3 Things Creatives Need Besides a Mac
It is kind of tropish and a little outdated to say that creatives use Macs. It is also still kind of true. Things become tropes for a reason. There are many good reasons why people who make money from their creativity tend to gravitate toward Macs and other Apple products. While Android is not really competing in that space, Microsoft decided to try to win the hearts and minds of some of those users with the Surface line of products, in particular, the Surface Studio which was a direct, but unsuccessful attempt to gain traction among creatives.
So without trying to ignite an ancient debate that never made a lot of sense, let us offer as a given that creatives already have a Mac they love, or are in the market to buy one of the newer M1 variants. That still doesn’t get you very far. It is a good start. But a profitable business venture needs to be supported by more than just a decent computer. A Mac will not magically make you more creative or protected from business failure. You are going to need a lot of business savvy and even more luck if you are going to make it big. Along the way, you will also need the following:
A Good Rack
Artists spend an inordinate amount of time choosing the right canvases for their many great works. What they don’t spend as much time on is the challenge of how to store all those great works once they are ready to come off the easel. What they need is something like a blueprint rack that will hold their rolled works for safe storage. Architects, and engineers also have the same need.
There are all kinds of media creatives will need to store that doesn’t play nicely with standard file drawers. Not everything fits neatly into file folders. Some writers still use pencil and paper for all their drafts. But they are consciously eccentric and have no illusions about that sort of thing being remotely normal today. Creative media tends to be larger and cannot be folded. You don’t fold drafts, drawings, paintings, blueprints, and engineering schematics. You also don’t fold your Child’s artwork they did on posters. If it is nothing that shouldn’t be rolled, look into flat file cabinets. Those tend to be long and wide with shallow drawers to accommodate large, flat media. This type of rack solution is a must for the Mac creative who works with large media.
Payment Services
As a Mac creative, there is a very good chance you have every intention of making money from your work. However, you can’t make money if you have no safe way of accepting money. This is where online payment service providers come in. You are obviously going to want to accept Apple Pay. Though Apple is rolling out NFC payments on iPhones that will eliminate the need for external card readers, it is only useful for in-person transactions.
If you do all of your business online, you are going to need a payment service that incorporates Apple Pay. Since you might also sell to Android users, that ecosystem will also need to be covered. Don’t forget about PayPal. Crypto, anyone? This can get confusing and expensive. Fortunately, there are a number of payment services that exist to make it much easier. No one service does it all. So you will very likely need more than one service if you are going to cover all available options. Try a few services to see which ones best suit your needs.
A Creative Space
Some people do their most creative work on a laptop in a coffee shop. But there usually comes a time when even those people have to step into a quiet place and make the magic happen. Whether it be in the corner of a bedroom or a finished basement, every creative needs a creative space to call their own. If you are in a shared space, get a wrap-around room divider and create a bubble of undisturbed space where you can let your imagination have free rein.
It really doesn’t matter what computing platform you prefer. Some things remain the same. Besides your computing platform of choice, you will need proper racks for storing your creations, some type of online payment service, and a space where your creative mind can run free.