Drew Chapman Creative work, commentary and inspiration from the UK.

Drew Chapman

Creative work, commentary and inspiration from the UK.

Latest Articles

The Projects We Bury: Seven UK Makers on the Work That Never Makes the Portfolio
Creative Process

The Projects We Bury: Seven UK Makers on the Work That Never Makes the Portfolio

A candid conversation with seven UK makers about the pieces they would rather forget — and why those failures often say more about creative growth than the polished highlights. Plus a simple exercise for documenting your own worst work without flinching.

The Quiet Confidence of a Good Shop Window: Portfolio Lessons From the UK High Street
Field Notes

The Quiet Confidence of a Good Shop Window: Portfolio Lessons From the UK High Street

From a Bradford bakery to a Glasgow repair café, independent shopfronts offer a masterclass in layout, restraint and personality. Here is what their windows can teach you about presenting creative work online.

Small, Pointless and Worth Doing: Three Low-Stakes Projects to Start This Winter
Field Notes

Small, Pointless and Worth Doing: Three Low-Stakes Projects to Start This Winter

Not everything you make needs an audience, a plan or a line on your CV. A defence of the deliberately unambitious side project, plus three cheap, UK-friendly ones you could start this week — none of which will ever become a portfolio centrepiece.

Seven Days and No Brief: Six UK Makers on What a One-Week Deadline Actually Taught Them
Creative Process

Seven Days and No Brief: Six UK Makers on What a One-Week Deadline Actually Taught Them

Six illustrators, designers and makers around the UK each gave themselves one week and one small thing to finish — no client, no brief, no polishing. Here's what the deadline revealed about taste, momentum and the work they actually want to keep making.

Margin Notes and Recurring Shapes: What Twelve Months of Scratchy Sketchbooks Taught Me About My Actual Taste
Creative Process

Margin Notes and Recurring Shapes: What Twelve Months of Scratchy Sketchbooks Taught Me About My Actual Taste

A year of messy notebooks, coffee rings and half-finished ideas turned into an honest audit of what I actually notice. Here is what twelve months of sketchbooks revealed about my taste, plus a practical way for UK creatives to audit their own shelves.

Seven Creative Pit Stops Outside London Where the Welcome Is as Good as the Design
Field Notes

Seven Creative Pit Stops Outside London Where the Welcome Is as Good as the Design

A personal tour of independent studios, gallery cafés and arts centres in UK towns and cities beyond the capital. These are the places that made me linger, take notes and rethink what a good creative space actually needs.