“God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 Jn 4:16). These words from the First Letter of John express with remarkable clarity the heart of the Christian faith: the Christian image of God and the resulting image of mankind and its destiny. In the same verse, Saint John also offers a kind of summary of the Christian life: “We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us”.
We have come to believe in God's love: in these words the Christian can express the fundamental decision of his life. Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction. Saint John's Gospel describes that event in these words: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should ... have eternal life” (3:16). In acknowledging the centrality of love, Christian faith has retained the core of Israel's faith, while at the same time giving it new depth and breadth. The pious Jew prayed daily the words of the Book of Deuteronomy which expressed the heart of his existence: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might” (6:4-5). Jesus united into a single precept this commandment of love for God and the commandment of love for neighbour found in the Book of Leviticus: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (19:18; cf. Mk 12:29-31). Since God has first loved us (cf. 1 Jn 4:10), love is now no longer a mere “command”; it is the response to the gift of love with which God draws near to us.
In a world where the name of God is sometimes associated with vengeance or even a duty of hatred and violence, this message is both timely and significant. For this reason, I wish in my first Encyclical to speak of the love which God lavishes upon us and which we in turn must share with others. That, in essence, is what the two main parts of this Letter are about, and they are profoundly interconnected. The first part is more speculative, since I wanted here—at the beginning of my Pontificate—to clarify some essential facts concerning the love which God mysteriously and gratuitously offers to man, together with the intrinsic link between that Love and the reality of human love. The second part is more concrete, since it treats the ecclesial exercise of the commandment of love of neighbour. The argument has vast implications, but a lengthy treatment would go beyond the scope of the present Encyclical. I wish to emphasize some basic elements, so as to call forth in the world renewed energy and commitment in the human response to God's love.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
NOTE:5 Steps to Streamline your Creative Process
NOTE:5 Steps to Streamline your Creative Process
5 Steps to Streamline your Creative Process
by abduzeedo Sep 08, 2009
abduzeedo's blog
Português
As a designer I’m always trying to optimize my creative process. Since I started, lots of things have changed in my workflow, some things got simpler while others got a little bit more complicated. With these changes came the experience of learning from the mistakes but also from the successes.
In this article I will summarize how I try to streamline my creative process to make it as efficient as possible. Basically everything consists of 5 steps:
1- Understand the work
"A well-defined problem is half solved."Michael Osborne - Principal, Michael Osborne Design
It might sound obvious but sometimes we tend to assume that we know what we have to do when we simply don’t. It’s really important to know exactly what it is that you have to do before you start doing anything. If you don't, it would be like going to the supermarket when you’re hungry. You want to buy everything... The understanding of the project will filter exactly what you have to look for, it will give you directions and the context of the work you will have to do. But what's the use in knowing what you have to do if you don't know who you're doing it for? That will lead us to the second step...
2- Audience
"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools."Douglas Adams - Creator of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
So, you now have a firm understanding of the work, but now the question has come to: for whom will the work be intended? The audience is key in this equation because it filters and reduces even more the range of your search for inspiration. Once you have the audience figured out, you really have to get in your mind that it's 100% about them, which will lead us to the third step.
3- Business
"Every night I pray that clients with taste will get money and clients with money will get taste." Bill Gardner - Principal, Gardner Design
The biggest difference between commercial design and art, for me, is that we design something for the audience and not as a means of self-expression for ourselves. We solve problems for them, we make it easier for them. As far as graphic and visual design goes, most of the problems arise in communication. Essentially, we’re the middle man between the client and the consumer. Our goal is to make the communication better for them (which in most cases means simplifying), and not to interfere in the communication with our own personal tastes and influences.
4 - Challenge
"We spend a lot of effort trying to make things look effortless." Alexander Isley - Principal, Alexander Isley Design
With a solid understanding of the work, the audience, and the question of solving problems, we now face the challenge: the designing part. The challenge creates the motivation to look for the details that will make your work better and superior.
5 - Try
"You will never really like anything you do, and you will die knowing that you still have to do your best." Garth Walker - Orange Juice Design
The previous steps won’t necessarily guarantee that you'll come up with a good design, they're merely there to form a foundation, or a stepping stone, if you will.
To recap, the understanding of both the work and the audience will create the context. Keeping in mind the business perspective will avoid you losing focus on what's important. And, finally, the challenge will give you the motivation to look for the most innovative and efficient solutions. But the only way for you to come up with a good design is to take all these things and TRY.
5 Steps to Streamline your Creative Process
by abduzeedo Sep 08, 2009
abduzeedo's blog
Português
As a designer I’m always trying to optimize my creative process. Since I started, lots of things have changed in my workflow, some things got simpler while others got a little bit more complicated. With these changes came the experience of learning from the mistakes but also from the successes.
In this article I will summarize how I try to streamline my creative process to make it as efficient as possible. Basically everything consists of 5 steps:
1- Understand the work
"A well-defined problem is half solved."Michael Osborne - Principal, Michael Osborne Design
It might sound obvious but sometimes we tend to assume that we know what we have to do when we simply don’t. It’s really important to know exactly what it is that you have to do before you start doing anything. If you don't, it would be like going to the supermarket when you’re hungry. You want to buy everything... The understanding of the project will filter exactly what you have to look for, it will give you directions and the context of the work you will have to do. But what's the use in knowing what you have to do if you don't know who you're doing it for? That will lead us to the second step...
2- Audience
"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools."Douglas Adams - Creator of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
So, you now have a firm understanding of the work, but now the question has come to: for whom will the work be intended? The audience is key in this equation because it filters and reduces even more the range of your search for inspiration. Once you have the audience figured out, you really have to get in your mind that it's 100% about them, which will lead us to the third step.
3- Business
"Every night I pray that clients with taste will get money and clients with money will get taste." Bill Gardner - Principal, Gardner Design
The biggest difference between commercial design and art, for me, is that we design something for the audience and not as a means of self-expression for ourselves. We solve problems for them, we make it easier for them. As far as graphic and visual design goes, most of the problems arise in communication. Essentially, we’re the middle man between the client and the consumer. Our goal is to make the communication better for them (which in most cases means simplifying), and not to interfere in the communication with our own personal tastes and influences.
4 - Challenge
"We spend a lot of effort trying to make things look effortless." Alexander Isley - Principal, Alexander Isley Design
With a solid understanding of the work, the audience, and the question of solving problems, we now face the challenge: the designing part. The challenge creates the motivation to look for the details that will make your work better and superior.
5 - Try
"You will never really like anything you do, and you will die knowing that you still have to do your best." Garth Walker - Orange Juice Design
The previous steps won’t necessarily guarantee that you'll come up with a good design, they're merely there to form a foundation, or a stepping stone, if you will.
To recap, the understanding of both the work and the audience will create the context. Keeping in mind the business perspective will avoid you losing focus on what's important. And, finally, the challenge will give you the motivation to look for the most innovative and efficient solutions. But the only way for you to come up with a good design is to take all these things and TRY.
