My Art 470 Blog

Reading 19 - HTBAGDWLYS

Reading 17 - HTBAGDWLYS

The following is a response to
Chapter 5, 6, and 7
of How to Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul
by Adrian Shaughnessy

Topics

• 5 Running a Studio - How do you know when to employ more staff, employing creative staff, hanging onto creative staff, spotting talent, non-design staff, account handlers, studio systems, studio philosophy
  
• 6 Finding New Work and Self-Promotion - How do clients choose designers, finding clients, sales techniques, dedicated new-business person, promotional tools, the portfolio, designers’ websites, promotional literature, building a reputation, work done for the portfolio, not the back balance, design competitions, professional organizations, attending conferences and lectures, relationship with design schools, dealing with the design press
• Clients - Dealing with clients, understanding clients, keeping clients, sacking clients, monopolized by clients, professionalism, presenting to clients

My Take

• For Chapter 5, Running a Studio, I have to be honest with you… A lot of it just flew right over my head. Maybe because I haven’t yet graduated from school, maybe because I still haven’t even figured out what I want to do in life, where I’m going, where I’ll live, and basically so much about myself that I’m not nearly ready mentally to start thinking about managing other people. So, yeah. WOOOOOSH. Right overhead.
• I do think some things are important to consider in terms of myself, though. Since I am more likely to be employed at a studio than run a studio at the current time, it’s good to think about what people are looking for, who they hang onto, who might replace you. It’s important to realize that the non-creatives you work with are equally important as you. And your studio philosophy should match your own philosophy. If you don’t know your own philosophy, maybe you should focus on putting that into work first.
• Chapter 6 was filled to the brim with useful stuff that I NEED TO WORK ON. Seriously. I can’t even get into it all… I need to fix my website. I need to figure out how I want to be seen and who I want to employ me. I have to decide what type of design I want to do, craft my promotions to support that, and then get out there. There’s so much I could be, need to be doing that I HAVEN’T YET. Aaaaaargh. This chapter made me frustrated with myself, to be honest. Why haven’t I done this yet? Why haven’t I started on that? I started on that, but I never finished it. WHY? The big idea here is that as a designer, I need to figure out how I want to get out there, and then I NEED TO GET OUT THERE. That’s it. End rant.
• Chapter 7 was the only chapter that wasn’t scary to me. Woohoo! The reason for this is, where I might not know myself or where I’m going or what I want to be or what I want to do (continues listing), I do know how to work with people. I know that working with other people is hard, and scary, and THERE WILL ALWAYS BE PROBLEMS. But rather than uncertainty with myself, I really prefer working things out with others. When you’re working with others, the problem is really just working out the differences between you, working on your communication, working on your different ideas and personalities and behavior. This can get annoying and troublesome, but there’s always some way to figure out an answer. But when it has to do with yourself, who do you turn to for the final call? What if there is no answer? How do you solve a problem with yourself? You can’t fire yourself. And this is what is scary.
• One more thing: Firing a client. Didn’t know you could do that. Hmm.

Reading 16 - The Fear of Failure

The following is a response to
Famous Creators on the Fear of Failure
by Maria Popova

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/05/12/fear-of-failure/

Good Quotes

• When you put love and enthusiasm into your work, even if people don’t see it, they realize that it is there, that you did this with all your body and soul.” ~ Paulo Coelho
  
  
• It is very important to embrace failure and to do a lot of stuff — as much stuff as possible — with as little fear as possible. It’s much, much better to wind up with a lot of crap having tried it than to overthink in the beginning and not do it.” ~ Stefan Sagmeister
  
  
• What it comes down to is accepting the fact that many ideas and many solutions that we provide to our clients may always, or sometimes, fail. The trick, I think, is to A) accept it and B) have the courage to accept it and move forward with what you believe in.” ~ Rei Inamoto
  
