When you come up with an idea, how do you know if it’s a good one? Is it an idea worth pursuing, or is it a dud to be filed in the trash?
As designers, we face this challenge on every project. We fear going into presentations, because the ideas we gave birth to will face judgement. Somedays you feel like you’ve found a diamond in the rough. “I am a genius!” While other days, your ideas feel like garbage. “Why can’t I figure this out?”
What you Won’t Learn in Design School. The core skills you’ll need if you want to move up.
I'll be speaking at Art Center October 26th with fellow Alumni from NASA's JPL and Local Projects.
Hear the about the journeys of three recent alumni who redefined their roles as young designers in the broadening field of graphic design.
Wednesday, October 26th, 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Los Angeles Times Media Center (LAT) Art Center College of Design, Hillside Campus
1700 Lida Street, Pasadena, CA 91103
Paul Hoppe
Visual Experience Design Director / Associate Creative Director at Local Projects
Paul is a designer exploring the future of visual and interaction design for spaces and experiences. He currently co-directs the visual experience design department at Local Projects in NYC, where he is also an associate creative director. He is also a visiting faculty and advisory board member for the graduate program in graphic design at Art Center and teaches information design at the School of Visual Arts in NYC.
Lois Kim
Visual Strategist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Lois works on bringing concepts and missions of scientists and engineers to life through her visual language. With these concepts, she creates and art directs visually intriguing stories, designs, branding, print, and art installations. She hopes that her work will spark inspiration and show the beauty of science through art and design.
Matthew Encina
Creative Director at Blind
Matthew is a creative director and content creator for brands, entertainment, and video games. With a background in branding, design, and animation, he currently leads the team at Blind as a creative director. Matthew’s work has been featured in Fast Company, Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal, and in festivals around the world. His career highlights include the Webby Award winning interactive music video “Ink” for Coldplay, and the CLIO award winning “Jump Ahead” film for Xbox. matthewencina.com blind.com
Our Characters That Matter film for Xbox won a bronze CLIO at the Clio Key Art awards! Congrats to my hard-workng team, and our partners at Ayzenberg & Xbox.
See the full list of winners here.
How to understand the creative brief. In this video I break down down the 3 things you must do before you pitch. So you waste less time guessing what the client wants, and more time focused on designing the things that matter.
We, as creatives, love to spend a lot of time and energy blaming the client for making our work look bad. There’s thousands of memes, gifs, and blogs out there solely focused on expressing our frustrations with client feedback.
Usually the sentiment is along the lines of “I had such a great idea to begin with, and then the client came in with a bunch of stupid changes and ruined my work. Now I can’t show this on my portfolio.”
We’ve all been there, but we’re pointing the finger in the wrong direction. The real reason why creatives hate clients, is because creatives view themselves as artists, instead of professionals.
Read the full article on Medium.
Maximize Your Freelance Career. Accelerate your learning and increase your flow of jobs. In my latest article on Medium, I talk about my top tips for those of you freelancing and hustling.
Curious, what tips would you offer to other freelancers?
Start before you're ready. Amazing things can happen.
In April 2016, I delivered my TEDx talk on my experiences as a creative, and committing to do something well before I was ready. I hope my story can inspire those of you who are hesitant, to push through the threshold of fear and doubt, and take your shot.