10 Ways to Rev-up Your Creativity
10 Ways to Rev-up Your Creativity
1. Pick Up A Pencil
Remember the pencil? Remember the sketch book? Doodling and sketching, even about nothing in particular, can be very freeing and cause some great ideas to come out of your hand. Just sit down and draw. It’s good to get thoughts and ideas down on paper and can actually lead to something great.
2. Read Design Magazines
There are so many design magazines out there. A lot of them have some great design solutions and articles contained that can spark some creativity to get things going again. There are many design experts that contribute articles and ideas to the magazines and sometimes they may get a stuck designer, well, unstuck.
3. Go To A Museum
If you’re in an urban area, there are many museums around that you can go to. They don’t necessarily have to be art museums, but a trip to a modern art museum should get some ideas pumped out for you. It’s always good to get out, clear your mind, and just let things happen at the museum. We can admire, criticize, and simply experience the talent and beauty that is all around these places.
4. Listen To Others
How often do we listen to others? In the design business, there are many colleagues out there that have the same trials and tribulations that you do. Talk to them. Get into their heads about their art and work. What do they do? How do they work? I’m not saying to steal ideas from them, just get some dialogue going. What about instructors at school? I know you have to listen them in class all the time, but maybe a private, relaxed conversation will produce some new thoughts and ideas. People that have been in the business for awhile have lots of experience and can really help.
5. Take A Break
Stressed? Burned-out? Then, take a break. Just a break. Get up, get away from that computer, and do something else. Watch TV, read a book, do something that is not even related to design or anything that you’re working on. It’s OK to take a break from a project sometimes. Many times, during these downtimes, ideas and thoughts can creep into your head that may be a solution to something you’ve been searching for.
6. Go Freeform
Similar to picking up a pencil, going freeform is getting out those colored pencils, markers, and even crayons to get out some ideas. Use vibrant colors. Go crazy, there are no rules to going freeform. Be a kid again. Remember how imaginative we were then? It’s fun and can really free up a blocked mind. Who knows, you may even find another method of doing your work. Another way of going freeform is to dance and sing. Just be crazy and let the results flow in.
7. Look At Other Work
Do you have a guru of the design world that you simply love? Do you love what they’ve done in their career and feel some attachments to them? Look at their work and see what they’ve done. Once again, we don’t copy their work, but we can get ideas and inspiration from them. Look at fine artists’ work and see what they’ve done. Painters, sculptors, and photographers have a lot of talent and their ingenuity can be of benefit to all of us.
8. Look At The Environment
The world outside has a multitude of things going on. Trees, parks, grass, beaches, oceans, and wildlife can be very refreshing and inspirational. Open your mind, take a big breath of fresh air, and walk around outside. Architecture and other man-made things can be truly beautiful as well. Don’t expect anything, just get out there and do it.
9. Look At Those Old Design Books
Remember the old design books we had to read through school? It’s OK to pull them out again and take a look. There may be some things in those old books that you forgot about and may be useful to you now. Not only textbooks, but design and art books of all types can be really nice to look at and read. Don’t have any? Remember the library.
10. Meditate
When all else fails, it’s good to sit down and meditate. Turn everything off, sit comfortably in peace and quiet, and open your mind. Push out all thoughts and just be you. Don’t worry about anything when you’re sitting in the quiet, just sit and be in the moment. It can be hard to do this if you’re not in the practice of meditating, but, with practice, it can be really good and freeing. It’s also very good for your overall mental and physical health.
1. Pick Up A Pencil
Remember the pencil? Remember the sketch book? Doodling and sketching, even about nothing in particular, can be very freeing and cause some great ideas to come out of your hand. Just sit down and draw. It’s good to get thoughts and ideas down on paper and can actually lead to something great.
2. Read Design Magazines
There are so many design magazines out there. A lot of them have some great design solutions and articles contained that can spark some creativity to get things going again. There are many design experts that contribute articles and ideas to the magazines and sometimes they may get a stuck designer, well, unstuck.
3. Go To A Museum
If you’re in an urban area, there are many museums around that you can go to. They don’t necessarily have to be art museums, but a trip to a modern art museum should get some ideas pumped out for you. It’s always good to get out, clear your mind, and just let things happen at the museum. We can admire, criticize, and simply experience the talent and beauty that is all around these places.
4. Listen To Others
How often do we listen to others? In the design business, there are many colleagues out there that have the same trials and tribulations that you do. Talk to them. Get into their heads about their art and work. What do they do? How do they work? I’m not saying to steal ideas from them, just get some dialogue going. What about instructors at school? I know you have to listen them in class all the time, but maybe a private, relaxed conversation will produce some new thoughts and ideas. People that have been in the business for awhile have lots of experience and can really help.
5. Take A Break
Stressed? Burned-out? Then, take a break. Just a break. Get up, get away from that computer, and do something else. Watch TV, read a book, do something that is not even related to design or anything that you’re working on. It’s OK to take a break from a project sometimes. Many times, during these downtimes, ideas and thoughts can creep into your head that may be a solution to something you’ve been searching for.
6. Go Freeform
Similar to picking up a pencil, going freeform is getting out those colored pencils, markers, and even crayons to get out some ideas. Use vibrant colors. Go crazy, there are no rules to going freeform. Be a kid again. Remember how imaginative we were then? It’s fun and can really free up a blocked mind. Who knows, you may even find another method of doing your work. Another way of going freeform is to dance and sing. Just be crazy and let the results flow in.
7. Look At Other Work
Do you have a guru of the design world that you simply love? Do you love what they’ve done in their career and feel some attachments to them? Look at their work and see what they’ve done. Once again, we don’t copy their work, but we can get ideas and inspiration from them. Look at fine artists’ work and see what they’ve done. Painters, sculptors, and photographers have a lot of talent and their ingenuity can be of benefit to all of us.
8. Look At The Environment
The world outside has a multitude of things going on. Trees, parks, grass, beaches, oceans, and wildlife can be very refreshing and inspirational. Open your mind, take a big breath of fresh air, and walk around outside. Architecture and other man-made things can be truly beautiful as well. Don’t expect anything, just get out there and do it.
9. Look At Those Old Design Books
Remember the old design books we had to read through school? It’s OK to pull them out again and take a look. There may be some things in those old books that you forgot about and may be useful to you now. Not only textbooks, but design and art books of all types can be really nice to look at and read. Don’t have any? Remember the library.
10. Meditate
When all else fails, it’s good to sit down and meditate. Turn everything off, sit comfortably in peace and quiet, and open your mind. Push out all thoughts and just be you. Don’t worry about anything when you’re sitting in the quiet, just sit and be in the moment. It can be hard to do this if you’re not in the practice of meditating, but, with practice, it can be really good and freeing. It’s also very good for your overall mental and physical health.
15 Things an Artist Should Never Say
15 Things an Artist Should Never Say
Being a successful artist takes hard work, patience and good networking skills. It is not enough to simply have talent. Your success will magnified by your ability to socialize, reach business goals, and manage projects. Does that sound a little overwhelming? Here are some tips that you can take one at a time. Let’s start with what an artist should never say…
“I can’t do that”
Say a friend wants to commission you. They propose a work of art that is not your typical style or medium. The last thing you want to do is to flat out refuse them.
