Rubin.

You might find a few lines here that are exactly what you needed to hear to make this summer not only the season of returning to your creative work, but also the starting point of changing the way you express your ideas FOREVER.

May has been the mecca of design for me in 2026: the Milan Triennale with my creative family, the opening vernissage of the Verner Panton exhibition at Vitra, and the start of 25+ commercial interior drawings.

So let me first immerse you in the creative atmosphere that has been surrounding me lately:

P.S. Drawing is literally my way of processing interesting things: color combinations, textures, interior staging, installations, and ideas. Most of these sketches take no longer than an hour and are created with just two brushes.

This is one of the techniques you'll learn HERE. I'm sharing it because learning quick sketching techniques helps bridge the gap between an idea and reality.

And now... the notes.

ON HAVING TOO MANY DIRECTIONS

Gio Ponti (Italian architect, designer, journalist, and editor) once wrote:

"Everything a person does is always on the same plane, in a continuity of expression."

Because in every different thing, "it is always the same mental process and the same hand."

This helped me accept my seemingly random interests - design, my academy, media, marketing - as parts of one ecosystem.

I draw and design through sketching to show spaces that don't yet exist or haven't yet been visited, as if we were already there. Drawing is the bridge between what's in my mind and reality. It allows me to experience a place before it exists.

ON AN IDEA SEEMING TOO UNREALISTIC TO BECOME REALITY

The story of the Panton Chair - an insight from the opening vernissage at Vitra that I attended in May.

Verner Panton had the idea of creating a chair made from a single piece of molded plastic.

The idea was rejected by manufacturer after manufacturer. Panton literally drove across Europe searching for someone willing to take a chance on his vision until he met the Fehlbaum family, the founders of Vitra.

He even moved to Basel to work closely with them throughout the development process.

And yet...

The chair still required years of experimentation, investment, and technical development before it could be produced at scale.

Literally DECADES!

Moral of the story:

As long as you continue believing in your vision, eventually the world may start believing in it too.

Greatness is rarely fast or linear. It requires patience, persistence, and people who are willing to support your vision.

ON WHICH IDEA TO CHOOSE

"If two ideas feel somewhat equal in weight, and one has clear potential to become something beautiful while the other seems more interesting, follow your interest."

"The work reveals itself as you go."

— Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way of Being

ON THE SPEED BETWEEN AN IDEA AND ITS EXPRESSION

Show it immediately.
Publish it immediately.
Communicate your experience. Don't teach.

And then one of my favorite Gio Ponti thoughts:

"Why interrupt the pleasure of meditating-designing?"

(Although I would personally add: drawing too.)

— Gio Ponti by TASCHEN

BONUS: ON THE FEAR OF CREATING BAD ART

David Hockney's perspective:
"You are interpreting your experience, and this is a privilege."

These lines shifted something inside me.

I've felt a little stuck recently. Not exactly stuck, more like stagnant.

That strange place where things are objectively good, you're doing what you love, but nothing seems to be changing. Do you know that feeling?

I've been working with a dream company since last year. My academy continues to welcome new students every month.
(By the way, just look at the sketches recently shared inside our community!!)

And yet it sometimes felt like the needle wasn't really moving...
Am I the problem?
Do I need to work harder? Push harder? Do more?

What I'll tell you FOR SURE:
More analysis and more self-blame won't help.

I've tested that strategy for a year.

IT DOESN'T WORK.

What I've noticed instead is that meaningful shifts started happening this May, and surprisingly fast. What changed?

I reduced the noise. Less Instagram. Less TikTok. Less comparison. Less exposure to polished lives without visible problems. Seven-figure businesses. Art hanging in galleries.

TURN OFF THE NOISE.

Instead, replace it with:

Art and design history.
Exhibitions.
Opening events.
Galleries.
Beautiful restaurants.
Books.

And not the kind of books that fill your life with drama. (I've read plenty of those too.)

I'm currently reading three books at the same time:

Vitra: Anatomy of a Design Company
Gio Ponti: More Than One
The Creative Act by Rick Rubin

MIND-BLOWING!

Ideas begin appearing out of nowhere.

Your nervous system calms down.

And you remember how extraordinary you already are.

The second thing:

Create.

I've been sketching daily.

And...

Not sharing everything online.

Because sometimes social media noise makes me question art that I know is sacred, beautiful, and meaningful.

These are quick sketches. Forty minutes. One hour. Maximum two.

You feel a spark. You pick up your iPad. You start drawing.

And then something interesting happens.

You start noticing little signs that you're moving in the right direction at your own pace.

While visiting the Vitra Campus, I met Bettina, one of my ASDB students 💛



It was an instant connection. We talked for hours, inspired each other, shared ideas. And naturally planted the seed for creating more opportunities for encounters like that in the future.

Coincidence?

Or do things begin revealing themselves when we reconnect with ourselves through practices that ACTUALLY move the needle?

THAT'S the energy I'm bringing into this summer!

Creative drawing challenges. New design lessons. A physical product, an in-person event?? Fingers crossed it all works out!

Happy first day of summer 🔆

And here's to big drawing energy,
Anna at @andshedrawsbig