CREATIVE IDENTITY:
BELOW THE SURFACE*
with Arina Volkova
14 & 21 October 2026 ➔ Online, 5:00PM CEST ➔ €80
THE WORKSHOP
Two connected sessions on creative identity, drawn from running brand and editorial at an independent adult film studio, where most of the usual marketing tools are off the table.
Session one, The Iceberg Map, digs under what you show to find what's holding your work up: your craft, your point of view, the thing about your work that doesn't change.
Session two, The Constraint Flip, takes a real constraint you're already working under, a platform rule, a tight budget, an audience you haven't built yet, and turns it into a working creative brief.
The two are built to run together, though each also stands on its own if you can only make one. Restriction is usually what forces real depth to the surface. That's the thread through both.
THE DETAILS*
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In session one, you fill in your own Iceberg Map alone, then pair up so a partner can read your work cold and name the gap between what you meant and what came through.
In session two, you flip a real constraint into a directive alone, then pair up to test whether the result is specific to your situation or would work for anyone.
Each session closes with a short group share and one concrete thing to carry forward.
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Creatives and brand people working inside real limits, whether that's a platform, a budget, or an audience still being built. Useful for freelancers, in-house marketers, and anyone reworking how their work is positioned.
Both sessions run in short timed rounds of solo work and paired exercises, built so you produce something rather than just discuss it.
Why the Boring Workshops?
This aren’t pre-recorded courses. They’re live online workshops with professional instructors and creatives where you can ask questions, receive feedback, get personal guidance, and interact with peers in real time.
Recordings are made available after the session so you can rewatch and follow at your own pace.
Meet Arina
Arina Volkova is a copywriter and brand strategist based in Barcelona. She has a business degree but keeps a soft spot for the parts that aren't strictly business. She currently leads Brand and Editorial at ERIKALUST, an independent adult film studio, where most of the usual ways of selling something don't apply. Her work is mostly about looking underneath: taking scattered parts and building them into one identity, and helping people and brands reflect what they stand for instead of just dressing it up. She cares more about what a thing is made of than what it looks like. She's vehemently fond of a bad pun, and suspects playing around is a fairly serious way to get somewhere. She's happiest in the part of the process no one watches, and glad of any excuse to drag other people down there with her.
Join Arina Volkova, copywriter and brand strategist based in Barcelona for two connected sessions on creative identity, drawn from running brand and editorial at an independent adult film studio, where most of the usual marketing tools are off the table.
The Workshop
Session One: The Iceberg Map
This session digs under what you show to find what's holding your work up: your craft, your point of view, the thing about your work that doesn't change.
Session Two: The Constraint Flip
This session takes a real constraint you're already working under, a platform rule, a tight budget, an audience you haven't built yet, and turns it into a working creative brief.
This workshop is for creatives and brand people working inside real limits, whether that's a platform, a budget, or an audience still being built. No portfolio or industry required, just something you're currently working on.
By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:
Map the constant beneath your work: your craft, your point of view, the thing that doesn't change
Turn a real constraint you're already dealing with into a working creative brief
Read your own work the way a stranger encounters it, and name the gap between what you meant and what came through
Reuse this framework later, on a new project or a full rebrand
Both sessions run in short timed rounds of solo work and paired exercises, built so you produce something rather than just discuss it. In session one, you fill in your own Iceberg Map alone, then pair up so a partner can read your work cold. In session two, you flip your constraint into a directive alone, then pair up to test whether it's specific to your situation or would work for anyone. Each session closes with a short group share and one concrete thing to carry forward.
Two Sessions Workshop
14th | 21st October 2026
Both sessions start at 5PM. CEST
Duration approx 90 minutes
Online