You have some options:
• Learn what ever skill you lack to do the piece.
• Take the opportunity to educate them about your work to see if they might want something closer to what you do (but don’t be dogmatic).
• Hire someone to fabricate what ever it is that you can’t.
• Propose another work of art that will give them what you both want.
Never say yes to a hard deadline on the spot.
Whether it is a commission or a gallery show, a commitment is to be taken seriously. The gallery or collector will be planning around the finished work. The last thing you want to do is inconvenience them. Before setting a hard deadline, make sure you have enough time to complete the project.
“I can’t afford to make art”
Artists over centuries have always found a way to make art…for nothing. Think of the cave painters, their art did not cost money. Yes, some art costs money to make, but it does not have to. You may even have things lying around your house with which you can make your next masterpiece.
“I didn’t go to ‘X’ school, so I’ll never make it as an artist.”
Now that is just a cop out! If your work is good enough, it will find its way. A good art education is worth it but not everyone that went to Yale is making millions from their art.
“Never be silent…”
…when you should be promoting your work. Simply open your mouth. Invite the curator you met at the last opening for a studio visit. This is the way the art world turns.
Never say you will do it… when you won’t.
This is the most obvious suggestion, but also the one we mess up on the most. Don’t agree to something that you cannot or are not willing to do for what ever reason.
“Never indulge in self-depreciating comments”
If someone asks you about your work say something that will interest them and invite more questions. Do not say anything negative or incredibly boring about your work or career.
Never “dis” the competition.
It’s a very small world and you just never know. Do your best to be gracious and have something good to say about your fellow artists. Having said that, if your opinion is called for, be honest about what you see in the work.
“I’m too old”
Matisse made art work into his 90’s even while sight impaired.
“I’m too busy to go out and network.”
You can only say this phrase if you are rich and famous. If you are not, how else are you going to get there? Like it or not, networking is your job.
“You can have it”
Never give your work away. If someone is interested in buying but the price is a little steep, offer to discount it 10% or 20%. The value you place on your work is an indication of how successful you feel.
Exception: Giving artwork as gifts or a trade with another artist is fine. In fact, it may help your career.
“I’m an artist not a computer geek.”
Some use this excuse to not learn the necessary tools to promote your work in this day an age. Every artist needs to promote their work on the internet. You can do it!
“I’m a failure because I’ve never sold”
Van Gogh only sold paintings to his brother while he was alive
“No.”
You should never say “no” to a project out of fear of the challenge.
“I’m an artist, not a business person.”
Sorry to tell you this, but you may be in the wrong profession if you want to make a living as an artist. All artists can benefit from business training. Contact your local art center to see if they have business classes for artists or get help from a mentor.
Being a successful artist takes hard work, patience and good networking skills. It is not enough to simply have talent. Your success will magnified by your ability to socialize, reach business goals, and manage projects. Does that sound a little overwhelming? Here are some tips that you can take one at a time. Let’s start with what an artist should never say…
“I can’t do that”
Say a friend wants to commission you. They propose a work of art that is not your typical style or medium. The last thing you want to do is to flat out refuse them.
You have some options:
• Learn what ever skill you lack to do the piece.
• Take the opportunity to educate them about your work to see if they might want something closer to what you do (but don’t be dogmatic).
• Hire someone to fabricate what ever it is that you can’t.
• Propose another work of art that will give them what you both want.
Never say yes to a hard deadline on the spot.
Whether it is a commission or a gallery show, a commitment is to be taken seriously. The gallery or collector will be planning around the finished work. The last thing you want to do is inconvenience them. Before setting a hard deadline, make sure you have enough time to complete the project.
“I can’t afford to make art”
Artists over centuries have always found a way to make art…for nothing. Think of the cave painters, their art did not cost money. Yes, some art costs money to make, but it does not have to. You may even have things lying around your house with which you can make your next masterpiece.
“I didn’t go to ‘X’ school, so I’ll never make it as an artist.”
Now that is just a cop out! If your work is good enough, it will find its way. A good art education is worth it but not everyone that went to Yale is making millions from their art.
“Never be silent…”
…when you should be promoting your work. Simply open your mouth. Invite the curator you met at the last opening for a studio visit. This is the way the art world turns.
Never say you will do it… when you won’t.
This is the most obvious suggestion, but also the one we mess up on the most. Don’t agree to something that you cannot or are not willing to do for what ever reason.
“Never indulge in self-depreciating comments”
If someone asks you about your work say something that will interest them and invite more questions. Do not say anything negative or incredibly boring about your work or career.
Never “dis” the competition.
It’s a very small world and you just never know. Do your best to be gracious and have something good to say about your fellow artists. Having said that, if your opinion is called for, be honest about what you see in the work.
“I’m too old”
Matisse made art work into his 90’s even while sight impaired.
“I’m too busy to go out and network.”
You can only say this phrase if you are rich and famous. If you are not, how else are you going to get there? Like it or not, networking is your job.
“You can have it”
Never give your work away. If someone is interested in buying but the price is a little steep, offer to discount it 10% or 20%. The value you place on your work is an indication of how successful you feel.
Exception: Giving artwork as gifts or a trade with another artist is fine. In fact, it may help your career.
“I’m an artist not a computer geek.”
Some use this excuse to not learn the necessary tools to promote your work in this day an age. Every artist needs to promote their work on the internet. You can do it!
“I’m a failure because I’ve never sold”
Van Gogh only sold paintings to his brother while he was alive
“No.”
You should never say “no” to a project out of fear of the challenge.
“I’m an artist, not a business person.”
Sorry to tell you this, but you may be in the wrong profession if you want to make a living as an artist. All artists can benefit from business training. Contact your local art center to see if they have business classes for artists or get help from a mentor.
Keeping Yourself Motivated
Keeping Yourself Motivated
Staying motivated isn’t easy – we often convince ourselves not to be. We often give ourselves excuses, allow other people to put us down, or look at the success of others and think, “That’ll never be me.”
There are two basic types of motivation: intrinsic motivation, and extrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation comes from the feeling of self-achievement inherent in the task or project achieved, i.e. solving a puzzle, completing a school assignment, or finally publishing that website you were working on for a client.
Extrinsic motivation is the reward you get from others – or outside “forces”. This includes money and other financial or tangible rewards, such as a free vacation for achieving your sales targets, a trophy for winning first place at the Olympics, or even the crowd cheering as you overtake car #2 in the last stretch of the race. This explains the “home team advantage” methodology.
Extrinsic motivation (namely money) is often the primary basis for our motivation. Everyone needs money, and wants as much of it as possible. That’s no secret. However, I believe the feeling of self achievement is equally important when it comes to staying motivated.
When you’ve finished the design work for a client, what feels better? Getting paid or seeing your client smile, succeed, and receive brand recognition partly due to your efforts? If you picked getting paid, try thinking about it this way:
A small, startup company seeks your help in setting up their identity (logo, business card, website, etc.). The company is completely unknown but happens to take off. All of a sudden the company is everywhere – the NY Times, TechCrunch, CNN, a trending topic on Twitter, you name it.
Do you still feel the same? Okay, that might have been a bit of an exaggeration, but hopefully my point was made.
