365 Days of Low Crawl

Well, It's been a year. Over a year actually since I've graced my presence with writing for this blog. 2017 was a hell of a year. Work was restructured, my responsibilities mounted, and I rolled up my sleeves and joined the troops where it was needed the most. 

During the 10th week of Army basic training I remember when we went through the NIC (Night Infiltration Course), and looking back on the past year I get deja vu. I went through basic in the fall/winter and by the time we got to the NIC it was cold as hell, and had recently rained. I hated the weight of winter boots so I always wore summer boots since they were lightweight, but like most days, that night I couldn't hardly feel my toes. My usual trick was to take the stock of my M16 and slam it on the top of my foot a few times just to get the feeling back in my feet, but it only lasted a few minutes. The NIC in a nut shell is a 150 meter crawl in the dark, under barbwire & obstacles with simulated grenades, flares, plenty of mud, and live machine gun fire overhead.

I remember that crawl feeling like an eternity. With so many other soldiers going through some would get tired, cramped, or whatever and we'd have to maneuver around them. I was special enough to end up in a ditch with a ton of water in it and I was soaked. Lucky me, and my already numb feet. There we were dragging our bodies through the mud, wondering where the next grenade or flare would be so it would give us some light in the darkness to show us a route. Days earlier we had a 16k ruck march to the field, and the NIC was the icing on the cake. We all knew once we completed it would be one more checklist on our requirements and we'd be done. 

2017 was my NIC.

Professionally we had a lot of changes, and we knew it was going to be a lot of work. There were many late nights, weekends, and impromptu conversations on what needed to be done and how to do it. We lived and we learned, but more importantly we crawled. With my fellow employees at my side, we worked our asses off, all of us, and came out with something to show for it. 

“The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.”

— Norman Schwarzkopf

I learned a lot in 2017. I've been analyzing my year on a professional level with all of the work that was put in, and comparing to 2016 Josh. I always think I have room for improvement or self criticism. To be honest, I often criticize myself as it keeps me in check. Sometimes to do your best work you have to learn how to get dirty and crawl again.

Single Servings of Praise

Most of us, tend to avoid uncomfortable situations, confrontation, or upsetting someone. Criticism is a hard topic to discuss since there are many variables. I am only going to talk as it would relate to creative aspects of your life to keep things simple, and after all I don’t have an opinion on anything else without having experience to back it up.

When I was young teenager, I started to learn how to play guitar. I messed around, used some books, and finally started to get into a groove with it. After maybe a year or so I spent Christmas money on a Fostex four-track cassette recorder. I recorded a midi loop from a Casio keyboard and started to improvise guitar parts on top of it. Hours later I had this song that I thought was pretty awesome. I took my cassette and played it for my mom, she listened, and told me it was cool…but it was a little off beat.

She was right. That song was so far out of time.

My mom may not have known it, but that moment stayed with me, and I think it helped me become the critical person I am today. I recorded that song and many others over and over, until they were actually the correct tempo and in sync with other instruments. Criticism brought out my aspirations that were suppressed by compromise.

“We are all failures- at least the best of us are.”

— Sir James Matthew Barrie

My personal critiques may have started with music, but as a college student, these traits were very beneficial to me. I would constantly tweak kerning, line widths, anchor points, clipping masks, and alignments until they were as good as they could be. When I would go easy on myself, my professors would catch it, and I learned that you have to stay the course, and not take the easy route.

I think I am starting to ramble on here. Let’s fast forward.

Every time you complete a design project, many people will tell you it looks good, few will tell you what is wrong with it. Be hard on yourself. By putting yourself under a microscope of criticism you will learn from your mistakes, learn new techniques, or create new strategies for recurring problems. Accept praise when given, be humble, and discard it at the door. 

No one desires to be where you desire to be. If you want to create artwork that rivals industry standards, then that achievement is on you. Dedicate yourself to your craft, and you will succeed. Family, friends, and colleagues will be there with you, but their silence should resonate more than their proclamations.