  
• A characteristic of artistic education is for people to tell you that you’re a genius. […] So everybody gets this idea, if you go to art school, that you’re really a genius. Sadly, it isn’t true. Genius occurs very rarely. So the real embarrassing issue about failure is your own acknowledgement that you’re not a genius, that you’re not as good as you thought you were. […] There’s only one solution: You must embrace failure. You must admit what is. You must find out what you’re capable of doing, and what you’re not capable of doing. That is the only way to deal with the issue of success and failure because otherwise you simply would never subject yourself to the possibility that you’re not as good as you want to be, hope to be, or as others think you are.” ~ Milton Glaser

My Thoughts

• I think there were two main perspectives on failure. The first is on failure in relation to the work you create and the stuff you do. The second is failure in relation to yourself.
• In terms of work, failure is an important part of the process. You can’t just have a perfect idea every time; you can’t just be perfect and create perfection just like that. It doesn’t work that way. And if it did, just think how boring life would be.
• You create your best work from failure. And if you are truly invested in a project, what might be a failure to someone else might not be a failure to you. There’s a cliched saying, something about taking two steps forward and one step back, but it’s true. You grow the most when you fail. You improve the most when you falter. The best ideas usually come from a sea of crappy ones. At least, in the sea of crap, you’re bound to have at least a few successes.
• In terms of yourself, you just need to realize that you aren’t perfect, and you never will be. If you don’t, you’ll never be happy. Accept it, move on, and grow.

Reading 15 - HTBAGDWLYS 2,3,4

The following is a response to
Chapter 2, 3, and 4
of How to Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul
by Adrian Shaughnessy

First Thoughts

• That acronym sucks. How am I supposed to abbreviate the title of this book? I now understand your pain, Kate.

Big Ideas

• 2 Professional Skills - time management, research, strategy, presentation skills, writing skills
• Time Management - I need it!!! God, I need it. The basic gist of this is all summed up in this quote:

“It is an illusion to imagine that we never have enough time. What we really mean when we say that we don’t have enough time is that we have a problem managing time.”

• I don’t really need to sum up the rest. It’s pretty straightforward: You need to do research. You need to have a strategy. You need to have good presentation and writing skills. No cutting corners. You need it.
• 3 How to Find a Job - working in-house, working for an independent design studio, apprenticeships, internships, finding out about employment opportunities, approaching a design studio, the interview, the follow-up, personal portfolios, what do employers really want, approaching an in-house studio
• Read my thoughts on working in-house in the “My Take” section below.
• Internships can be great! But you have to make them great. Don’t be a design slave. That’s not what an internship is.
• Approaching a design studio - You have to make a good impression. There are so many details about how to make a good impression that I can’t write them all here. But the main things are: be confident, be polite, and most importantly, be prepared.
• 4 Freelance or Setting Up a Studio - going freelance, freelance life - pros and cons, who uses freelance designers, starting a studio, business partnerships, good and bad at business, creating a business plan, professional advisers and services, setting up, finding premises, choosing a name/identity
• I’m not sure what to write about this. There’s a lot of little details that I don’t know if I need to summarize. I think I’ll just write my thoughts about it below.

My Take

• Chapter 3!!! Holy cow, Chapter 3. I need to read you again. I don’t think I sucked up even half the amount of information I should have. Hold on, I’m going to read you two or three more times.
• As someone who has worked as an in-house design assistant at PSU’s School of Business for some time, I can say that it does have its rewards. Perhaps it doesn’t have the reputation (more like idea) or an independent design studio, but what it does have is necessity and stability. You will always have work as an in-house designer. You will always be needed. And I think that’s a good thing.
• About freelance or setting up a studio: It’s scary. And tough. There’s a lot that goes into deciding whether to set up a studio or not, and there’s something scary about not really having job and income security as a freelancer. As a graduating design student, I feel like… I feel like I’m not ready to think about this yet. But I know that I need to. It feels like the “real world.” I’m scared of the real world.
• But I think everyone else is, too. It’s just who gets past that.
• Maybe that’s what I need to do.

