A Lesson Learned
There are times in life where you put yourself out there… farther than your comfort zone… and you hope that you’re not making a huge mistake.
When I decided to go into design, I signed up for a basic course in college. The first assignment was for a perfume ad. The instructions were pretty vague; I tried to follow them exactly as they were on the paper. The ad was horrible; I remember looking at it and hating it completely, but all the elements that had to included were there, so I figured I’d passed the assignment.
At the next class, the professor had turned them into overhead transparencies; the very first ad he showed was mine.
“This is an example of what NOT to do. Whoever created this ad might as well drop out of this course right now.”
I was mortified; this was the harshest criticism I’d ever received in my life (outside of my own). I was so embarrassed… but I didn’t quit. The next assignment he gave us, I completely ignored his instructions and designed the ad the way I thought it should be built. I found art on a stock photo site, I created the product packaging, and I used fonts that I liked. As I sat back to critique my own work, I was satisfied; if you put the ad in a magazine, it fit right in. I turned the assignment in the following day, and dreaded going back to class the following week. Sure enough, when I walked in, there was my ad again, the very first transparency of the day. I braced myself for the grouchy old professor’s criticism.
“Now, THIS is the kind of work you should ALL be doing.”
“But sir,” one of the girls protested, “it doesn’t follow the instructions.”
“Then how are you ever supposed to learn to be CREATIVE??” he bellowed.
I’ll never forget that professor. There was no gray areas with him; every week he either loved or despised my work. He taught me to toughen up. He taught me to learn to take criticism constructively, and not personally. And he taught me that it may be your best work, but clients will hate it anyway… because in this business, there truly is no right and wrong. Right and wrong is determined by the person signing the check.
January 29th, 2008 at 4:52 am
Although I have never seen any of your work, I can imagine it is some of the best otu there. You seem to have a design knack from the way you describe things. I know someone else who seems to be able to describe things and once you read his description you say to yourself, “Oh this is just so right.” I am not gifted with a mind like that and you should cherish your gift because it shows.
January 29th, 2008 at 7:01 am
I like your work, but I was always a much bigger fan of the caustic commentary that went with it
January 29th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Sounds like you’re the one student who got his lesson and makes teaching worth it. He made the toss and you caught it. I tried that once with a photography professor, and he and I got into an argument. Long story short, he said my photograph didn’t represent Texas, I didn’t want something cowboy, or horses, etc. He said my picture of a music venue wasn’t good enough to represent Texas, I reminded him he is from Pennsylvannia, what does he know about Texas (I’d lived here my whole life).