Good Advice and Rubber Cement

http://www.aiga.org/after-school-special/

We had to read the above article and write a reflection in my graphic design class today. I liked what I wrote, so I thought I'd share it here, too!

I will just go chronologically through the first few of the list since time is a factor, as I feel that each piece of advice could be truly applicable to me in some sense, whether it is an asset I feel I possess, or an asset I would do well to learn. In saying this, allow me to begin with the beginning. Number one.

The first piece of advice listed in the article states that the theory and practice of art and design differs and mean completely different things inside and outside of academia. Within an academic setting, as stated by the article, you are in competition with your peers, in a sense, when it comes to unique creativity, and in the real world, you work together with your peers to create a unique piece that draws the eye of your client. I like to think I understand this a little bit more than others my age may since I have had a little experience working in a real world design environment. I have had hands-on learning and guidance with professional design, in-house design, and a set clientele. With this sort of knowledge, there is never such a thing as “knowing it all,” though, because every firm is different, and every professional design environment will ask so many different things of a person. I have much to learn, in the long run, but I’ve had a decent kick off.

Habits are things that matter to everyone, artist or not, and can easily make or break you. To develop a good habit, the article says the sooner you attempt it, the better. It’s true, you know. The more you do something positive, the better you’ll do whatever that task is, and once you do it long and good enough, it will become ingrained almost permanently. Personally, I feel like I have a lot of bad habits that I need to outgrow. Because of these habits, the worst being laziness and procrastination, I struggle with maintaining the academic lifestyle I’d like. I am doing what I can to get out of these habits in a number of ways. In due time, I will have my own positive routine to counteract the life I’ve led over the past few years.

Positivity is huge when interacting and dealing with people, especially strangers. No one cares about your insecurities and idiosyncratic tendencies if they’re outside of your personal social circle. Optimism in a work environment is the best way to go. As the article states, no one really wants to work around someone who is always negative about their work or situation, or even just complaining about every little thing. I feel like, over the past few years, that I have become more and more positive and optimistic about certain things. I can remember a time when I was nothing but a girl with the darkest mood, and I never thought anything good would ever come out of me or anyone around me. Socializing with more people and taking classes where I could see my own personal strengths, weaknesses, and growths has improved my outlook on life immensely. Granted, I still have a ways to go in the sense that I can still be quite anxious about a lot of things, especially when my work doesn’t go the way I plan it to.

This fourth piece of advice is my favorite. Learn to write. It’s huge in any field, really, to have goo communication skills. All those language classes that so many love to hate? Well, they’re in place for a reason, and when you perfect (or at least come close to perfecting) your use of grammar, spelling, and syntax, among other writing elements, you become the better definition of “literate.” If you can communicate well, be it through oral or written mediums, you can only excel in the world around you. Being literate when it comes to writing opens new doors for opportunity, for suddenly you are capable of conveying and sharing your ideas, concepts, and designs in a whole new way. I love to write, and I do what I can to write often, so I feel like I adhere strongly to this piece of advice.

The value of working harder and understanding the difference between work and play, and even understanding that work can be considered play in some situations, is something that everyone can benefit from. I feel like I can benefit from it, too. With this, I can kind of refer back to the habits portion of this reflection, since the harder I work, the better I become at overcoming my nasty habits and setting up a proper routine for my life. The more you work and focus on something, the greater your chances are to adhere to what you strive to obtain.

Ignoring the naysayers, or those that constantly doubt you, your work, or your skills, is huge. It is difficult to ignore such a blatant expression of pure doubt and distaste. When someone constantly tells you it’s not good enough, or you’re not good enough, can take a huge chunk out of your personal self-esteem and self-worth. However, by getting to the point where you’re confident in yourself and your work, you know better than to let all of that pull you down. I am working hard to get myself to that level, as well. I am working hard to understand that I am good enough to push past the doubt and prove myself to those who need or may want to see it.

There are lots of great things to be heard and learned in the world of design and the world of just simple and great advice. As humans, we are constantly learning and struggling. I learned something interesting, recently. This past weekend, I panicked hard because a pretty big project was not turning out the way I wanted. Essentially, I was to the point of mounting images to a board, and I was using rubber cement as adhesive due to its elasticity and ease of movement after placement. I had dripped a massive drop on the board where it was not supposed to be. Naturally, I freaked out even more. How was I supposed to get that stuff off? After I calmed down a bit, I finished the project with the kind help of my best friend and waited a while for everything to dry. The nasty blob of adhesive rolled off of the board like it was nothing.

In the end, there was nothing to worry about, and after having read that article today, I realized that you could compare life to rubber cement in a pretty abstract way. Most things seem and sound so permanent. Cement is in the name, after all. However, after you give things time to dry off and cool down, it's so much easier to fix and peel off than when it was still gross, wet, and easy to mess up further.

I don't know, I just had a bad weekend that was only bad because I thought too hard about the wrong things. I'm thankful for this reflection.