Reading 14 - How to be Be a Graphic Designer…

The following is a response to
Intro + Foreword + Chapter 1
of How to Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul
by Adrian Shaughnessy

First Thoughts

• The graphic design world is constantly changing. The focus, the process, the people involved. From studios to freelancers to artists to coders to printers, everyone’s work in design is different. And over time, your own design is bound to change as well. In this world of ever-changing, constantly-shifting work and creation and motion, how do we keep up without losing ourselves?

Attributes needed by the modern designer

• Cultural Awareness - In order to connect to anyone, to make anything relevant to anyone else, you need to know what’s going on in the world around you. You can’t just make something without knowledge about it, and hope everyone will be as interested as you are.

“the single most important thing a designer can do when discussing a project with a potential client is to demonstrate understanding of the subject under discussion and show knowledge of the way the world works and the way people think and act. The designer who shows only signs of self-absorption and narrow focus is not going to inspire his or her client.”

• Communication - The basic gist of this is that a designer is a communicator. There is no other way to get around it. We are not artists who can hole ourselves up in a room, paint, and talk to no one for 30 years. As a designer, we are ALWAYS communicating with people. We communicate through speech, through writing, through presentation; through emails, creative briefs, design. 
• Integrity - This is important not only for your work, clients, and practices, but also for yourself as a person. The whole point of this book is “how to be a graphic designer without losing your soul.” Your integrity is your soul. Don’t dirty it.

My Take

• I love the line “inspire his or her client.” Because really, our goal as designers isn’t just to make nice things, it’s to make things that people care about, react to, love. We don’t just make logos for money, if we’re making logos, we hope that the client loves it as much as we do. We want to create things with boundless possibilities, and our goal in design should be to help our clients see these possibilities, too. We want to make people excited about our work and what we’re doing.
• The Communication part really struck a cord in me. I think it is so ridiculous when people think that all we do in design is make things look nice. There is SO MUCH that goes into design. We need to be able to talk, write, research, analyze, present, do business. AND we need to be creative and unique and make things look nice at the same time. I know this sounds egotistical, but we do a lot more than most people do at their jobs.

Reading 13 - Technology

The following is a response to
“Technology” from Participate
by Helen Armstrong and Zvezdana Stojmirovic

Big Ideas

• The Generative Designer - “Who has an understanding of code. Generative designers produce work with algorithms at the core.” They break their design process down into a series of steps to encode and follow repeatedly.
• Generative Design - “Can push designers toward more process-driven approaches, fed by user content and serendipity.” The same steps are followed and repeated, but each iteration can be uniquely expressed. The established algorithms allow the future iterations of the generative projects to basically design themselves.

“It is the unpredictable nature of the content, and its constant reference to the larger culture, which draws the user into the experience.”

• When generative designers take outside content for their work, it makes their process-oriented projects participatory. (Whether or not the user sources are aware of their contribution to the project.)

“An algorithm, by its very nature, is based on input of certain data, which is then output - transformed into something else. This translational motion provides the crux of generative participatory design projects.”

• “Programming is the designer’s new literacy.”

Examples

• Julius Popp’s machine Bit.Fall (www.sphericalrobots.com) - pulls words from the internet and displays each for a moment in the form of falling water
• LUST’s “A Poster Wall for the 21st Century” - automated display of 600 unique posters daily by gathering random internet content
• Jonathan Harris and Sep Kamvar’s “We Feel Fine” - which continually harvest sentences containing the phrase “I fee” or “I am feeling” from the Internet’s newly posted blog entries.
• “Hektor” - a portable spray-paint output device for laptop computers.

