Attitudes in Design.
on Feb 19 in Blog, News, Off-Topic tagged animators, architects, Attitudes, Chicago, Design, designers, Hard work, interior designers, web dudes by BrandonAttitudes in the design community have started to slip? Or have they always been this way? Read on to see my thoughts on the types of attitudes I have recently run into and why they can be detrimental to your design career. Also I talk about positive approches to gaining clients and projects and why this can help you in your design career more than any awesomely badd ass project you create.
*EDIT: Saul Bass on the same topic I touch in the article below. I would love to here your feedback on the subject as well.
I have just recently made a move to the great city of Chicago, and let me just began with the fact that I LOVE IT HERE! This city is a vast progression from when I was living in Columbia, SC. I still miss my hometown and the people, but the amount of work and progression I am making here has increased 120%. This city is full of opportunities and creative individuals. Its not hard science or math to realize that when you live in a place with a population roughly around 2.8 million people there will be indeed a lot more opportunities for you as an individual to succeed. That is if you have the right approach and most importantly the right ATTITUDE!
I was told when I moved here that the way to make an impact is to involve myself in the design community and go to “Industry Parties” and just mingle and let people know I am here and serious about what I do, but at the same time to be charismatic and enjoy my self while doing it. I mean after all what would life be if we didn’t have a good time while we were here on this planet. So I started to go to these things around Chicago. Let me tell you! This city has a ton of events and things to go to. My Calendar has never been as full as it is right now, in fact I think I am over working it at the moment and it actually crashed the other day? haha Regardless there are a ton of things to involve yourself in here.
So I went to a rather new thing (I was told) called Merge. It was an event for creative types to just come out mingle drink beer pass out cards and HAVE FUN! It was held at “The Evil Olive“. Neat bar lots of dance room, seems like the 2am bad decision bar but regardless the turn out was tremendous! I had a really great time meeting other designers, web dudes, animators, interior designers, architects, and much more while I was there. Beer was a nice thing to pair with these types of conversations. People were friendly and they would not hesitate to approach you and introduce themselves.
SO this is where The Attitude part comes in for me. While I was there I talked to 98430257348 people no lie. Seems impossible but I did. That is an actual number. While talking to these designers I noticed some things … not in there work but their attitudes. The first thing I noticed was that a couple designers all they wanted to do was talk about the money side of things. Granted money is important in this industry but aren’t we in it for the love design? After the money talk was being summed up I heard this phrase too many times to count.
“Yeah, I charge hourly and if they don’t want to pay me for my time in full then I will produce shit work for the amount of money they are paying me, I am not going to spend a lot of time on something unless I am paid for my time.”
ARE YOU KIDING ME?! This seriously is plain out a BAD ATTITUDE. Here is why this can be detrimental to you as a designer.
1. First off, anything you complete and turn in as a designer has your name attached to it directly. Say Susie over at FATBUTT INC. commissions you to do a project but doesn’t want to pay you what you want, so you just do mediocre work for her. She gets the finished product and then uses it in whatever way she needs to. SHOWS it to a billion people and every time someone sees it they ask who made that? Well that is where your name comes in. If you ask me we are lucky as designers because it is free advertising ALWAYS! I will be damned if I don’t ALWAYS PRODUCE THE BEST WORK I can. Even if the pay is shit to what you expect. Point blank, if you produce amazing work always and your pay rate will increase. It is just how it works. I KNOW, I KNOW …”But Brandon I can’t waste my time on things when I need to pay the bills” Listen, I understand that trust me. BUT the old saying “no pain, no gain.” comes into play here. This is part of the industry we work in. Its an unfortunate thing, but if you work extremely hard it will show in your work and people will began to respect you and would never even imagine paying you less than what you expect. It becomes a respect issue between you and the client.
2. Cynicism kills it all. Cynical outlooks on things as we discuss projects and design is never going to help you get anywhere. I personally can’t stand it. I don’t want to hear you complain about what your doing. I want to hear how much you love what your doing. If you complain about design and all the hours that you have to put into it, and you don’t even want to do it because its for a tennis ball company no body cares about…THEN YOU NEED TO FIND A NEW CAREER PATH!. This also is a part of being a designer. We are not always going to get the Golden Clients that we dream of but none the less it is work, and right now nobody should be complaining about work of any type. So stop complaining and start designing. I swear if these types of people spent as much time designing and creating as they did complaining then they would be top designers and we would all strive to be like them.
3. Be happy, charismatic and show that you love what you do. Recently a buddy of mine at the school I am attending - The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago – told me he had an interview for an internship position. Naturally he was excited and did a little research in the company and the person that he would be interviewing with. He looked up their work and well lets just say …. it was not anything groundbreaking. It made him and me question how this person even got to the position that they have. With a little more research we discovered that they had indeed graduated from the same school we are currently in. So naturally we asked a teacher if they knew this person and the teachers response was:
“OH!, YES! … what a wonderful person… seriously the happiest and most charismatic person you will ever meet. Happy to be alive and lights up a room when they walk in.”
