A short list of things I’ll never be or do in this life:
Be President
Sky Dive
Smoke Cigarettes
Enjoy a Good Steak
Enjoy Listening to Wilco
Enjoy Blockbuster Superhero Movies
Go to Confession Again
Own a Pair of Jeans Again
Have a Chiseled Body
Sneak into North Korea
Write a Novel
Get into Gaming
Vote Republican
I’m a fucking 250 pound tight end sweating it out at training camp flaunting it in front of the cameras looking to put in the time and make the cut.
Actually no, I’m an opinionated graphic designer with a social media account. And this isn’t an episode of Hard Knocks. This is my life. But where I’m the same as that tight end is that I know, as well as the tight end knows, the only way to get better at our own unique positions in life is to put in the reps.
You want to get better at design? Only one way to go about doing that. Put in the time.
Design, design, design. And then, design some more. Still won’t be good, but you’ll be gettng there.
It’s obvious. It’s in the feel of it. One website was designed and developed by a professional who sweats the small stuff. The other just wasn’t.
There are two types of budgets when it comes to design. One for the clients who want to make you work on their terms. The other for the clients who let you work on yours.
Don’t let hyper commercialism turn you off from great art. So what if tons of people are listening/watching/enjoying something that used to be underground. Let it go, it’s still art.
What if we could? What if we could scratch it from our history? Just remove it. The catastrophic event so tragic for a nation, typically the purveyor of large scale tragedies since our very beginning. So much of our existence in these 2000s have been defined by our collective shock, trauma, and fear by September 11, 2001. If we could simply cut it out, like you would a tumor, how would we be different? How would we look today without the weight of that epic day, that generation defining tragedy, no longer the heavy burden around our necks as we try to trudge forward?
I’m trying to get better at this. Showing lots of work. Lots of options. And leaving it up the client to decide. I’m trying to not do that. Because ultimately, I should be able to make the call. To focus the direction. To finalize the design as it should be. So it has the best chance of existing in the world and succeeding in whatever ways it needs to.