My Take

• My thesis project, theThis Made Me Thinkwebcomic, is bases off of random Facebook statuses by my friends. Though some of my friends are aware of their contributions, others aren’t. Even though my process isn’t necessarily tied to coding in particular, in some ways, can’t it be considered “Generative Design?” I follow the same steps and process for each comic I make. The process behind it is always the same. And in the end, the data is sourced from the internet, and the result is posted on the internet. In that way, is my project a part of Generative Design?
• I’m actually a little unclear on the difference between Generative Design and Participatory Design. I think the problem is that the boundary line between them is a bit blurred - one can also be the other. Is the only real difference that one is based on an algorithm, while the other is focused on outside user participation?
• I honestly don’t like coding all that much. I know a little bit about it, I can work with it a little (this is a necessary skill in today’s world), but I don’t WANT to program. Yes, I want to make things, yes, programming can help me make things, but it’s not what I’m interested in. I’m waaaaay more into just drawing things out by hand then putting them into some computer system. Does that mean that I can’t survive in today’s design world?
• To answer my question above, “No, you just need to work with someone who loves to code.” Design is a collaboration. Working with people who can do the jobs you can’t or don’t want to do is all a part of it.

Reading 12 - Designer Statement

The following is a response to
“What is a designer statement?”
from The Walker Museum’s blog.

“As a design candidate in the MCAD MFA program I was asked to write an “artist statement” which, as a designer, I found inherently problematic. In response I contacted designers whose work inspired and influenced me in some way, asking: Is there such a thing as a “designer statement,” and if so, how would you go about creating one?

I received responses from 30 designers and studios which I will present here in the coming days. Many of the designers in this survey are represented in the current show Graphic Design: Now in Production”

My favorite responses:

• David Reinfurt: “I don’t see much use in artist’s statements anyway.”
• James Goggin: “A bigger question is perhaps not “how would you go about creating a designer statement” but more “for which audience is a designer statement actually intended”?”
• Dan Ibarra: “…a design statement is essential to understand how the designer approaches their work. Strong graphic design is not purely a soulless, ambiguous creation of an idea. It is still a very intensely personal approach.”
• Steven Heller: “Any profession can have “statement of purpose.” … Routinely an “artist statement” implies some moral imperative that is consistent with his or her work. Kind of pretentious, I’d say. But I think a “designer’s statement” is valid too. Its a statement of principles. … Whether the designer actually lives by it is another story.”
• Scott Ponic: “I recently had a friend refer to an artist statement as their “jingle.” In case you don’t know, jingles are a short tune used in advertising, something catchy that will make you remember the brand it’s used for. They’re a form of sound branding, the ultimate situation of a “song stuck in your head.” … An artist communicating their “jingle” is similar in that it should be memorable, in 1 or 2 sentences, that “ah-ha moment”, “so that’s what it’s all about”, “I’ll take one.” Although it’s hardly ever that simple. … With designers, being able to sum up an assignment in 1 to 2 sentences is graphic design 101. We typically have no problem talking about the reasons behind any given project, but when posed the simple question “What is your work about?” it’s practically crippling. … Maybe the problem is in the question: As part of our studies, we were asked to write an “artist statement.” It seems like it’s leading you to a dead-end, or somewhere that may result in a jingle.”
• Ellen Lupton: “It’s an opportunity to say what you believe with humor and clarity, and it’s a format that people seem to understand.”
• Edvin Yegir: “Why not simply use PROJECT STATEMENT [as it is universal and all inclusive] and do away with ARTIST STATEMENT vs DESIGNER STATEMENT or whatever other craft ascribed prefix as they tend to be unnecessarily particular and exclusive.”
• Stewart Smith: “…basically I’m not the best person to ask. I seem to be unable to produce a real designer’s statement. But because I’m frustrated by that I suppose I do think it’s an important exercise.”
• Juliet Cezzar: “On an individual level, trying to clarify what your bigger aims are is always going to be helpful. For a practicing designer, I think a body of writing rather than a short statement is a more reliable way to get there. For a student, most programs involve a big fat swim in the sea of self-reflection, a statement is probably imperative to prove that you’ve gone through that process. I can see where it’s useful to go through all the soul-searching that it takes to get there, and to do it in a context separated from all of the pressures of what everyone else is going to think or do in response.”
• John Malinoski: “Is it possible for a designer to write an artist’s statement? … Try to be honest and critical of your work, reflect on it. Put these thoughts into words. Realize these words are not permanent and can change as you / we change.”
• Michael Bierut: “…I’m sure there is such a thing as a “designer statement” but that I generally manage to avoid composing one for fear it would limit the range of my activities.”
• Matthew Rezak: “The “artist statement” is useful in the context of grant-writing and curatorial concerns. Here an artist needs to articulate their vision to a specific audience: a jury, a curator, etc., etc.
  Designers, in the traditional client-designer sense, have no need for this type of document. The game changes project-to-project and client-to-client … so, any statement drafted would be continually contradicted. Although, it is useful for designers or studios to have broad “mission” or “manifesto” — or whatever you want to call it — to guide and shape their decisions (aesthetic, business, or otherwise). However, I don’t see this type of statement as synonymous with an “artist statement.”