Well there it is. It all made sense as soon as that was told to us. My point is that its not always about being the best at what you do, but showing that you want to be the best at what you do and that you love what you do. I am interested to hear how his interview goes, but my money says my friend gets the position because he as well is a super positive guy with good design ethics and a GREAT ATTITUDE in life and design.
4. Competitiveness. Now this is a weird topic and point to discuss. The reason I say that is, we are in an industry where competition is almost the main thing we work against. We all want that awesome client and want that awesome job that every one is after. Granted competitiveness can be approached in a productive manner. Lets say I am working towards a job and I don’t get the account and I find out that Johnny at Johnny Designs got it instead. Bummer central, but I am not going to hate the guy/gal for it. In fact I am going to go over and congratulate him/her on it and observe and research on why they got it over me. Obviously they had something there that I did not and it is part of my job to find that out. It will only make me a better designer in the end. Not only will I congratulate them but I will promote them as well. They see that I respect them and that I want to be to their level then they are moor inclined to help me out in the future when they obtain the next awesome project that I wanted. You don’t make friends by being a jerk and cold hearted and agitated. You make them by be friendly and happy for them, showing them that means more than any design job you will ever get. Treat others how you would want to be treated and you will treated the same.
5. WORK HARD AND LOVE IT! It’s all mental, stay positive and know that your finished product will rule. There is no denying that it feels so great when you spend 594837 hours on project and then the client LOVES IT! It produces an emotion and feeling that I love.
To tie up this blog post I just want to point out a couple little things. I am no saint. I complain and I struggle at times with design. In fact I struggle a ton!! haha but I know that when I started designing in 11th grade 9 years ago, that I just feel in love with the creativity and ability to express myself through art and layout. I remind myself constantly why I am in this industry and it makes it all better. Stay inspired; surround yourself with things you love. Most importantly GET CREATIVE in all aspects of your life, not just design. We are creative individuals and let that part of you shine. I promise you that if you implement your creative personality in your every day life people will notice and will attract to you.
WE ARE ALL DESIGNERS, in every way. We should be happy and feel lucky that we were born with the ability to think outside the box the way that we all do. Embrace that and go with it and share your ideas with the world. BUT BE HAPPY ABOUT IT! SHOW THAT YOU LOVE IT. Not that you hate it. If you hate it then you need to find something that you love. Life is too short to stress and struggle with your career path. We spend a majority of our lives working so be sure its something you LOVE to do. Most importantly stop complaining and start designing.
“A man is what he thinks about all day long” -Emerson
Brandon
Some designers and people I met at the Lets Merge meeting:
Ann Clancy : Motion Designer
Michelle Osburn Renn : Interior Designer
Adam Daniels : Photography
Rob Louotka : Designer
Nick Cambell : Motion Designer
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Great article man! Nice job, there's a lot of good point in here.
I am hoping to make it to the next Merge as I was unable to attend the first one.
~AG
Hmm,
I met you at that party, and I'm disappointed that the quote you're attacking seems to be from me. Obviously not my words, but I remember briefly talking business, and the problems of having to rush work to fit a budget.
Perhaps others said they” will produce shit work for the amount of money they are paying” Which is indeed a terrible attitude. I hope no professional designer would willingly and knowingly produce bad work.
That said, I wholeheartedly disagree that you should spend an unlimited amount of time on each project to make it “perfect”. I know we all want to improve our portfolios, but there are only so many hours in a day. I'm currently working with 9 different clients, and the vast majority of my work I'm very happy with, as are my clients. But I have one in particular that is very (very) unconstructive and demanding. No matter how many quality ideas or suggestions I put forward, they are shot down in favor of their own plans. These plans generally come from a group, and suffer from the 'design by committee' problem.
I work with a lot of great people, but like all designers, sometimes you get clients that stress you financially and mentally.
Spending an unlimited amount of time on a project does not always mean a better design. The best work I've ever done for those types of clients, was in the first draft or concept. The revisions and changes that I've contractually agreed to, are what bring the design down.
So in those cases, working extra hours not only hurts your business financially, but you don't net any quality work in the end either.
Some clients are CONSTRUCTIVE – Working hard or long hours generally produces great work, and their ideas help your designs grow.
But some clients are DESTRUCTIVE – The more time is spent breaking down unnecessary details, hurts your design.
I love love love what I do every day as a designer. But this is still a business. You have a limited amount of hours you can work in any given day or week (I often have to work 12 hour days), and they shouldn't be wasted on destructive projects. Bad clients lead to more bad clients, and you're shooting yourself in the foot if you make huge sacrifices for somebody that doesn't respect the design process.
Do good work for good clients, grow your business with clients and projects you love, but don't give all your time an energy to clients that are destructive.
Overall, I think you make some other great points though, and I'd still like to have a beer with you. I just needed to address that one issue. Be happy, charismatic, and work hard… I dig it.
