What would you suggest to young designers/artists? How to start a career and from what to learn?
Number 1. I used to think while having already invested a lot of time and energy into learning design: “What if everyone cannot be a designer? What if you need to be born with a certain talent? What if I don’t make it?” Those are limiting believes and you need to KILL them, Jack the Ripper style. Those thoughts are bad ones! You need to get straight with your own mind in this business, as well as any business, be confident in yourself. There is close to nothing that can’t be learned, nothing you can’t do. People in this industry will even try to tell you you’re worthless to keep you on smaller paycheck. Don’t believe them. If an employer ever tells you that nonsense, milk that company on knowledge and then get out, better yet, quit immediately and find that knowledge elsewhere!
Number 2. Look to your elders. Find a mentor, someone that know what they’re talking about, that just doesn’t talk but can actually back it up with action. Learn from them. It will be the fastest way you can gain knowledge, period. Ask! Be hungry! If you find yourself just sitting on your ass doing nothing, you better get up and ask someone something! If you don’t know what to ask, ask your mentor or whomever it is, what else knowledge you should be seeking. The idea is to keep the knowledge coming and to keep progressing. In the beginning, work around the clock, don’t just leave the office because you’ve finished your daily tasks, have an experimental project on the side lined up.
Number 3. Find a balance between your salary and fun projects. Getting paid too much could mean you’ll be working in a stiff office in a cubicle or similar, working on less attractive work. Getting paid too little and youmight be unhappy because you might not be able to do anything but buy food and paying rent. I believe that your work environment should be playful, socially dynamic and efficient for it to be truly successful.
(…)
Dream, follow them, set up goals, have fun on the way, respect all people, speak your mind as frequent as possible, spend your energy wisely, spend your energy unwisely. Don’t let anyone tell you what is possible and what is not, simply do not accept impossible. Do what others believe is corny or wrong if it makes sense to you. Stay true to yourself and everything you wish for will come to you!
Christian Johansson for Digital Abstracts
” —http://digitalabstracts.com/interviews-59/