My thoughts:

• This is such a common task, but so difficult. How do you summarize what it is you do as a designer? How do you answer a question asked so frequently? The most recent designer statements I had to write were for my Be Honest profile and the About Me page of my portfolio. You won’t believe how hard it is to write one paragraph sometimes. Well, maybe you will.
• As to the argument about how having an designer statement isn’t important, I’d like to agree, really, but I can’t. How can you realistically expect to share your work without others knowing what you’re doing? When interviewed for an article, are you really ok with the interviewer describing your job and creations any way they want? If you’re asked to do a lecture/speech, how do you want the press to describe you when they write your advertisements? Are you really going to make their job harder by refusing to tell them what your work is about? When your parents ask you what it is you do in your job, do you plan on saying, “take a look and figure it out yourself”? Honestly, if you were my child, I’d wonder how you grew up to be so rude.
• James Goggin’s point is the most valid: We write designer statements for a certain audience. We don’t summarize our work in written form for ourselves, that doesn’t really make sense. It just places limits on what we allow ourselves to do. We write designer statements for others to read.
• Ellen Lupton makes a good point: Maybe a design statement isn’t a restriction, but an opportunity.
• Couldn’t your designer statement be a bit like your resume? Yes, your portfolio may be a great visual, but can it really explain your values, thoughts, processes, and ethics as clearly as a statement can?
• Stewart Smith’s answer was gold.
• John Malinoski’s point is a good one, too: You can always change your designer statement as you change!
• To Michael Bierut: Please see John Malinoski.

Reading 11 - Ten Things I Have Learned

The following is a response to
“Ten Things I Have Learned”
by Milton Glaser
http://justinthomaskay.tumblr.com/post/12603797842/ten-things-i-have-learned-milton-glaser

Milton’s 10:

1. YOU CAN ONLY WORK FOR PEOPLE THAT YOU LIKE.
2. IF YOU HAVE A CHOICE NEVER HAVE A JOB.
3. SOME PEOPLE ARE TOXIC AVOID THEM.
4. PROFESSIONALISM IS NOT ENOUGH or THE GOOD IS THE ENEMY OF THE GREAT.
5. 
LESS IS NOT NECESSARILY MORE.
6. STYLE IS NOT TO BE TRUSTED.
7. HOW YOU LIVE CHANGES YOUR BRAIN.
8. 
DOUBT IS BETTER THAN CERTAINTY.
9. ON AGING. “It doesn’t matter.”
10. 
TELL THE TRUTH.

