Digital Playground and Slow Productivity

Welcome to a new drop of Art Discipline, my name is Germán and here I share insights, processes, and updates from my creative journey. This edition is packed with reflections on slow productivity, a breakdown of my current projects, and a sneak peek at the design process for my future website.

If you want just to see the website project initial mockups go to the bottom section! There’s a whole design process behind it and I will unfold the first steps for this project.

My Current Projects

The new year is all about focus, cutting out the noise and doubling down on what matters.

Last year, I started working at Supercell, I’m extremely excited about the opportunity to work with so many amazing people. It’s also a challenge I was looking forward to, as an artist to design and propose ideas for Clash of Clans.

So I’m working in a bunch of my own projects at the same time while working at Supercell and learning Blender to become a 3D beast (kidding, but no kidding). This means the window of time for my own projects is very narrow and I have to be efficient to move forward and not burning out.

The projects I got in hands are these:

• Megalith (Comic Book): Co-developing this long-term project with writer Lizz Lunney. Twice a year, I dedicate focused sprints to creating pages and artwork.

• Colorpoop (Short Film): A personal story brought to life in collaboration with animator Opensandwich. With storyboards and animatics almost done, I’m currently prepping animation sheets as we progress through rough animation. This will likely take 2–3 years to complete.

• Art Discipline (Newsletter): I didn’t think about this as a project. But it takes time, surprise! I try to make this as a window to see cool shit in the process or sharing thoughts. But sometimes I get carried away and each drop can take time. Monthly basis.

• Website with store: The most immediate project on my plate. This will serve as a hub for my art and include a store to sell art products. It’s a short-term project (6–10 months) but an essential step for supporting my broader goals.

My way of working to achieve these is prioritizing what really is important at the moment and strictly helps the whole thing advance. Some examples:

• I write newsletter drafts whenever inspiration strikes, ensuring I always have something in the pipeline (I try to match it to what I’m working on that month).

• With Colorpoop, I work in cycles, creating animation sheets every couple of months based on Opensandwich’s completed shots.

When it’s about my projects I don’t care about speed, it’s about slow productivity and making meaningful progress.

Slow Productivity: Book Book Book!

I had a season of following Cal Newport’s work, reading some of his books. Between those, I read Slow Productivity. Probably the most meaningful to help me reflect and think on the stuff I do and what is really meaningful to me as an artist.

At its core, the book argues that meaningful progress comes not from doing everything, but from doing the right things, slowly and with intention. Here are the three main principles:

1. Do fewer things: Prioritize what’s truly important and cut the rest.

2. Work at a natural pace: Quality takes time, so avoid rushing.

3. Obsess over quality: Focus deeply on fewer projects to create something truly exceptional.

These ideas might seem straightforward, but the book’s anecdotes and strategies give more context and background to these concepts.

Some paragraphs to think on the reasons why we voluntarily choose to add more stuff to our to-do list:

“The Industrial Revolution stripped away those last vestiges of variation in our work efforts. The powered mill, followed by the factory, made every day a harvest day - continuous, monotonous labor that never alters. Gone were the seasonal changes and sense-making rituals.”

“It seems like the benefits of technology have created the ability to stack more into our day and onto our schedules than we have the capacity to handle while maintaining a level of quality which makes the things worth doing… I think that’s where the burnout really hurts - when you want to care about something but you’re removed from the capacity to do the thing or do it properly and give it your passion and full attention and creativity because you’re expected to do so many other things.”

Newport also suggests breaking goals into manageable layers:

• Missions (Big Goals): No more than three overarching goals at a time.

• Projects: Specific tasks that serve those big goals.

• Daily Goals: Small, actionable steps to make steady progress.

For example, my “big goals” this year are completing major milestones for Megalith, advancing Colorpoop, and launching my website. Everything I do, like the monthly newsletters ties back to these missions.

“A key tenet of slow productivity is that grand achievement is built on the steady accumulation of modest results over time.”

“The key to meaningful work is in the decision to keep returning to the efforts you find important. Not in getting everything right every time.”

Website Process: First Steps into My Digital Playground

Building a website is like designing a game. It’s interactive, visual, and can be fun or it can be a frustrating piece of shit. I’m trying to avoid the latter lol.

I’ve been messing around with the idea of creating something a bit more interactive like a game. Decided that my website at first has to have a balance between display and functionality. This has to be a reflection of what I like and how I think about a project but also has to be clear and easy to use. In the end the goal is showing my art to you without friction.

My work tends to be a bit silly, so I didn’t want to overdo it with the format and layout of the web to try to achieve a slick look. It is a matter of contrast.

The mockups are in their first phase, and I´m getting the help of Rocío Batanero (designer) to refine the ideas and work on new ones for the site.

The homepage is anchored by a dramatic visual: a character, Ra, floating while stabbed by a giant pencil. Hovering over the menu with the cursor adds playful interactions, like subtle changes to Ra.

I explored different options for the render and decided to go for a more dramatic lighting to match the concept and give the overall look a foggy mood with some noise and extra blurs.

The biggest challenge is figuring out how to present my projects. The first project I’ll feature is OlliOlli World, as it’s my most significant piece of work. The idea is to create a scrolling gallery that combines concept art, designs, and a sense of the project’s scale.

This section is all about immersion, letting you explore the depth and magnitude of the work while keeping navigation smooth.

Another exciting part of the site will be the Concept Store, where I’ll offer art products. Right now, I’m prototyping items like T-shirts, prints, and other goodies. The store will evolve as I develop more concepts and experiment with how to translate my work into tangible pieces.

Over the next few months, I’ll share updates as the site and other projects take shape. I’m excited to create a digital space that’s as fun and engaging as the art I want to share with you. Stay tuned for more behind-the-scenes sneak peeks!

Thanks for being part of this journey, see you soon with more weirdness. Feel free to share thoughts and comments :)

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