But what about the money?
There are many ways that you can use money and your personal financial status to keep yourself motivated. Here are a few ideas:
Reward yourself: decide on an amount (that doesn’t cut into your bill paying or savings) and reward yourself after a job well done. Of course you don’t want to spend every hard penny you’ve earned on your favourite hobby, but if it’s all work and no play you’ll get burnt out. Reward yourself as a reminder of what you’re working towards.
Financial status: do you want to put a down payment on your own place in 2 years? Pay off the house in 7? Have children and send them to private school? Remind yourself how much money you need to earn each month in order to support your desired lifestyle. If you’re not quite there yet figure out the steps needed to get there and write them down.
It takes money to make money: do you have any business plans that require startup capital you don’t currently have? Do you plan to buy and rent properties? Invest? These are other good ways to remind yourself to keep at it.
What else?
Networking. It’s easy to meet other people in your industry on the internet these days (especially if you’re a designer). If you don’t already have a blog, consider starting one. Sign up for Twitter and get out there! Meeting other people in your line of work helps you to learn the language and communication styles that are effective in your industry.
If you know a lot of designers, for instance, they can refer clients to you when they’re overbooked, or when a client requires something beyond their expertise.
It’s also a good idea to try to network in person. It’s refreshing to get out of your home or office and meet people face to face. People will often share more in person than they will on their blog or via Twitter. Escaping your workstation every once in a while will give you that added fuel you need to move forward when you return from your mid-day vacation.
When all else fails, I tend to go on a “success story” binge. Take an hour to watch a fewTED Talks, read a few articles about people on the Forbes 400 list, or poke around the Small Business Success Stories page on BusinessWeek.
Stay motivated – and if you can’t, try something new.
Staying motivated isn’t easy – we often convince ourselves not to be. We often give ourselves excuses, allow other people to put us down, or look at the success of others and think, “That’ll never be me.”
There are two basic types of motivation: intrinsic motivation, and extrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation comes from the feeling of self-achievement inherent in the task or project achieved, i.e. solving a puzzle, completing a school assignment, or finally publishing that website you were working on for a client.
Extrinsic motivation is the reward you get from others – or outside “forces”. This includes money and other financial or tangible rewards, such as a free vacation for achieving your sales targets, a trophy for winning first place at the Olympics, or even the crowd cheering as you overtake car #2 in the last stretch of the race. This explains the “home team advantage” methodology.
Extrinsic motivation (namely money) is often the primary basis for our motivation. Everyone needs money, and wants as much of it as possible. That’s no secret. However, I believe the feeling of self achievement is equally important when it comes to staying motivated.
When you’ve finished the design work for a client, what feels better? Getting paid or seeing your client smile, succeed, and receive brand recognition partly due to your efforts? If you picked getting paid, try thinking about it this way:
A small, startup company seeks your help in setting up their identity (logo, business card, website, etc.). The company is completely unknown but happens to take off. All of a sudden the company is everywhere – the NY Times, TechCrunch, CNN, a trending topic on Twitter, you name it.
Do you still feel the same? Okay, that might have been a bit of an exaggeration, but hopefully my point was made.
But what about the money?
There are many ways that you can use money and your personal financial status to keep yourself motivated. Here are a few ideas:
Reward yourself: decide on an amount (that doesn’t cut into your bill paying or savings) and reward yourself after a job well done. Of course you don’t want to spend every hard penny you’ve earned on your favourite hobby, but if it’s all work and no play you’ll get burnt out. Reward yourself as a reminder of what you’re working towards.
Financial status: do you want to put a down payment on your own place in 2 years? Pay off the house in 7? Have children and send them to private school? Remind yourself how much money you need to earn each month in order to support your desired lifestyle. If you’re not quite there yet figure out the steps needed to get there and write them down.
It takes money to make money: do you have any business plans that require startup capital you don’t currently have? Do you plan to buy and rent properties? Invest? These are other good ways to remind yourself to keep at it.
What else?
Networking. It’s easy to meet other people in your industry on the internet these days (especially if you’re a designer). If you don’t already have a blog, consider starting one. Sign up for Twitter and get out there! Meeting other people in your line of work helps you to learn the language and communication styles that are effective in your industry.
If you know a lot of designers, for instance, they can refer clients to you when they’re overbooked, or when a client requires something beyond their expertise.
It’s also a good idea to try to network in person. It’s refreshing to get out of your home or office and meet people face to face. People will often share more in person than they will on their blog or via Twitter. Escaping your workstation every once in a while will give you that added fuel you need to move forward when you return from your mid-day vacation.
When all else fails, I tend to go on a “success story” binge. Take an hour to watch a fewTED Talks, read a few articles about people on the Forbes 400 list, or poke around the Small Business Success Stories page on BusinessWeek.
Stay motivated – and if you can’t, try something new.
Self-Motivating Through Creative Blocks
Self-Motivating Through Creative Blocks
As designers, we need to be creative in order to be successful at our jobs.
Coming up with ideas and creative solutions to problems is what we do on a daily basis. But that doesn’t mean it’s always easy to do so.
Sometimes we get blocked creatively, and it seems like no matter how hard we try, we just can’t come up with a creative solution to anything.
The good news is that there are plenty of things you can do that can help you overcome a block in your creativity. First you’ll need to understand why you’re blocked, and then try some simple techniques to get over that blockage.
In this article, we’ll also cover a few ideas for finding motivation when your lack of desire to work is the root of your creativity problems.
Reasons for Creative Blockages
Before we can overcome a creative block, it’s important to figure out what is causing it. Without knowing the root cause, we don’t really know the best methods for getting over a blockage. In most cases, blocks are caused by one of four things:
1. Working Too Hard If you find yourself with a creative block, think about how much you’ve been working lately. If you work ten hour days or never take days off, you may be blocked because you’re just working too hard and too much. Most people don’t have an unlimited supply of creativity. After a few hours or a few days, we need time to replenish those creative reserves.
2. Lack of Sleep Being tired tends to zap creativity faster than anything else. If you’re not getting enough sleep every night, you can’t expect to be as creative as you would be if you’re well-rested. Not everyone necessarily needs eight hours of sleep a night, so it’s important to figure out how much sleep you need to be at your optimal creative levels. Note: Sometimes too much sleep can be just as bad for your creativity as too little.
3. Stress Whether it’s things in your personal life causing you stress or something at work, stress is a major killer of creativity. Finding ways to minimize the stress in your life is a great way to boost your creativity. Whether you do that by eliminating the things causing you stress or simply by finding ways to deal with it (like meditation or exercise) is up to you.
4. Fear Fear can freeze your creativity more solidly than virtually anything else. Sometimes you might be afraid to finish the current project because you have nothing else lined up after it. Other times you might be afraid the client isn’t going to like what you’ve done, or that your peers won’t appreciate the design. In either case, overcoming your fear is going to be paramount to getting your creativity back and finishing the project.
