Welcome to Struktur Society.
You’ve stumbled upon a truly unique community for professional creators in art, design, and music. I’m so glad you’re here!
At Struktur Society we believe in elevating, supporting, nurturing and connecting the people who are creating the things that don’t yet exist in the world. We’ve made buildings. We’ve made hiking boots. We’ve made typefaces. We’ve made deathrock albums. We are a community with a passion for growth, curiosity, and creativity.
We believe in the generosity of knowledge and the power of culture collisions and collaboration. We are the free-thinkers, the innovators, the communicators and the makers. Together we hunt for problems to solve, we say the things that need to be said and we change what is broken in the world. We are a the creators — artists, musicians and designers — who believe that creativity shared is momentum gained for all. We trash conventions by colliding our experiences, inspirations and processes to unleash new approaches to creativity, innovation and progress.
At Struktur our vision is a world where all creators are inspired and empowered to realize their full potential. Our mission is to create unconventional connections to unleash new approaches to creativity and elevate, support and nurture the people who are creating the things that don’t yet exist in the world.
Why I started Struktur
Over the past decade the Struktur community has become extremely important to me and so many other creators across the world of design and music. As it continues to evolve and grow, I am excited to find new ways to expand the community to help redesign our world for a better future.
I co-founded Struktur in 2013 with my ex-husband, co-parenting partner and friend, Sam Ward. Both of us come from a background of art and music, digital, graphic, and apparel design as well as decades of experience in teaching and training martial arts.
After spending 15 years leading design for large active/outdoor brands like The North Face and Columbia Sportswear, I saw the impact the designers and creators across the industry were making to reinvent the way we dressed. The integration of performance materials and silhouettes into everyday apparel were the things we believed in and pushed for constantly, encouraging and enabling healthier more active lifestyles wherever we could. We were changing fashion yet we didn't fully realize our value.
I also witnessed and understood the challenges creatives and artists had, and still have, working in a commercial capacity inside the corporate structure. The balance and tension between being an artist and creating for business is like walking a tightrope. The stress of creating amazing work from the soul and then releasing it to the word to be judged and trampled on without losing heart and passion is a skill that needs support and nurturing to develop properly. Mentoring is key but woefully absent for most.
I created the Struktur community to connect the creator community and provide this support through peer-to-peer knowledge sharing. Starting in 2014 as Struktur Event, the first and only design conference for the outdoor, active, and urban industries, eventually evolving into a larger online community through podcasting, writing, workshops and speaking events. I added music to the focus of Struktur in 2021 when I saw the similarities in creative process and business challenges between designers and musicians. And music is just as important to me, and many of us artists, as design is.
Struktur is about personal and professional growth as an artist. It is about connection, cultivation, and creation. Just like martial arts, it's about finding our true path and sharing our knowledge and gifts with others to make the world a better place. As I walk my own path as an artist, designer, musician, and mother, so, too, does Struktur evolve.
Why subscribe to Struktur
Becoming a FREE subscriber to the Struktur Society Substack shows your support and connection to the creative community. Expanding to a PAID subscriber allows me to conntinue to create content and share knowledge through three main avenues:
The UnStruktured Podcast: a long form bi-weekly conversation with professional creators with a video component on YouTube,
The Nonlinear Path: Substack articles on applying martial arts theory to the creative process, and
Struktur Event: online gatherings and speaking engagements that bring creators together.
I look forward to sharing more with you here on Substack and hearing your comments, questions, feedback, and ideas. While financial support is necessary for any project to survive, it is not the only way to support. Engagement and involvement is imperative to community. I love to hear from you all, I love seeing your creative work, and I love learning about the ways Struktur has made a difference in your creative career and life.
Thank you for your support and talk to you soon!
xo
Michelle
