This post is part of THE DEEP STUFF - reflective answers to the questions senior creatives ask.
I write these pieces as a coach and a former creative director. I work with experienced creatives who are navigating confidence loss, change and the pressure to stay relevant. No platitudes. No fridge magnet philosophy, just picking up on conversations that are hopefully useful to share.
Visibility. Or more precisely getting you and your work seen. I was prompted to write this piece after an interesting session with a client, frustrated by his recent efforts on LinkedIn. We’ve all been there. Digging deeper, I wasn’t totally convinced that his strategy was quite right, and hopefully a few provocative questions later he’ll be owning a slightly more nuanced approach, that doesn’t rely on the LinkedIn algorithm or any algorithm for that matter.
But regardless of the medium, the resistance and discomfort of showing creative work is palpable. The list of pain points comes full of the usual suspects from; not wanting to be perceived as arrogant, to worrying about the work being discussed by people who don’t have the full picture. Oh and not feeling good enough (more on that later).
Being seen can feel like a loss of control.
You can carefully craft a piece of work, but once you put something into the world, you can't control how people interpret it. An observation can be mistaken for a criticism. A playful idea can be dismissed as frivolous.
And if you value substance over showmanship, you believe the work should speak for itself. Especially if you've built your career in environments where being too visible, too opinionated or too different has sometimes come at a cost.
There are good reasons to be thoughtful about how you present yourself. Not every platform suits every personality, and not every audience deserves access to every part of you.
But there's a difference between choosing how you want to be seen and allowing the fear of being misread to make that choice for you.
A whopping 47% of creatives don’t feel their work is good enough*.
This is a really significant figure, given the challenges of finding work and briefs right now. And again this evaluation seems to come more from the angle of self -protection rather than a truthful appraisal of the actual work.
So whose opinion really matters?
When you imagine promoting your work, whose reaction are you worried about? Who or what are you protecting yourself from?
That boss who thought you were difficult? A peer who might think you've become a bit up yourself? A client who prefers you to stay in the background?
OR, and here’s the big one…An imaginary audience of people waiting to catch you out?
Sometimes the audience we're trying to please isn't even in the room. It's a collection of past experiences, received wisdom and assumptions about what a creative should look and sound like. Or a childhood memory of being told, who do you think you are? Keep your opinions to yourself.
If you're genuinely talented, someone will eventually notice.
Lovely sentiment, but a very unreliable career strategy. Tick tock.
And whilst you're busy making sure nobody gets the wrong impression, people will be forming an impression anyway. They just have less information to work with.
No one can appreciate your judgement if they never hear how you think. No one will understand the value you bring if you only show the finished product. No one can recommend you for an opportunity if they don't know what you're interested in doing next.
So rather than staying invisible keeping you safe and in control, you’re just leaving your reputation to chance.
How can you make the value of your work visible in a way that feels consistent with who you are?
Visibility isn’t about becoming more slick, louder or salesy. Forget the larger than life, excited to announce stage-craft. Instead start with a small detail that you might like people to notice.
1. Show your thinking, not just your finished work
A beautiful portfolio demonstrates what you can make. It doesn't necessarily show how you think.
What did you notice that others missed? What question changed the direction of a project? What tension did you help a client resolve? What did you challenge, and why?
You don't need to reveal confidential information or claim sole credit for a team's work. You can talk about your contribution, your decisions and what you learnt.
2. Promote the work, not your own brilliance
Talk about the problem you solved. The idea you believe deserves more attention. The collaboration that produced something unexpected. The piece of work that changed how you approach a particular challenge. You can celebrate an achievement without presenting yourself as its sole hero.
3. Decide what you're willing to make public
Visibility doesn't have to mean total exposure. It just has to be useful. You can have a distinctive voice without commenting on every industry controversy.
4. Find a format that suits your temperament. This is the big one.
Not everyone wants to be the face on camera, the loudest voice in the room or the person with a daily LinkedIn opinion. Perhaps your best thinking happens in writing. Perhaps you enjoy talking through ideas with a small group. Perhaps a considered case study, a thoughtful introduction or a conversation at an industry event feels more natural than broadcasting to hundreds of strangers.
Choose one or two ways of showing up that you can sustain, and make them work harder for you.
A monthly essay can reveal more about your thinking than thirty hurried posts. A conversation with three influential people can be more useful than a thousand impressions from the wrong audience.
Where would being better known make a meaningful difference to your work.
5. Experiment before you reinvent yourself
If visibility feels uncomfortable, treat it as an experiment.
Share an opinion you've been sitting on. Explain a creative decision. Revisit a project you're proud of and describe your contribution. Make an introduction. Put yourself forward for a conversation you'd normally leave to someone else.
Before you do, notice what you're predicting will happen.
Will people think you're showing off? Will someone disagree? Will you feel exposed? Will you regret pressing publish?
Then do the thing and pay attention to what actually happens.
You may discover that the consequences are much less dramatic than you imagined. Or you may learn that a particular format, audience or subject doesn't suit you. Either way, you've gained useful information.
What if people still get the wrong idea?
They will. Occasionally.
You can be thoughtful, articulate and well-intentioned and still be misunderstood. That's part of putting anything into the world.
You can reduce the risk by being clear about your contribution, generous about collaboration and consistent in how you communicate. You can correct a genuine misunderstanding when it matters. But you cannot manage every interpretation, and trying to do so can become a full-time job.
At some point, you have to decide what matters more: controlling every possible impression or making sure the right people have a chance to understand your work.
You don't need to be everywhere. But you do need to be findable.
If you've spent years building a creative career, you already have material worth sharing.
Start small. Be specific. Show your thinking. Give credit where it's due. Choose the people you want to reach, and use the channels that make sense for you.
And when that critical voice pipes up to tell you that you're making too much of yourself, get curious about what it's trying to protect. You don't have to silence it. But you don't have to let it make every decision, either.
Your work deserves to be seen. You decide how you show it.
If you like this mini series and have a question you don’t mind being answered publicly (no names obvs) get in touch by email
Discover more thinking from THE DEEP STUFF — the real questions senior creatives ask.
Some of these reflections first appear in longer form through external coaching and industry platforms before being adapted and expanded here.
*Source: Adobe 2025