Gloom and Doom? How to Avoid It and Carve Out Your Creative Niche
If you’re a creative online right now, it can sometimes feel like the sky is constantly falling.
One minute you’re excited about a new project, and the next you’ve stumbled across a post explaining why publishing is impossible, social media is broken, AI is replacing artists, nobody reads anymore, and apparently every creative industry is collapsing by Thursday afternoon.
It’s totally exhausting!
The internet has become very good at amplifying panic. Big dramatic takes get attention, and unfortunately creatives tend to absorb that energy more than most people. We care deeply about what we make, so when someone says creative careers are doomed, it can hit hard.
But creativity has SURVIVED every major shift in history. New technology arrives, industries change shape, trends move around, but people still want stories, art, humour, connection and ideas. I love that.
Stop Chasing Everyone Else
The biggest mistake creatives make during these “doom” periods is trying to become everything at once. They chase every trend, copy whatever is popular, constantly pivot their style, and end up creatively exhausted.
It becomes less about making meaningful work and more about desperately trying to stay visible.
That’s why finding your niche matters so much.
A niche isn’t about boxing yourself in. It’s the strange little combination of interests, skills and personality that makes your work feel like you. Sometimes it’s obvious, and sometimes it takes years to uncover properly.
Maybe you love funny illustrated characters mixed with emotional storytelling. Maybe you create educational resources with a playful visual style. Maybe your work always leans towards cosy worlds, weird creatures, dramatic colour, gentle humour, or heartfelt family moments.
Those recurring themes matter. Pay attention to them.
Your Voice Matters More Than on trend
A lot of creatives spend years trying to hide the very thing that makes them distinctive because they think they need to fit into what everyone else is doing. Ironically, the work people connect with most is usually the work that feels the most personal and yours.
And honestly, you don’t need a massive audience to build something meaningful anymore. The internet makes it easy to believe success only counts if millions of people are watching, but niche audiences can be incredibly powerful.
A smaller group of people who genuinely love your work is worth far more than huge numbers of disengaged followers.
Make More Than You Consume
I find creative burnout often comes from consuming too much and making too little. You can spend hours scrolling through other people’s careers and start feeling like you’re behind before you’ve even opened your sketchbook.
Sometimes the healthiest thing you can do is quietly log off and go make something.
Not for an algorithm.
Not because it’s trending.
Just because you want to… YOU WANT to.
The creatives who tend to last long-term aren’t always the loudest or fastest growing. They’re usually the ones who keep showing up consistently, keep improving gradually, and keep building their own little corner of the creative world over time.
Final Thoughts
Creative careers are often built slowly. Through experimentation. Through awkward phases. Through projects that FLOP. Through trying things that don’t work until eventually something clicks.
And while the internet loves predicting the death of creativity every few months, people are still buying books, decorating classrooms, collecting art prints, supporting artists at conventions, and searching for stories that make them feel something.
There is still room for your voice.
So if the online world starts feeling heavy, noisy, or full of gloom and doom, it might be time to stop looking sideways so much and start focusing inward instead.
Your niche is probably already there, waiting for YOU.
You just need to keep creating long enough to recognise it.
Hey, there! I’m Jasmine Berry, a freelance illustrator based in sunny Perth, Western Australia. Most days you’ll find me sketching away on my iPad or surrounded by pencils and cats, chasing new ideas. I like to think of myself as eternally optimistic—always seeing the fun, the colour, and the possibility in every project I take on. Send me a message if you would like to collaborate on a project.