What if words aren’t your thing? Or talking about your business — or even what you want to do — makes you feel stressed? Or trying to write a business plan or brand strategy feels too much like school? These were some of the challenges I came across when I first start working with my clients. Then I introduced collage and everything changed.

Through the power of collage, Common Exception’s clients were able to have fun without the stress, and overcome their challenges with writing or feelings about not being business minded.

Unlocking Creativity with Collage

The first time I started using collage was to create customer personas. I immediately saw a change in my clients, becoming calmer, talking about their problems more honestly, ideas they’d had, and who they wanted to reach. They were having fun without the stress. I could also see them making connections between different thoughts and new ideas starting to emerge. The more I looked into the power of collage, the more I realised its potential. It’s inclusive, allowing for all sorts of abilities and learning styles. It’s perfect for visual thinkers and if you’re dyslexic. Most importantly, you don’t have to be an artist or be good with words. All you need to do is cut and stick, and go with the flow. This realisation inspired me to make collage the cornerstone of Common Exception’s approach.

This powerful experience led me to delve deeper into the world of collage and its potential.

Dyslexia and Common Exception

Around the same time, my daughter was finally, after many years of advocating for her, diagnosed with dyslexia. I’d started seeking out people with dyslexia to show my daughter all the different types of jobs they were doing, and that not being able to spell well didn’t matter. Her brain was able to think in new, more creative ways than a neurotypical brain — something that other people should be jealous of. So with her in mind and our amazing neurodiverse community, we’re always working on new ideas and ways to make sure everything we do is accessible.

Collage is Good for your Brain

There’s increasing evidence in the field of neuroscience that doing something creative is good for your brain, positively affecting brain wave patterns, emotions and the nervous system. It’s even better when you do it in a group! “Collective Effervescence” is a term used by French sociologist Émile Durkheim to describe the feeling of connection when we do something as a group. We’ve found this too at our events, both online and in person. Everyone feels transformed and more connected to both themselves and the people around them.

Collage as a Tool for Mindfulness

Collage for mindfulness is probably what I share most with the Common Exception community and we’ve run several events on this. For me, collage soothes my busy mind and has been part of my healing journey. Having suffered from trauma, taking time out to have fun and play with shapes and textures, creates a sense of calm and helps me connect with my body and feelings. Mindfulness is also a core part of Common Exception as it’s almost impossible to run a business without the person behind it being in a good place. Collage helps create the right mindset for being a boss, allowing for a sense of mindfulness and purpose, and space for thoughts and connections without any pressure.

Incorporating Collage into Common Exception’s Brand Identity

We love collage so much it’s incorporated into our identity! Common Exception’s distinctive collage-inspired branding was developed in collaboration with the brilliant graphic designer Laura Purdy. Our collage aesthetic is all about creativity, cutting things up and making something new — exactly what we do!

Inclusive Tools for Brand-Building

Behind the scenes, we’ve been working on making our work accessible in a different way and sharing the experience of working with us. Coming soon is our first collection of Brand-Building Digital Guides all using collage. We’ll share our process too so if you want to sell something similar you can see what we’ve done.