With decades of creative direction experience behind him, Stuart Jackson’s latest personal project – a growing series of powerful typographic works – is less about clients and more about creative clarity.
Stuart Jackson has launched a striking, text-led art series titled I Am A, marking a departure from his commercial work as executive creative director of Daughter Studio. Though the project format is seemingly simple, the work was designed to invite reflection, confession and even contradiction.
Each phrase becomes a provocation, a question, or a label that you can accept, reject, or reshape. It’s essentially a set of minimalist artworks that reflect Jackson’s desire to create beyond the constraints of client work and tap into those values that first drew him into the creative industries.
“The I Am A series started as a simple exercise, a way to reconnect with the raw, unfiltered energy that made me fall in love with creativity in the first place,” Stuart explains. “After years of crafting messages for brands, I realised I hadn’t said enough recently for myself.”
Each piece starts the same way – I am a… – followed by a word, a role, a feeling, a provocation. The results are intentionally open-ended, with some carrying emotional weight while others are humorous, contradictory, or deadpan. The project subtly nods to the messy, layered and changeable nature of identity.
Stuart describes the series as “a blank page with a big opportunity,” but while the aesthetic is pared-back, it’s anything but superficial. “The work gives me the opportunity to stretch myself creatively, something that’s really important,” he says.
I Am A is worlds away from Stuart’s day job at Daughter Studio, the creative agency he co-founded in 2020. There, he works with clients like Aston Martin, Greenpeace and Shelter, on projects that demand a high level of discipline, craft, and collaboration.
“It’s very different in tone and purpose,” Stuart says. “At Daughter, we work on such a wide variety of work… but you’re always working within parameters.
“When you strip everything back and create without a brief or a client, you start to hear your own voice more clearly. That clarity has helped me push bolder ideas in client work. It’s helped me challenge conventions and find new ways of storytelling.”
Many creatives can relate to that back-and-forth between personal work and professional practice, yet very few get the chance to explore it directly. With I Am A, Stuart is only just getting started.
“This is just the foundation,” he says. “I want to take the series onto canvas and into sculpture, but there’s no fixed path. I work in quite a fluid way, and that’s how I like it. Something can pop into my head, and I’ll just do it. I’m not one for overthinking. I prefer to act on instinct.”
So far, his instinct is paying off, and the initial response has been warm and genuine, with positive feedback, both on social platforms and in person. “It seems to have connected with people,” he adds.
After years of shaping other people’s stories, it’s not always easy to turn the lens inwards, but Stuart is doing exactly that. “I think there’s a point where you stop measuring success by client wins and start craving something more honest,” he reflects.
“I love agency life, but the world feels noisy and stagnant right now. I want to try and cut through that, to say something real, even if it’s just to myself.”
While it’s not a total pivot (as Stuart still has plenty of energy for the creative industries), I Am A suggests a desire to explore new territory. He notes how photography has already become an important outlet for him and that architecture and furniture design are also calling. “They’re two passions that have always bubbled under the surface,” he says.
When asked what keeps his creative energy alive, Stuart says, “People who take risks. Artists who don’t follow the rules. Poets. Activists. Architects. Designers. I’m inspired by those brave enough to go in a different direction, to say something real and get their ideas out into the world.”
If you’re wondering how to follow that lead, he has some refreshingly simple advice: “Just start. Don’t wait for the perfect version. Let the first version be raw and unfinished.
“And most importantly, make something for yourself and not for your portfolio or your peers. Just you. That’s where your truest voice lives, and the world could probably do with hearing it.”