Ways to Overcome Creative Blocks
Hopefully you’ve been able to nail down exactly why you’re suffering from a creative block. Now it’s time to get down to overcoming it. There are a lot of techniques you can utilize to get over almost any kind of creative blockage. Here are some of the best:
1. Take a Break If you’re creatively blocked, taking a break from whatever you’re working on can do wonders. Work on something else for a bit, or take a day off. When you’ve got some distance from your project and aren’t thinking about it anymore, you might be surprised at the ideas that will start flowing.
2. Take a Nap This is particularly important if you think your creative blockage might be due to a lack of sleep. Taking a nap, even if it’s just for twenty or thirty minutes, can let your creative batteries recharge and give you new ideas. Even if your creativity blockage isn’t because of a lack of sleep, a nap can still give you a fresh perspective on your work. If you’re a morning person, an afternoon nap can even help reset your creativity levels to what they are when you get up in the morning.
3. Take a Walk A change of setting can often open up your creative flood gates better than anything else. Walking can also let your mind wander, which can result in finding new, creative solutions. Some people like to take long walks, maybe for an hour or two to free up their creativity, while others find just a quick, ten-minute walk around their block does the trick. You’ll have to experiment to see what works for you.
4. Do Something
Mundane This is one of the best tricks out there for unblocking your creativity. Doing some mundane task allows your brain to relax and wander, much as it does when you take a walk. Cleaning is often one of the best mundane tasks for overcoming a creative block, whether it’s vacuuming or washing dishes or dusting. The bonus here is that in many cases you’re completing other work that needs to get done. Make sure whatever mundane task you choose requires some physical activity but little or no concentration.
5. Switch Your Tools As designers, we generally use the same tools over and over again for each project. The same software, same hardware, same notebooks, pens, etc. If you change the tools you’re using, you may find ideas flow a little better. Try hand-coding for awhile in just a text editor, or use a different graphics program for a little while. If you normally use a computer-based wire-framing program, considering switching to paper for a bit (or vice versa). Making a small change in how you work can have a remarkable effect on how creative you’re feeling.
6. Look for Inspiration Finding new inspiration can do wonders for your creativity. If you’re blocked on a certain project, try looking at similar projects others have created. You can also try to find inspiration in other design work or outside the design world. If you want to create a new website layout, for example, maybe spend some time looking at magazine layouts for inspiration.
7. Force Yourself Sometimes the only way to get over a creative blockage is to push through it. You might have tried all the techniques above and still not be able to find your creativity again. If that’s the case, then just keep moving forward with the project. Sometimes, once you get past a certain part of the project, you may get over your creative block. You might also be able to then look at the part of the project that was giving you problems once it’s finished and figure out a better way to redo it. Or you might find that pushing through results in a perfectly acceptable solution that you and your client are both happy with.
Self-Motivating Tricks
Sometimes it’s not so much that we don’t know how to overcome a creative block as it’s just that we have no motivation to do so. For freelancers, especially, finding motivation can be difficult at times.
Even if you normally have no problem motivating yourself, almost everyone gets hit by a lack of motivation at one point or another, and this can often lead to a creative block. Finding motivation again can be tricky, but there are a few things you can do to get yourself working again.
1. Small Rewards Using small rewards as you reach certain milestones in your project can be a great way to get your creativity flowing again. If you know that after you complete a certain bit of your work that you can go out to eat, or go hang out with your friends or family, you’re more likely to just push through the creative block (which can end up freeing things up). These small rewards should be something you enjoy that you maybe don’t get to do every day or every week. The key here is to stick to it and not take your reward until you’ve met your goal.
2. Big Rewards Big rewards can be a great motivator for getting over a more severe creative block and finishing a big project. What this big reward is will depend on you. For some people, it might be taking a day or two off. For others it might be buying something you’ve been eying for awhile. Regardless of what the reward is, it can serve as a great motivator for loosening up a creative block. And if nothing else, it can motivate you to push through the block and get the work done.
3. Music Don’t overlook music as both a motivator and a way to free up your creativity. Put on something with a good beat, especially something fast, and you might be surprised at how much it can motivate you. Try to tailor the music to the project you’re working on. If you’re designing something young and hip, put on some club music or pop. If you’re designing something elegant and sophisticated, put on classical music or something like Frank Sinatra. Music that fits the project can get your creativity moving in the right direction.
4. Don’t Let Yourself Work This one seems counter-intuitive, but sometimes forcing yourself to take a break and not work can free up your creative flow. A forced hiatus can leave you eager to get back to work and filled with new ideas. If you can, take a break of a couple days. Do anything but work, and try not to even think about your work. You’ll probably find after a day or so, you can’t not think about your current project and your head is full of new ideas. Don’t got back to work as soon as that happens. Force yourself to take another day or two before you start working again so you’ve got so many ideas they’ll keep you going for awhile.
As designers, we need to be creative in order to be successful at our jobs.
Coming up with ideas and creative solutions to problems is what we do on a daily basis. But that doesn’t mean it’s always easy to do so.
Sometimes we get blocked creatively, and it seems like no matter how hard we try, we just can’t come up with a creative solution to anything.
The good news is that there are plenty of things you can do that can help you overcome a block in your creativity. First you’ll need to understand why you’re blocked, and then try some simple techniques to get over that blockage.
In this article, we’ll also cover a few ideas for finding motivation when your lack of desire to work is the root of your creativity problems.
Reasons for Creative Blockages
Before we can overcome a creative block, it’s important to figure out what is causing it. Without knowing the root cause, we don’t really know the best methods for getting over a blockage. In most cases, blocks are caused by one of four things:
1. Working Too Hard If you find yourself with a creative block, think about how much you’ve been working lately. If you work ten hour days or never take days off, you may be blocked because you’re just working too hard and too much. Most people don’t have an unlimited supply of creativity. After a few hours or a few days, we need time to replenish those creative reserves.
2. Lack of Sleep Being tired tends to zap creativity faster than anything else. If you’re not getting enough sleep every night, you can’t expect to be as creative as you would be if you’re well-rested. Not everyone necessarily needs eight hours of sleep a night, so it’s important to figure out how much sleep you need to be at your optimal creative levels. Note: Sometimes too much sleep can be just as bad for your creativity as too little.
3. Stress Whether it’s things in your personal life causing you stress or something at work, stress is a major killer of creativity. Finding ways to minimize the stress in your life is a great way to boost your creativity. Whether you do that by eliminating the things causing you stress or simply by finding ways to deal with it (like meditation or exercise) is up to you.
4. Fear Fear can freeze your creativity more solidly than virtually anything else. Sometimes you might be afraid to finish the current project because you have nothing else lined up after it. Other times you might be afraid the client isn’t going to like what you’ve done, or that your peers won’t appreciate the design. In either case, overcoming your fear is going to be paramount to getting your creativity back and finishing the project.
Ways to Overcome Creative Blocks
Hopefully you’ve been able to nail down exactly why you’re suffering from a creative block. Now it’s time to get down to overcoming it. There are a lot of techniques you can utilize to get over almost any kind of creative blockage. Here are some of the best:
1. Take a Break If you’re creatively blocked, taking a break from whatever you’re working on can do wonders. Work on something else for a bit, or take a day off. When you’ve got some distance from your project and aren’t thinking about it anymore, you might be surprised at the ideas that will start flowing.
