Alls well that ends well

So, it’s over. The project is done and for what it was worth it was quite a ride wasn’t it? You just have your exams left now and thats it. You are a graduate and for most of you this is the beginning of your professional lives… and I’m not done with you yet. Here is some advice you ought to take with you.

• There ARE NO rules in advertising and design. Zip. zilch. nada. If anyone says so they are lying through their teeth. Do what it takes to get what you want out of your project and don’t take no for an answer. If you start an uncompromising attitude to YOUR work from day one, it will last you all your life and you won’t just settle for any stuff like so many of your seniors.

• God really is in the details. I don’t know how I can explain this, but you will have to take my word for it and experiment with your work. One guy called Srinivas Bhaktha once told me that you cannot be minimalist if you don’t know how to subtract and that you cannot subtract if your work doesn’t have any detail to begin with. 15 years later, all I can say is – Just take the advice.

• Data in is Data out. You can be a shallow, visual-trend-only designer if you want to. Thats the easy way out. To be able to truly cross pollinate information you need to build a vast resource. Read like your life depends on it. Learn about anything that you lay your hands on. A decade or so later the depth to each field of shallow knowledge today will be solid and deep tomorrow. Knowledge is the way, not trend matching. Trust me on this.

• Loose that student frame of ind. You know what I mean. The whining, the excuses, disregard for time, rambling, inarticulateness… all this. Not that this in itself is bad, but because it affects your standing. This will start affecting you from your first job interview onwards. People like professionals. Be crisp and clear in what you say. Have pride in your work, and never show more than 10 or so works, unless you are requested. Only kids and L-boards take along a lifetimes worth of layouts and this is because like students they are addicted to appreciation. Learn to stop wanting to be appreciated, and also remember self pity is the worst enemy. If you’re a pro, you know your worth.

• Know your worth. You are a designer. Your offering to society is based on service value which is transparent. The value of a service DROPS after it is delivered. Remember that. Also, never hem and haw when asking people for YOUR money. There is an easy way to calculate your worth, base it on your lifestyle. Visualise the lifestyle you want and the resources that you need for this. Work out what your hourly worth is. (24 working days x 6 hours a day DIVIDED BY Your total monthly lifestyle overheads) If people negotiate with you, negotiate within parameters. If someone asks you to do them a favour and lower costs, just do it for free, but never lower what you are worth. This is because tomorrow they will not remember that it was a favor, and your worthiness will suffer. So, don’t compromise. Not even once.

• Do experimental projects all the time. The down side to being a paid professional is that eventually you stop creating if you dont get paid for it. This sucks and trust me without regular practise you are dead wood.Create because it’s play, not work. Money is a side effect, and in my experience as long as you fix a price and just focus on creating great work you automatically create wealth. In time you will see business is also like graphic design with it’s grids and constraints. That has nothing to do with you who is a creator. Give yourself personal projects and remain fresh. I know fuddyduddyold designers who claim a management crutch only because they know they have lost the creative edge. This is NOT you.

• Defend your work if you know you are right. Give way once and you will all your life. This is a promise. Design is a subjective thing. every body and their dog have opinions when it comes to stuff like colour and form and ideas. Many people will pull rank on you, some because they pay you for it. This does not mean they are right. If you concede to stupidity, you have to remember you are including it in your portfolio. Defend your work. Of course tact, diplomacy and other allied social tools apply.

• Learn about business. Start this at once. Learn to read management books, even if it seems boring. Look for the latest happenings in business ideas. Learn to track industries. Start with one vertical and when you learn how, add more to your field. Always be fluid. Any business concept is applicable anywhere, it’s only a matter of adaptation. Forget advice to the contrary and learn to trust people. The current objective is the expansion of knowledge and that comes from networking. Distrust, dividends and diversifications come later. Much much later.

• Design is science. Your field is your lab. I say this because I still run into designers who give the silliest rationale for their work. In fact I just read India’s largest Design firm’s brief on their new logo for a hotel client, and it was utterly unsubstantiated trash. Do not hide behind pseudo psychology or artyfarty holistic rationale for your work. RED does not mean Passion and BLUE does not stand for CORPORATE PERSEVERANCE. This is laziness, cowardice and is detrimental to the whole industry. Visuals affect people, so find out how. Use the internet’s vast resources on the mind, and brain. Educate yourself. Use science to help businesses through design.

And just to remind you that you are no longer sheltered I want to tell you that you are all officially competitors. In fact as far as I’m concerned you are either with me or against me. See you out there. 🙂