I always start with thinking about any project as an archive and or collection - that's the foundation everything builds from. Art history, architecture, clothing and costume, music, literature... it's all interconnected storytelling that spans centuries. Whether you're a creative with decades of work or building your first digital presence, the archive-first approach helps you see how your work fits into this continuous conversation of human creativity expressing itself through different mediums.

Most creatives jump straight to the exciting stuff - Instagram posts, video content, social media strategies. But without a solid foundation, you're building on shifting sand. Here's what I mean:

Your archive becomes your strategic advantage. When you think systematically about what you have - not just the finished pieces, but the process, the inspiration, the connections across disciplines - you suddenly have endless content possibilities. That sketch influenced by a piece of music? The architectural detail that shaped a design? The literary reference that sparked a color palette? It's all content, but more importantly, it's all part of your unique creative narrative woven into the larger story of human expression.

You protect what matters most. With AI and Meta claiming rights to images you post, the archive-first approach lets you be strategic about what you share and when. Build your presence and brand first with process shots, studio views, inspiration moments. Keep the actual catalog safe until you have the right strategy and platform.

You create multiple user journeys.

An organized archive lets you tell different stories to different audiences while showing the rich connections that inform your work. Collectors want to see the evolution and influences. Institutions want to understand cultural context and cross-disciplinary connections. Commercial clients want to grasp your aesthetic sensibility and how it translates across mediums. The same archive serves all these narratives because you've documented not just what you made, but why and how it connects to the larger creative conversation.

Do you already have a digital catalog, and is it set up as a searchable database? This isn't just about organization - it's about discoverability. The more you speak, write, and add to the mix, the more you can be found. We're living in the age of AI search, and that database becomes your secret weapon.

The presentation possibilities are endless once you have that foundation - building something dynamic that's more than a catalog, capturing the real dialog and story, your perspective that builds all those connection points. We could weave in lifestyle stories or context around the work - what inspired it, the places or feelings behind each piece - creating different ways for people to journey through and discover your work.

Then comes the FUN stuff - video, documentary style! But notice we're here at step 3, not step 1. Video really has two formats: long form (cinematic/landscape) and vertical, which opens up the whole "social show" world. YouTube is basically the new TV, so the longer you can keep people engaged with your subject, the more discoverable you become.

Time and again, I see creatives who've tried digital storytelling before but dismissed it when the rewards felt small compared to the investment. They're sitting on incredible bodies of work - some timeless, some tied to specific moments - but they're unsure how to leverage it strategically.

The breakthrough comes when we shift from "posting content" to "building from your foundation." Whether clients are targeting collectors, institutions, commercial markets, or multiple audiences, the archive-first approach lets them be strategic about what they share and when.

My advice is always the same: make it all about YOU, your story, your process, your world. Build presence without compromising your most valuable assets. Look at how the most successful creatives show their work in action, or use their spaces to help people imagine possibilities - they're building brand without giving everything away.

As my grandmother used to say, just before accelerating on crazy left hand turns in traffic: "he who hesitates is lost." But that doesn't mean charging ahead without strategy.

Archive first. Foundation first. Then build everything else on top of that solid ground.

Your creative work deserves a digital presence that honors both the craft and the story behind it. Start with the archive, and everything else becomes not just possible, but strategic.

My understanding of archives comes from decades of hands-on experience - from museum studies to managing historical collections spanning centuries, from early digital photography studios capturing thousands of pieces per season to preserving samples that tell the story of fashion evolution. I've seen how proper archiving creates the foundation for stories that connect across art history, architecture, fashion, music, and literature.

At FIT, studying textiles while working in the Graduate School Office, then moving through fashion houses like Ralph Lauren, Burberry, and Gieves & Hawkes - including managing archives that literally date back to Napoleonic times - I learned that cataloging isn't just organization. It's storytelling. It's creating the infrastructure for creative narratives to unfold, connect, and be discovered across time.

This is why I always start with archive first. Because I know that today's creative work becomes tomorrow's inspiration, but only if someone cares enough to preserve it properly.

Want to explore how archive-first thinking could transform your creative project? Let's talk about building your foundation before the fun stuff.

A Note on Language: Archive and collection have the same essential properties - they're both about gathering, organizing, preserving, and making discoverable. Whether you call your body of work a "collection" or an "archive," the strategic approach is identical. It's about creating that searchable, organized foundation that tells stories and creates connections across time.