Starving for design…
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. – Chinese Proverb
When you reach the last page in a book it is finished, when the credits roll the film is done. Curtains closed and all applaud. How do you decide when your work is finished? When have you fought to the point of no more? My design and others; there is stuff I enjoy and am proud of, but is it GOOD is it DONE? Clients like it and pay for it, but I’m certainly am not proud of it. Is this my best, is this my pride and joy. My baby? I gave it my all and did my best up until the deadline but then its all it ever got to be.
I simply haven’t found anything I have done, or anyone else has done that doesn’t leave me wanting something better. Sure I could attempt to recreate everything they did/do. However I keep longing for something that is satisfying. Many artists/designer need to escape the realm of art&design in order to evolve their own creativity. Over and over I see people asking HOW DO YOU DO IT? What is your process? Where do you get your inspiration? What is your niche?
I find each someone has something different. Something molded yet similar to the original design process. It’s like we are asking where does an idea come from. Searching for another venue to explore.
So I guess what I’m sharing all this creative questioning for is to take a poll. Are we looking to become them? Is what I am currently doing void of what other mainstream artists are doing?
Starving for my career to satisfy me! Sure I aspire to inspire and so forth, however I aspire to learn and grow as well. Am I just questioning and nothing more? Is this a common trait? Do we question because we just want to know, to grow, to judge?
Picking brains instead of my nose,
Alan
Author Info: Alan M Drake
What sadly started as wanting a cool profile picture on Myspace. Soon lead me on a journey to really wanting to do more. My obsession for learning, art, and all things Mac helped influence this decision. So I read book after book, and one tutorial after another. 4 years later and I still have a lot to learn but refuse to stop here.
I'm always looking to pick someones brain over a plate of sushi, or pizza. So if your hungry and bored let me know!
Somethings you don't know:
I'm a vegetarian, I like cinema and theater, and I love a good dirty martini (007 style shaken not stirred).
Most nights I can be found at the Schererville Round The Clock either playing psychological chess with random strangers, or sitting quietly in a booth by myself. ( if your bored come up and visit )
"Until you can ignore your circumstances and just do what you promised - You'll always be controlled by the world" - Chuck Palahniuk
Alan, From your inquiries, and you have a lot of them, I am guessing that you are working mainly alone or without sufficient support from others. Others that you can collaborate with, talk design with, gain insight from on a “project by project” basis, not just talk in broad opinions about good design.
When you are starting out in design I think it is essential to have a mentoring relationship or to have peers that can be a sounding board. You can learn more about your own design when you see it the eyes of other designers. They can give you an informed opinion or challenge you to make your design more effective or innovative. These conversations can teach you how to design to the best of your ability and eventually you learn to have these conversations on your own in your head, it becomes part of the creative process.
As far as not being completely satisfied with your designs, I think you should be more confident in your skills. Enough to be excited about a completed project when you put your energies into it, but I also think most designers always look back at their work from a few years ago and find it could have been better. This is a sign of improving and refining our style and becoming even more confident in our personal aesthetic. Which brings up the point about being mainstream, worrying about what others are producing. I think you beed to listen to others but you should not just blindly do everything that is suggested to you, even if it is from a talented designer. There is never only one solution to a problem. You have to find your own aesthetic, your own style, your way of solving problems. This way you own it, it is second nature, you can defend it, and it is honest, not just a gimmick.
Thank you first and foremost for your reply! Clear as my contacts, it seems that THIS (sounding board) is something that I am lacking. I find myself wasting most of my time explaining design things to people who don’t understand design. Which if you want public opinion its great. However it is lacking in the whole “so what can i do to make it better” aspect.
I guess I used the word satisfied in reference to the story “A Hunger Artist”. I’ve talked to many people on this topic, not just designers. Students, stay at home moms, painters, writers, and the person who cuts my hair all seem to have their opinions. Most of them sit wondering WHAT WAS THE POINT. Yet there is this set group of people that seem to have found something other people have missed. This “Ability”(Creativity) I will call it, seems to me its something the world today in technology is envying(maybe this is why there is such a increase in people attempting to design). It is the ability to make something from nothing. Further more to pull it all together into something better, more beautiful, or whatever. I guess like a superhero who is just learning to fly, I am trying to read the minds of the people who once asked the questions that I am now. Even if just to further understand why the original question I keep hearing is being asked.
I’ll try to be short on this because I have a tendency to ramble on about things. On the career part. I think a very difficult thing to do in our line of work is to create a little separation between being an artist and having an occupation in commercial art (is it okay to call it commercial art). I feel very lucky because I get to work in a creative atmosphere for a living. But it wasn’t until I was able accept that what I was doing from 9 to 5 was a job, and a really fun job at that (most of the time), that I was able to really enjoy this line of work. And to succeed, there needs to be profit/income. I take a lot a pride in every single project that comes through the door but I’m also aware of what it takes to make a job profitable. I promise you that the longer you are in this field, the more you will produce things that you are very proud of. In this industry, experience is huge but not easy to get. I’ve been very lucky to work and be around a lot of very talented people. One of those people also told me a saying that changed the way I think about this industry. Although I rarely repeat it because it’s a little controversial. You’ll have to get a few drinks in me before I’ll repeat it.
I also spend a lot of personal time as an artist and just being creative. From drawing and painting, to refinishing furniture or helping my kids with a school project. That is where a lot of the personal satisfaction of being an artist comes from. Working on something when I feel like it and deciding when it’s done when I feel like it. I guess that’s why self-promo work takes so long.
We go to work just like every other person goes to work. Luckily, our work is a lot more fun than most. Too bad we have those things called deadlines, because then we wouldn’t have to call it work. Enjoy and take pride in what you do and it will show in your work. And by the way, if you want to work from 9 to 5, this isn’t the field for you.
Sorry for rambling. I tried not to.