2. Take a Nap This is particularly important if you think your creative blockage might be due to a lack of sleep. Taking a nap, even if it’s just for twenty or thirty minutes, can let your creative batteries recharge and give you new ideas. Even if your creativity blockage isn’t because of a lack of sleep, a nap can still give you a fresh perspective on your work. If you’re a morning person, an afternoon nap can even help reset your creativity levels to what they are when you get up in the morning.
3. Take a Walk A change of setting can often open up your creative flood gates better than anything else. Walking can also let your mind wander, which can result in finding new, creative solutions. Some people like to take long walks, maybe for an hour or two to free up their creativity, while others find just a quick, ten-minute walk around their block does the trick. You’ll have to experiment to see what works for you.
4. Do Something
Mundane This is one of the best tricks out there for unblocking your creativity. Doing some mundane task allows your brain to relax and wander, much as it does when you take a walk. Cleaning is often one of the best mundane tasks for overcoming a creative block, whether it’s vacuuming or washing dishes or dusting. The bonus here is that in many cases you’re completing other work that needs to get done. Make sure whatever mundane task you choose requires some physical activity but little or no concentration.
5. Switch Your Tools As designers, we generally use the same tools over and over again for each project. The same software, same hardware, same notebooks, pens, etc. If you change the tools you’re using, you may find ideas flow a little better. Try hand-coding for awhile in just a text editor, or use a different graphics program for a little while. If you normally use a computer-based wire-framing program, considering switching to paper for a bit (or vice versa). Making a small change in how you work can have a remarkable effect on how creative you’re feeling.
6. Look for Inspiration Finding new inspiration can do wonders for your creativity. If you’re blocked on a certain project, try looking at similar projects others have created. You can also try to find inspiration in other design work or outside the design world. If you want to create a new website layout, for example, maybe spend some time looking at magazine layouts for inspiration.
7. Force Yourself Sometimes the only way to get over a creative blockage is to push through it. You might have tried all the techniques above and still not be able to find your creativity again. If that’s the case, then just keep moving forward with the project. Sometimes, once you get past a certain part of the project, you may get over your creative block. You might also be able to then look at the part of the project that was giving you problems once it’s finished and figure out a better way to redo it. Or you might find that pushing through results in a perfectly acceptable solution that you and your client are both happy with.
Self-Motivating Tricks
Sometimes it’s not so much that we don’t know how to overcome a creative block as it’s just that we have no motivation to do so. For freelancers, especially, finding motivation can be difficult at times.
Even if you normally have no problem motivating yourself, almost everyone gets hit by a lack of motivation at one point or another, and this can often lead to a creative block. Finding motivation again can be tricky, but there are a few things you can do to get yourself working again.
1. Small Rewards Using small rewards as you reach certain milestones in your project can be a great way to get your creativity flowing again. If you know that after you complete a certain bit of your work that you can go out to eat, or go hang out with your friends or family, you’re more likely to just push through the creative block (which can end up freeing things up). These small rewards should be something you enjoy that you maybe don’t get to do every day or every week. The key here is to stick to it and not take your reward until you’ve met your goal.
2. Big Rewards Big rewards can be a great motivator for getting over a more severe creative block and finishing a big project. What this big reward is will depend on you. For some people, it might be taking a day or two off. For others it might be buying something you’ve been eying for awhile. Regardless of what the reward is, it can serve as a great motivator for loosening up a creative block. And if nothing else, it can motivate you to push through the block and get the work done.
3. Music Don’t overlook music as both a motivator and a way to free up your creativity. Put on something with a good beat, especially something fast, and you might be surprised at how much it can motivate you. Try to tailor the music to the project you’re working on. If you’re designing something young and hip, put on some club music or pop. If you’re designing something elegant and sophisticated, put on classical music or something like Frank Sinatra. Music that fits the project can get your creativity moving in the right direction.
4. Don’t Let Yourself Work This one seems counter-intuitive, but sometimes forcing yourself to take a break and not work can free up your creative flow. A forced hiatus can leave you eager to get back to work and filled with new ideas. If you can, take a break of a couple days. Do anything but work, and try not to even think about your work. You’ll probably find after a day or so, you can’t not think about your current project and your head is full of new ideas. Don’t got back to work as soon as that happens. Force yourself to take another day or two before you start working again so you’ve got so many ideas they’ll keep you going for awhile.
10 Secrets Every New Artist Should Know
10 Secrets Every New Artist Should Know
Being a professional artist is as much about tenacity as it is about talent. Just because you have the creative ability to mold perception and shape moods using color, light, and sound, doesn’t mean you have what it takes to make it as an artist. In fact, being creative and being talented is rarely very lucrative.
It takes a lot of concentrated energy, impressive levels of ability and commitment, and a combination of luck, timing, and business savvy to succeed as an artist. It’s definitely not easy, but neither is it impossible — especially if you know what to expect when you are first starting your career.
#1 Freelance Regularly
Sure, you’d prefer to have one steady, high-paying job as an animator, illustrator, or designer. Who wouldn’t? It’d be great to receive bimonthly paychecks from your company, have health insurance and paid vacation days. Unfortunately, there are a lot more people like you vying for that steady job than there are jobs like that available.
Instead of waiting around for the perfect opportunity to fall out of the sky, you need to create your own opportunities. How do you do this? Simple. Freelance as much as you can. Expand your body of work and your network of professional relationships. Work with start-ups, do little one-off corporate projects, take month-long contract gigs. You never know which of the many pots on the fire is going to boil first. If you’ve gotten your work exposed to a lot of people, you’ll have much better odds of getting hired when one of these projects takes off. After all, you’ll already be a known and respected commodity.
#2 Volunteer: Serve Others While Serving Yourself
Sometimes we do freelance work for free: it’s called volunteering. Sure, you can look at it as working for free… or, you can look at it as networking. Try thinking about it like this: if you are a talented artist and you aren’t getting paid for that talent, one of the reasons may be lack of exposure. It’s as simple as that — not enough people have seen your work! By volunteering, you get to look like a benevolent human being AND you get to showcase your skills to a potentially large and appreciative audience. You never know when one of the many people associated with your volunteer project will offer you a job — or an introduction — that can help out your career.
#3 Illustrate Your Point
No matter what kind of artist you are, it pays to be able to do a quick sketch to visually articulate your point. Think of it as professional Pictionary. If somebody asks you for an example of a concept or a campaign and hands you a piece of paper and a pen, you should be able to take that notepad and draw your idea with confidence. Not an illustrator? It doesn’t matter. Even if you’re a computer animator, a fashion designer, or a sculptor, having a basic ability to make quick visual illustrations of your ideas will give you the credibility and edge you need in presentations. Anyone can give an “elevator pitch”, but only a few can describe that pitch with a pen as fluently as they can with a paragraph.
#4 Give Yourself a Hot Brand
Marketing is important, especially in a crowded field like art. There are millions of people that claim to be artists; they all have portfolios and big aspirations. What they don’t all have is a clear brand. Evaluate your skills, evaluate your specialty, and make a branding decision.