My thoughts:

• Number One should be rephrased: “You should only work for the people you like.” Because you can work for people you don’t like. And I think you can produce good work from it. The problem is how much you actually like the work after.
• The “some people are toxic” lesson isn’t really related to design, but it definitely is to life. I’m sure I’m not the only one who had several specific “toxic” people come to mind as soon as we read the first sentence.
• The bit about “professionalism is not enough” was sort of confusing to me. Glaser argues that sometimes, in order to be great, what you actually need is “continuous transgression,” not “professionalism.” I’m not sure if I agree. I think it all comes down to what exactly your idea of “professionalism” entails. I know that mine, which includes things like finishing what you started, upholding promises, and communicating well, seems pretty necessary if you want to be successful at anything.
• How do manage to compile the Top 10 things you have learned in your field, much less your life? It’s difficult. So difficult. Actually, as a response to this reading, I was going to write my Top 10, but I just couldn’t narrow it down. But then I decided that I am not nearly experienced enough in my work or even my life to be narrowing it all down now.

Reading 10 - Art’s Little Brother

The following is a response to
“Art’s Little Brother”
by Rick Poyner

As a cultural force, design is taken less seriously than art. Why is that, especially when the distinction between the two disciplines is becoming increasingly hard to locate? Isn’t it time we celebrated design as the meeting of art and everyday life?

The big ideas:

• Successful artists reach a level of recognition and financial reward that most designers have a hard time reaching.
• The media covers art more than design.
• There are tons of art critics but hardly and design critics.
• What is the difference between art and design?
• Is the designer an artist?
• A designer “works through and for other people, and is concerned primarily with their problems rather than his own.”
• An artist “is to the truth of his own vision”.
• There is rarely a difference in the levels of passion that an artist or designer possesses.
• Many people don’t know what exactly design is.

My thoughts:

• There are several points that rang very true for me in this article.
• The first was the observation that there are more art critics than design critics. Upon reading this, I also realized that there are a lot more art contests than design contests as well. Why is this? I think it connects back to the idea that a lot of people don’t have a firm understanding of what exactly design is. It’s relatively easy to say what is art (disregarding the “is this really art?” discussion) and judge it in comparison to other pieces of art. But without a firm idea of what design is, how can you judge it?
• On the topic of not understanding exactly what design is, I also have experienced this occurrence. Every time I tell a relative that my major is Graphic Design, I get different responses as to what it is. “Oh, so you draw stuff?” “So you do editing on the computer with those Adobe programs, right?” “I want to see your pictures!” And then I always have to fumble and dumb down the concept that I design for print and advertising andcan’tshow them my pretty pictures, even though that’s not all I do.
• I think the problem with understanding what design is has to do with design’s wide breadth. Now, not all art is limited to pictures, sculptures, and installations, but if you ask people what art is, that’s usually the first thing they think of. But when you ask people “What is design?” they think of all sorts of things, all widely different. Interior design. Magazines. Furniture. Animations. Infographics. And that’s one of the beautiful things about design; design could be anything.
• As to whether an artist is a designer or a designer is an artist… who cares. As long as we’re all equally passionate about what we do, and we manage to scrape together a living, who cares.

Reading 9 - Flexibility

Note: What’s Reading number 10? Is it Art’s Little Brother by Rick Poyner?

The following is a response to
“Flexibility” from Participate
by Helen Armstrong and Zvezdana Stojmirovic

“The thing we create should be generous and confident enough that it allows you to adopt and adapt and maybe even bastardize it, because that too is a form of participation.” - Ije Nwokorie

The big ideas:

• Logos and brand marks in today’s world should be flexible.
• Control over the final form can be given to the user.
• In the Splice example, employees were allowed to create their own Splice logo for their business cards. This not only allows for peer participation, but also for the employees to feel like they have received something back for their efforts.
• Grids are a good way to explore participatory design. A grid is a system with “the maximum of constraints, with the greatest possible variability.”
• Self-realization through brands: “People figure out who they are through the brands they buy.”

My thoughts:

• Can people also reach self-realization through participatory design? I like the concept of “People figure out who they are through the things they create.” I’ve personally discovered more about myself through my creations through interfaces like Instagram.
• I should consider using design in a way that promotes this goal of self-realization. Design something that helps people to learn more about themselves. I think it could be a really interesting project.