Thanks so much man and look forward to meeting you at the next merge!
Thanks for the insight and detailed reply
Honestly this is why I posted this blog so designers would come and discuss their outlook on the industry. You made some very very strong points above and I respect that. Also I respect you and in no way was referring to any discussion we had. I had talked to a ton of people that night and was mainly referring to a girl that I spoke to near the end. So no hard feelings I promise. I agree in a different sense with everything you posted above, and still look forward to our interactions and design meetings in the near future! In fact if this was a malicious attempt to hurt your image I would of in no way put a link to your work on here I promise. I think you do good work I felt you had a positive attitude!. Keep up the good work! and please feel free to keep this discussion going 
Thanks again and look forward to that beer.
Brandon
Haha, no worries, just had to check in case you were referring to our discussion. Just pretend my first sentence doesn't exist, haha.
Maybe I'll write a blog post soon that explains what I'm saying a little more coherently, haha. But everything else you said I'm all for. Being happy and just an overall interesting person is a great point. Ultimately this business is just people and ideas, so being open and excited about everything will take you far.
Anyway, I'm glad you've got a conversation going. Keep up the good work!
First and foremost, thanks for attending Merge. There were indeed so many great creative types from Chicago, and you really met some great ones. I can personally vouch that Adam, Rob and Nick are great people to know.
You do make some great points, but much like Rob, I bite my tongue at other points—mainly from having different experiences, of course.
I don't believe that talking about the “money side of things” is a bad attitude to have. Day to day, designers are struggling with how much to charge clients, how to properly qualify themselves for a salary. It's a dark topic, one that isn't usually discussed openly.
Having a venue with other passionate, active and -working- professionals gives all the more reason to break ice with people and get to talking about topics that aren't ever taught in school.
Regardless, I look forward to meeting you some time. Keep on bloggin'.
Agreed. I try to be really open about prices with not only my clients, but colleagues as well. I think it's beneficial for all of us to be aware of what kind of prices are being thrown around. You never know if you're undervaluing your work if you don't talk about it.
Thanks again Mig for the great events! I'll be sure to see you again at the next one. Keep on tweetin'.
Im so glad you are passionate person and I cant verify that you are definitely not always happy but for the most part even though life gives you a shit sandwich you handle it well. Keep the chin up attitude I do believe in the long run it works to your advantage. Love you Mom
First off thanks so much for reading my blog! I really appreciate the feedback and view on the topic. I understand that money is important and that it is a dark subject to bring up in the design community. We are all working for it and striving to produce and live so naturally it is going to be a touchy subject. In all sense that is why I choose to write about this subject.
This post as I said before was not directed at any single individual and I would never direct negative vibes towards any other designer. I dont see talking about money as having a bad attitude either, but I do see that some designers are doing it for the money and complaining when they don't get what they feel they “deserve”
This type of thing happens in every industry so its nothing new. I just felt that I wanted to touch a little bit on this subject and my personal opinion and go with it. I just as much as any other designer needs money and do not want to waste my time, but I guess at this point in my life I would rather work super hard on one thing and get paid nothing and have an AMAZING product then get paid a little bit and just produce mediocre work.
I truly am so excited about being a designer in this city, and man MERGE RULED! seriously! what a cool thing to have. In Columbia SC there was NEVER anything even close to this type of event. I look forward to attending more of them to come. The people I met were amazing individuals and feel very lucky to have had conversations with them.
I agree with the fact that money should be something we discuss together as designers but we shouldn't be cynical and angry while doing it. Open conversation is seriously one of the most valuable things we have as designers so I am totally not knocking that aspect of it.
Regardless, hell yeah to design and double hell yeah to the creative individuals involved in it!
Great topic, Brandon. We all have to make sure we're not slipping into negative frames of mind, although sometimes it's easy to do so when work gets slow, or checks aren't coming fast enough.
You know, you really can tell who the super professionals are out there: the people who chime in and get involved with topics such as this. I can't stress enough how important it is to stay up to date with industry-related blogs and happenings–not just for knowledge, but for Google as well. The more postings you've got out there with your name on it, the more work will potentially come your way!
First Off It was a pleasure to meet you the other night at Merge! Secondly thank you for the kind words. I agree completely with the importance of blog posting and keeping up to date with current frame of minds in deign, also THE visibility that comes with being pro active in the community it worth more than anything! Thanks again and congrats on your awards here as of late! HOpe to see you at the next event.
MOM I love you! thank you for bring me up to be the way and person I am today!
AMEN! God, it’s good to see that one part of web design industry hasn’t gone to the dogs. I miss the days when doing so was innovative and prideful; when designers could show off their work with flair and dramatics galore. What happened to those prideful days?
Thank you so much for taking out the time to read this! I really appreciate it! The days are not necessarily all the way gone. Its just seems harder now to see them in all their glory. But its up to us as designers to make it the way we SEE it be! Thanks again and I hope this finds you well!
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