Are you a photographer? Great. What kind? Editorial, travel, wedding, fashion, food? Focus your brand. (As a photographer we shouldn’t even have to tell you this.!) Focus your skills through the right lens and get the best shot at success. Once you know what your brand is, use it. Promote it, build it, strengthen it, network with it, attend conventions with it, SEO it. Make your brand unique, compelling, and impactful by focusing on a skill and cultivating it. You’ll increase relevancy, opportunity, and ultimately brand value.
#5 Show Off Your Professional Portfolio Online and Off
Every serious artist needs a serious portfolio. If you want people to consider you a professional, you will need to compile and design a professional portfolio both on the web and in a traditional “book.”
Your book should be in a nice presentation case. Remember, the feel and texture of the case itself as well as the sheen on the sleeves that hold your work will all be evaluated (even if unconsciously) by the people to whom you present your work.
Online, your portfolio needs to be professionally designed by a web designer; it should be clearly organized and easy to navigate. An artist with a badly designed online portfolio will not look professional, no matter how good his or her work is. Make sure to link to your experience and education in a resume section, showcase your clients and expertise. If you work in various media, you should have a painting channel, an illustration channel, a photography channel, each segmented to highlight your top work in each section.
#6 Contracts Can Make the Difference
As you look for the perfect artistic career, you’ll find yourself doing a lot of piecemeal contract and freelance work for extra cash. When you work on a project-by-project basis, you need to get paid promptly so that you can pay for things you might need. To make sure you always make rent, you need a solid contract.
Keep your contract straightforward, simple, and professional. Make it clear that your contract is legally binding and that payment is due within 30 days of the receipt of the invoice. Stipulate that additional penalties will accrue at X% on top of the original fee if payment is tardy beyond the 30-day mark. In most instances you can accomplish everything you need to in a short form contract. For more information on contracts for artistscheck this out.
#7 Know Your Value
Art is subjective. One man’s paint splatter is another man’s masterpiece. When you are trying to decide how much to charge for your work, you need to take a lot of things into account.
First, think about the time it takes you to do something. If a piece takes you 60 hours to complete and you only charge $500 dollars for it that means you are working for about $8 an hour. That’s not a great salary for a professional artist, unless of course you are a “Sandwich Artist.”.
Second, consider the cost of your supplies. If you spend $200 on materials for that 60-hour piece, and charge $500 dollars, you are only making $300 on the piece – which means you’re actually making about $5 an hour.
Third, factor in the intangibles of your work that give it value. You didn’t start making art today; you’ve practiced, studied, trained, experimented, and improved for years. Factor those years of preparation into your final price. Even if you can make something in an hour, it doesn’t mean it’s less valuable because it would take a non-professional many more hours to approximate the same thing. After all, your years of practice prepared you to create quality work quickly. You should be compensated for that foresight and training.
Fourthly, value creates value. If you charge more money for something, people will assume it is worth more money. If you make an amazing sculpture and sell it for one dollar, people will think that there must be something wrong with it. They will devalue it, even though their initial impression was that it was a lovely and valuable piece of art. There is a point where you can charge too much for your work, but charging more than you think it’s worth might actually help you sell more of it, make more money, and establish a perceived value that wasn’t there before.
#8 The Client Will Annoy You
The problem with art is that everyone assumes that they are good at it. Nuclear engineers never face this problem. If a nuclear engineer gets hired to work on a problem, they are never second-guessed about tweaking their quantum physics formulas. Why? Because the person who hired them knows they don’t know how to perform nuclear engineering, that’s why they hired a scientist.
Art is not like this. Art is more democratic—and democracies make mistakes. Everyone thinks they have a hidden talent for art, a great eye, or a subtle genius for color theory. At the very least they will assume that “they know what they like” (even if their taste is atrocious). Because of this common misconception, yourclient will give you advice and feedback that will annoy you. And it should annoy you, because in most cases, it will be wrong. After all, your client lacks the talent and vision to create design for him or herself. Don’t worry; this won’t stop them from piping in with ill formed opinions. He or she will try to put their touch on your design by having you add space where it isn’t needed, or mix colors that clash.
Unfortunately, until you are an established artist, you are going to have to either concede to your client’s wishes and get paid, or stay righteous and poor. The sooner you deal with this, the sooner you’ll get paid.
#9 Being an Artist Doesn’t Mean You Get to Be Irresponsible
Until you’ve made it big, your quirks and whims won’t be seen as endearing or delightfully Warholian. If you’re serious about making art your business then go ahead and put aside romantic visions of an artistic lifestyle that focuses on glamour and doesn’t put much stock in the details.
As an aspiring artist you’ll need to hustle, and you’ll need to sell yourself. You’ll need to network; you’ll need to market your skills and your portfolio. You’ll need to answer phone calls, and, just as importantly, return those calls you missed. Just because you are talented doesn’t mean you are going to make it as an artist. A combination of talent and tenacity is required to showcase your work and get it the recognition that it very well may deserve.
#10 Confidence is Required
If a stranger asks you, “What do you do?” And your response sounds something like, “Umm. Well, I um … I don’t know. Well … I want to be an artist, but I’m not really an artist, I mean I’m not that good, and I certainly don’t get paid for it, but I sure like art.”
You are not doing a good job of being an artist. No matter how amazing your artwork is, if you can’t project an aura of confidence and professionalism it is going to take a series of miracles for anyone to ever get the chance to see and appreciate your work. Yes, the universe is unfair, there are some artists with little talent beyond self-promotion that are famous. Do they deserve to be famous? Not really, but the point is that confidence and self-promotion can be as important, if not more important, than talent.
The majority of successful professional artists exhibit a combination of confidence and talent. They recognize an opportunity and they know how to present themselves and their work to seize that opportunity. If you don’t think your art is good enough to talk about, stop now, because nobody else will either.
Being a professional artist is as much about tenacity as it is about talent. Just because you have the creative ability to mold perception and shape moods using color, light, and sound, doesn’t mean you have what it takes to make it as an artist. In fact, being creative and being talented is rarely very lucrative.
It takes a lot of concentrated energy, impressive levels of ability and commitment, and a combination of luck, timing, and business savvy to succeed as an artist. It’s definitely not easy, but neither is it impossible — especially if you know what to expect when you are first starting your career.
#1 Freelance Regularly
Sure, you’d prefer to have one steady, high-paying job as an animator, illustrator, or designer. Who wouldn’t? It’d be great to receive bimonthly paychecks from your company, have health insurance and paid vacation days. Unfortunately, there are a lot more people like you vying for that steady job than there are jobs like that available.
Instead of waiting around for the perfect opportunity to fall out of the sky, you need to create your own opportunities. How do you do this? Simple. Freelance as much as you can. Expand your body of work and your network of professional relationships. Work with start-ups, do little one-off corporate projects, take month-long contract gigs. You never know which of the many pots on the fire is going to boil first. If you’ve gotten your work exposed to a lot of people, you’ll have much better odds of getting hired when one of these projects takes off. After all, you’ll already be a known and respected commodity.
