DOING IT
ANYWAY
OUR SECOND ANNUAL ANONYMOUS CREATIVE FUTURES SURVEY ARRIVES AT A CRITICAL MOMENT. PEOPLE ARE DROWNING IN DIGITAL OVERLOAD. PEOPLE ARE STARVED FOR COMMUNITY AND CONNECTION. ECONOMIC PRECARITY IS UP. MARKET DEMANDS ARE TOO.
THIS IS THE CREATIVE PULSE AT THIS MOMENT ACCORDING TO MORE THAN 300 ARTISTS AND CREATIVE PEOPLE ACROSS PRACTICES AND THE GLOBE. WE ASKED FOR THEIR HONEST OPINIONS AND PROMISED ANONYMITY. IN THEIR WORDS AND OPINIONS, HERE'S WHERE WE ARE.
CREATIVE INDEX
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A CREATIVE PERSON TODAY?
IT MEANS
IT MEANS
“BEING AUTOMATED OUT OF OUR OWN CREATIVITY” WHILE “LEARNING SKILLS THAT FEEL LIKE MAGIC.”
“MY WORK WILL DISAPPEAR INTO THE ALGORITHMIC VOID” WITH “THE SPEED OF CONTENT CONSUMPTION AND THE PRESSURE TO KEEP UP.”
“FINDING MY PEOPLE AND CONTROL OVER MY TIME.”
“DOING IT ANYWAY.”
IN THEIR ANONYMOUS COMMENTS WE OBSERVED SEVEN THEMES.
ALL WORDS ARE THEIRS.
01. AI, AUTOMATION & THE QUESTION OF HUMANNESS
WILL AI CHANGE HOW I MAKE CREATIVE WORK?
WILL AI CHANGE THE KINDS OF CREATIVE WORK I MAKE?
WILL AI CHANGE HOW MUCH CREATIVE WORK I MAKE?
AI WILL CHANGE MY PROCESS, BY DISCIPLINE
WHAT YOU SAID
“The author is dying on the writing table.”
“Utilizing AI but also resisting it”
“Those who reject it completely may be left behind or doomed to flounder in a bog of drudgery. Those who rely on it to replace thinking and creativity will find those muscles atrophied when they need them most.”
02. THE DARK FOREST & PRIVATE SPACES
IF I SHARE LESS ONLINE, WILL I FEEL MORE ISOLATED?
CONNECTION EXPECTATIONS BY SHARING PLANS
WHAT YOU SAID
“More niche communities are forming”
“Public internet becoming more slum-like while more good things move into dark forests”
“I am growing increasingly more distrusting of ALL online content regardless of source, pedigree, or assurances.”
03. THE RETURN TO IRL
WHAT IRL/ANALOG LANGUAGE DO WE USE WHEN DESCRIBING THE FUTURE?
MENTIONS
About half of respondents (49%) mentioned something IRL or analog.
WILL DIGITAL PLATFORMS CHANGE HOW I MAKE CREATIVE WORK?
WILL DIGITAL PLATFORMS CHANGE THE KINDS OF CREATIVE WORK I MAKE?
WHAT YOU SAID
“Designs that look more 'handmade' to stand apart from AI and computers”
“Time with friends, zines, more live concerts and weird band projects, the revenge of analog.”
“Events, radio, community care, performances, as a direct response to the online disconnect. Everyone is ready to emerge into reality.”
04. THE PRECARIOUS ECONOMICS OF CREATIVITY
WILL I FEEL MORE OR LESS FINANCIALLY SECURE AS A CREATIVE PERSON IN 2026?
WILL I FEEL MORE OR LESS FINANCIALLY SECURE? (BY AGE)
PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS
WHAT YOU SAID
“I don't know how long I can keep this up.”
“People who have creative jobs as their primary source of income may struggle, but creation as creation will not”
“Art will become a total wealthy class game.”
05. POLITICAL INSTABILITY AS BACKGROUND HUM
WHAT POLITICAL LANGUAGE DO WE USE WHEN DESCRIBING THE FUTURE?
MENTIONS
About half of respondents (50%) mentioned something political.
WHAT YOU SAID
“Fascism is here. They will only make it harder for creative voices to flourish. We're going to have to take our markets underground.”
“I am worried about my freedom to keep writing and creating the work that I do, which centers Black women and girls.”
“Look around *gestures arm broadly*”
06. FINDING YOUR PEOPLE
WILL I FEEL MORE CONNECTED OR ISOLATED FROM OTHER CREATIVE PEOPLE IN 2026?
WHAT YOU SAID
“Working with others, doing group work, living together at the end of the world.”
“There are more cool people than there have been in a long time”
“Share my art and collaborate with people, believing that it will be appreciated and that it will open a new world of community for me”
07. DOING IT ANYWAY
WHAT SHIFTS DO WE SENSE COMING?
(most common words)
WILL DIGITAL PLATFORMS CHANGE MY CREATIVE PROCESS AT ALL?
WILL DIGITAL PLATFORMS CHANGE HOW MUCH CREATIVE WORK I MAKE?
WHAT YOU SAID
“People somehow make it through when they work together.”
“Human life becomes stranger and more complex by the day and the task of the artist is delightfully infinite.”
“We are in the storm before sunrise. Eventually, being a creative person will be the only way to live, but right now its value is hard to prove”
“WE ARE IN THE STORM BEFORE SUNRISE”