Take time today to look at yourself in the mirror and remember the things about you that make you great. Don’t look at what others are doing or judge yourself by their accomplishments it will only distract you from the real things that you, and only you, can make happen for yourself. Don’t look to others to hand you a perfect life on a plate.
You make the call.
Take pride in yourself and hold your head up high because you, my friend, are a beautiful and unique snowflake and don’t let the envious or the haters tell you any differently. You will push through and you will make it happen if you clear your head, breath and focus on what is possible. You can and you will do it.
“The aim of life is self-development. To realize one’s nature perfectly – that is what each of us is here for.” ~ Oscar Wilde
Quick story. I once had a student who complained that he had spent days trying to create a “worn look” to a photograph he had scanned in. I stared at his intense use of filters, masks, and displacement maps. I knew immediately what to do…
I grabbed a copy of the photograph and asked the class to join me in the parking lot. I found a small oil spill in the parking lot and laid the picture face down. I then went a got in my car and proceeded to drive over it repeatedly while my students snickered and giggled. I parked, picked up the photo and asked everyone back inside. We then reviewed the students digital version to my analog version and guess what? Everyone, including the student with the angst, agreed that my rendition was the most “natural”.
Needless to say this was a huge eye-opener to my class. It really was. They had tunnel vision in the worst way. You may be sitting there saying to yourself “DUH!” but when your world is so focused on learning design software its very easy to loose sight of the bigger picture. Some of my students even went on to say that they didn’t think a “professional” designer would create work that way. Like Yoda said, sometimes you must “Unlearn what you have learned”.
There is a whole analog world you could miss if you rely on calculators and Photoshop to show the world how good you are.
This brings me to the jump… Here are some of my favorite TED talks. They too opened my mind to a different way of thinking. I hope you enjoy.
Hello and welcome to my new site. I hope to update and modify this site over time to reflect the things I’ve learned over the last 15 years and still continue to learn about design, usability, professionalism and strategy within the world of interactive marketing.
I plan to share my knowledge and others with you in hopes of giving you a good roadmap to becoming successful in the world of design and the Internet. I will give you brutal honesty about the challenges you will face but in the end I hope that I can guide you to a place of security within your own abilities as a professional.