#2 Volunteer: Serve Others While Serving Yourself
Sometimes we do freelance work for free: it’s called volunteering. Sure, you can look at it as working for free… or, you can look at it as networking. Try thinking about it like this: if you are a talented artist and you aren’t getting paid for that talent, one of the reasons may be lack of exposure. It’s as simple as that — not enough people have seen your work! By volunteering, you get to look like a benevolent human being AND you get to showcase your skills to a potentially large and appreciative audience. You never know when one of the many people associated with your volunteer project will offer you a job — or an introduction — that can help out your career.
#3 Illustrate Your Point
No matter what kind of artist you are, it pays to be able to do a quick sketch to visually articulate your point. Think of it as professional Pictionary. If somebody asks you for an example of a concept or a campaign and hands you a piece of paper and a pen, you should be able to take that notepad and draw your idea with confidence. Not an illustrator? It doesn’t matter. Even if you’re a computer animator, a fashion designer, or a sculptor, having a basic ability to make quick visual illustrations of your ideas will give you the credibility and edge you need in presentations. Anyone can give an “elevator pitch”, but only a few can describe that pitch with a pen as fluently as they can with a paragraph.
#4 Give Yourself a Hot Brand
Marketing is important, especially in a crowded field like art. There are millions of people that claim to be artists; they all have portfolios and big aspirations. What they don’t all have is a clear brand. Evaluate your skills, evaluate your specialty, and make a branding decision.
Are you a photographer? Great. What kind? Editorial, travel, wedding, fashion, food? Focus your brand. (As a photographer we shouldn’t even have to tell you this.!) Focus your skills through the right lens and get the best shot at success. Once you know what your brand is, use it. Promote it, build it, strengthen it, network with it, attend conventions with it, SEO it. Make your brand unique, compelling, and impactful by focusing on a skill and cultivating it. You’ll increase relevancy, opportunity, and ultimately brand value.
#5 Show Off Your Professional Portfolio Online and Off
Every serious artist needs a serious portfolio. If you want people to consider you a professional, you will need to compile and design a professional portfolio both on the web and in a traditional “book.”
Your book should be in a nice presentation case. Remember, the feel and texture of the case itself as well as the sheen on the sleeves that hold your work will all be evaluated (even if unconsciously) by the people to whom you present your work.
Online, your portfolio needs to be professionally designed by a web designer; it should be clearly organized and easy to navigate. An artist with a badly designed online portfolio will not look professional, no matter how good his or her work is. Make sure to link to your experience and education in a resume section, showcase your clients and expertise. If you work in various media, you should have a painting channel, an illustration channel, a photography channel, each segmented to highlight your top work in each section.
#6 Contracts Can Make the Difference
As you look for the perfect artistic career, you’ll find yourself doing a lot of piecemeal contract and freelance work for extra cash. When you work on a project-by-project basis, you need to get paid promptly so that you can pay for things you might need. To make sure you always make rent, you need a solid contract.
Keep your contract straightforward, simple, and professional. Make it clear that your contract is legally binding and that payment is due within 30 days of the receipt of the invoice. Stipulate that additional penalties will accrue at X% on top of the original fee if payment is tardy beyond the 30-day mark. In most instances you can accomplish everything you need to in a short form contract. For more information on contracts for artistscheck this out.
#7 Know Your Value
Art is subjective. One man’s paint splatter is another man’s masterpiece. When you are trying to decide how much to charge for your work, you need to take a lot of things into account.
First, think about the time it takes you to do something. If a piece takes you 60 hours to complete and you only charge $500 dollars for it that means you are working for about $8 an hour. That’s not a great salary for a professional artist, unless of course you are a “Sandwich Artist.”.
Second, consider the cost of your supplies. If you spend $200 on materials for that 60-hour piece, and charge $500 dollars, you are only making $300 on the piece – which means you’re actually making about $5 an hour.
Third, factor in the intangibles of your work that give it value. You didn’t start making art today; you’ve practiced, studied, trained, experimented, and improved for years. Factor those years of preparation into your final price. Even if you can make something in an hour, it doesn’t mean it’s less valuable because it would take a non-professional many more hours to approximate the same thing. After all, your years of practice prepared you to create quality work quickly. You should be compensated for that foresight and training.
Fourthly, value creates value. If you charge more money for something, people will assume it is worth more money. If you make an amazing sculpture and sell it for one dollar, people will think that there must be something wrong with it. They will devalue it, even though their initial impression was that it was a lovely and valuable piece of art. There is a point where you can charge too much for your work, but charging more than you think it’s worth might actually help you sell more of it, make more money, and establish a perceived value that wasn’t there before.
#8 The Client Will Annoy You
The problem with art is that everyone assumes that they are good at it. Nuclear engineers never face this problem. If a nuclear engineer gets hired to work on a problem, they are never second-guessed about tweaking their quantum physics formulas. Why? Because the person who hired them knows they don’t know how to perform nuclear engineering, that’s why they hired a scientist.
Art is not like this. Art is more democratic—and democracies make mistakes. Everyone thinks they have a hidden talent for art, a great eye, or a subtle genius for color theory. At the very least they will assume that “they know what they like” (even if their taste is atrocious). Because of this common misconception, yourclient will give you advice and feedback that will annoy you. And it should annoy you, because in most cases, it will be wrong. After all, your client lacks the talent and vision to create design for him or herself. Don’t worry; this won’t stop them from piping in with ill formed opinions. He or she will try to put their touch on your design by having you add space where it isn’t needed, or mix colors that clash.
Unfortunately, until you are an established artist, you are going to have to either concede to your client’s wishes and get paid, or stay righteous and poor. The sooner you deal with this, the sooner you’ll get paid.
#9 Being an Artist Doesn’t Mean You Get to Be Irresponsible
Until you’ve made it big, your quirks and whims won’t be seen as endearing or delightfully Warholian. If you’re serious about making art your business then go ahead and put aside romantic visions of an artistic lifestyle that focuses on glamour and doesn’t put much stock in the details.
As an aspiring artist you’ll need to hustle, and you’ll need to sell yourself. You’ll need to network; you’ll need to market your skills and your portfolio. You’ll need to answer phone calls, and, just as importantly, return those calls you missed. Just because you are talented doesn’t mean you are going to make it as an artist. A combination of talent and tenacity is required to showcase your work and get it the recognition that it very well may deserve.
#10 Confidence is Required
If a stranger asks you, “What do you do?” And your response sounds something like, “Umm. Well, I um … I don’t know. Well … I want to be an artist, but I’m not really an artist, I mean I’m not that good, and I certainly don’t get paid for it, but I sure like art.”
You are not doing a good job of being an artist. No matter how amazing your artwork is, if you can’t project an aura of confidence and professionalism it is going to take a series of miracles for anyone to ever get the chance to see and appreciate your work. Yes, the universe is unfair, there are some artists with little talent beyond self-promotion that are famous. Do they deserve to be famous? Not really, but the point is that confidence and self-promotion can be as important, if not more important, than talent.
The majority of successful professional artists exhibit a combination of confidence and talent. They recognize an opportunity and they know how to present themselves and their work to seize that opportunity. If you don’t think your art is good enough to talk about, stop now, because nobody else will either.
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