Chapter 6: THE SECRET: Do Good Work and Share with People
In reading Chapter 6 of Steal Like An Artist, which is entitled "The Secret: Do Good Work and Share It With People," I found that author Austin Kleon once again quelled some of my worries about getting out into the real world as a designer and validated some of the things that are currently going on in my life. The chapter's main point is that starting out as a beginning designer is difficult in many ways but you will find that if you simply work hard at your craft and then share your work with others, primarily on the Internet in this day and age, you will benefit greatly and grow as a conceptual thinker and skillful artist—you will be on your way to becoming known or discovered. He talks about several ways to go about this. He emphasizes the importance of developing and cultivating a sense of wonder about all kinds of things as well as sharing that wonder with others and getting them to wonder with you. The reason for this is that sharing your wonders and passions with other people is letting them into your life and heart—this openness makes people feel closer to your work and also helps you learn in the process. Sharing secrets, even if we are hesitant to do so, is a good thing, and learning the secrets of others who share them is a great way to gain insight, inspiration, and ideas. Kleon believes in fully taking advantage of today's technology, i.e., the Internet. At no other time in history have people been able to "put themselves out there" as instantaneously and far-reaching as the present time. You can share yourself with others on the Internet in many different ways, and Kleon believes in making use of as many ways as you can.
I got several things out of this chapter. First, in the beginning he discusses how students are used to getting tons of feedback and a feeling that people really care about their work. We work together, talk to one another, share our work and ideas, critique each other's work, and offer support to one another. "Never again in your life will you have such a captive audience." (p. 77) ("Oh no!" I thought.) Once out of that environment and in the world of a working (hopefully) designer, nobody seems to care anymore. He quotes writer Steven Pressfield as saying, "It's not that people are mean or cruel, they're just busy." (p. 78) During this learning curve, it's actually good to not have too much attention because your work won't be all that good at first, if you are like most people. You can use this time to experiment freely with no distractions. Once you start becoming known, you won't have that kind of freedom. All of this made me think about my current job at ThirdSide Design. I've been there for about three weeks now as a paid intern with the plan (both mine and ThirdSide's plan) for me to become a full time designer when I graduate in May. It's a very small company that does mostly web design and branding, and they are doing very well in their fourth year. But yikes! The learning curve is steep for me! And my boss, who is wonderful, is very very very very very busy and has little time to discuss or provide feedback on my work or provide much direction. I am already experiencing a slight sense of isolation and miss the constant interaction and feedback that I'm used to at school (even though I'm still in school). Kleon says (and I laugh... then cry...), "you learn that most of the world doesn't necessarily care about what you think," and "Know you're going to suck for a while," (p. 78–79). It's scary! However, to know that this is perfectly normal and that things do get better and you do get used to the changes—this is what is comforting. So there's that.
I also related to Kleon's ideas about being open and sharing yourself and your work with others. I'm a pretty open person, generally speaking. I like to share my thoughts, feelings, work, who I am, with others. I also like to wonder about things and do so somewhat naturally. I wonder what Kleon means when he says that "You should wonder at the things nobody else is wondering about." Sometimes I feel like I do that a lot. But it's also important to get others to share your wonders.
I like the idea that having a website is like having a container that needs to be filled and use this as inspiration. I'm going to keep that idea in mind as I continue to build and maintain my Prosite (which is gloriaroubal.com by the way). Kleon also discusses the Internet as being an "incubator for ideas" and that having a public presence can be "a kick in the pants." I think he means that being on the Internet and browsing around can help us develop some of the ideas that are already bouncing around in our heads, and that putting ourselves on the Internet is a way to keep us working hard to keep creating good work to share. I agree with both of these concepts. Definitely.
So, since graduation is just around the corner, it's time to create a real professional blog and link it to my other professional online presence locations—my Prosite of course, but also my LinkedIn profile, my Behance page, my Facebook business page, and my Google + page (I already have all of them set up but haven't done much yet with the latter two).
Here are links to all of the above:
PROSITE
BEHANCE
GOOGLE +
Here is a link to my new professional blog:
FAST READ
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