Meet Annie Stout

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Annie Stout. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Annie, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
For me, keeping creativity alive is making creating a priority. It’s finding beautiful things in ordinary moments, and hanging on to those moments, then telling about them. I am someone who needs to create. It’s compulsive. If I’m not working on multiple creative projects I’m less happy. I worry more. I feel less useful. Creating gives me a place to put my energy to good use, so I make it a priority.

I believe artists need to create relentlessly. I want to create every day and I know and accept that not everything I create will be good. One of the keys to keeping creativity alive is being ok with making bad art. We have to be ok with making crap. It is a normal part of the creative process. The first thing I think of for any project is almost never the best version of what it could be. Getting every idea out, then sifting through to see whats viable, is a much more sustainable process, than trying to jump right to the final product.

I also keep a lot of lists. I often have ideas I can’t get to as soon as they pop into my head, so I have a stack of little notes, that I try to log in the notes app on my phone. That way I don’t lose ideas and can come back to them when I have time to explore them further.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Paper Heart Design Co. is my creative studio. I am an anti-niche multi-passionate creative entrepreneur, so I do a little of everything, and the business is always evolving along with me.

I run a full service graphic design studio specializing in small business logo design and visual identity development. I also have a blog where I share color palettes to inspire, offer creativity coaching, sell my artwork, create public art, and have fun merch for creatives. I also run an online creatives community on Facebook called Art is a Record, and recently self published a book by the same name with my good friend, Liz May.

The book, Art is a Record: The 2021 Letters, chronicles a year of intentionally connecting over art, the creative process, and friendship through letters. Liz and I share stories of the role that art has played in our lives. We look at life as a creative person and the joys and frustrations that go along with that.

My goal for Paper Heart Design Co. is to encourage people to do more of what makes them feel alive. I help small businesses create branding and marketing materials, so they look professional when they share their wares with the world. I help creatives who need help getting out of their own way through creativity coaching. I help myself by creating freely and accepting that making bad art is normal, and I believe talking about this helps other creatives know they’re not alone. I believe in community and learning. I truly believe that creating makes the world better.

My motto comes from Elsie de Wolfe, “I’m going to make everything around me beautiful- that will be my life.”

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

That is a great question… I would have to say work ethic, communication skills, and keeping an open mind.

You have to be willing to work really hard to run a business. You have to care deeply about the work you’re doing to be completely self motivated to make it all happen. You have to be willing to do the not so fun parts of the business as well, like tracking receipts, sending invoices, and so on.

I worked a lot of retail in high school and college, which has served me well in this industry too. I am by nature very introverted, but working as a cashier forced me to learn how to talk to people and be comfortable with it. It taught me about customer service and clear communication. When you’re a one woman show, you have to be available for your clients. I’m not saying 24/7, because you need to have boundaries, but it’s incredibly important to be able to talk to and reply to clients in a timely manner. It’s important to set expectations so no one is left wondering.

Keeping an open mind is super important to me and what I mean by that is always learning and taking things in. When I was in college, even though I was a double major in graphic design and sculpture, I still took other classes. I learned about photography, printmaking, drawing, painting, and I even minored in art history. I’m always learning. I’m hungry for knowledge. I truly believe my jack-of-all-trades attitude towards life helps me to be more well rounded and well informed when I work with design clients and when I’m creating art of my own.And in the links, my Facebook is in there twice. Under “Other” it should be: https://www.pinterest.com/paperheartdesign/

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
The most impactful thing my parents did for me was let me be who I was. They never tried to push me down a particular path. They encouraged me to do more of what I loved and never once told me that I shouldn’t be an artist. I think that is a rare thing. Especially because my three older brothers went to school for engineering, engineering, and accounting. They never made me feel like a black sheep even though I was not taking a super traditional career path and I liked to dye my hair wild colors. In fact, both of my parents assisted me in coloring my hair at different times.

When I was very young my mom would help me write stories by letting me dictate the words to her, and I would cut and glue pictures out of catalogs or make drawings. As I got older I loved to make pretend businesses. I remember a restaurant once, where I designed some little menus and made a terrible dinner, that my parents both ate anyway. When I was around ten my mom took an entrepreneur class with me at the library, then ended in a craft bazaar. In high school my dad would make sure to rent movies about famous artists to watch with me once they hit the local library shelves— I specifically remember being impacted by both Frida and Pollock.

They also convinced me that I should go to a state university instead of art school when I was 18 because of the cost. At the time I was devastated, but now I completely understand where they were coming from and I am very glad got that advice. If they hadn’t I would probably still be paying off student loans! 

I could not have asked for more supportive parents. They’ve always been my biggest cheerleaders and I am so grateful for both of them.

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