You are either your own worst enemy or your greatest ally. Who’s side are you on?

Portfolio Complacency Ends in Arson

When was the last time you actually took a critical look at your own portfolio? If you don’t have an answer to this question then you are in the wrong. Before you landed that first job, you spend weeks developing a portfolio that showcased all of the talent you had to offer. If you are older like myself, then you actually had a physical portfolio with real goddamn paper in it. Putting that collection together was like a soccer mom who was scrapbooking the world’s largest collection of baby pictures and was only able to use black.

I will be the first to admit that after I landed my entry into the design world that I didn’t take another look at that portfolio, it was buried in a closet for good. After a few years go by, and you have some experience under your belt, you want to grow and move forward in your career.

You need a portfolio.

When I was on the market for my second job, enough time had passed that online portfolios were finally a thing. I honestly didn’t even use my old portfolio or any of the work in it, I started fresh. You are going after an experienced position; don’t come off unexperienced by throwing in a lot of college projects unless they are damn good.

Here is where all this starts to make sense, and I was guilty of it as well... once I moved to a website for my work it was easier to fall into the trap of thinking a piece was still good, or showed you at your best. Many of us want to have a good variety in our portfolio showing what we are capable of, but neglect to capitalize on our strengths by narrowing our showcased pieces. The worst thing you can do when you look at your work is say, "it's good enough". You have become complacent.

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”

— Leo Tolstoy

In 2015, I took a look at what I was presenting in my portfolio, and really took a critical look at it. Most of it no longer met my expectations of what my work should be. In my head, I poured gasoline on all of it, lit a cigarette, and in slow motion, watched as my work went up in flames. Don’t settle for mediocre, hold yourself to a higher standard, and always seek to refine yourself.

Most of the portfolio pieces I was hanging onto have since been removed. In its place I have placed my best foot forward, and continue to ask myself if something is good enough. My personal revitalization of my portfolio is ongoing. 

You don’t have to be looking for a job to have or update your portfolio. Examine it frequently, critique yourself, and use those observations to make yourself better. No one is going to push you to make yourself better, so go ahead, start a fire, and find out what strengths you have, and distribute your talent into the future.

Facebook: The Creative Wasteland

Those of us lucky to have been born in the mid to late 80s, have a unique affair with social media. We are the micro-generation between generation X and Millennials. We grew up when technology went from awesome to spectacular. There was Super Nintendo, portable CD players, POGS, Ninja Turtles, and we were there when the concept of social networks creeped into our lives.

We were happy to clog up the landline, open America Online with a blazing fast 56k modem, and chat with everyone on our “Buddy List” all night with a six pack of Surge. As we graduated high school something new emerged, MySpace. We customized our profiles, contemplated which 10 pictures we would post, and what friends would be on our top eight. 

At the time MySpace was fun, and no one was ranting about politics, world events, or social policy crusades. We grew older, Facebook opened it’s gates to everyone (not just those with select university .edu emails), MySpace faded in the distance, smart phones became a thing, and social media was everywhere.

Social media is great, but for me Facebook has become abrasive.

Do I dislike seeing what my friends and family are doing? No. Like everyone else I have used Facebook’s features to trim the fat, and only follow people, pages, and companies I care to see. Even with bending Facebook to my demands there is still content that gets on my nerves.

If I am on the internet and it isn’t for research or email, then chances are I am looking for inspiration. Facebook is the opposite of inspiration. 

“I think the love-hate is fundamental. Everyone hates reality television, and everyone’s watching it. Everyone hates Facebook, and everyone is on it.”

— Bo Burnham

The general masses are pounding away behind their keyboards about all the stuff that pisses them off, content that offends them, or bitching amongst each other in comment section wars. People can do what they want, and I’ve spend many times laughing at their expense, but the creative sector of my brain is telling me to go elsewhere.

I crave something with more creative and artistic insight. I need a platform that is going to make me see things and inspire me to create more. Sorry, book of faces, but articles about an orange cheeto man with bad hair who doesn’t understand how to tweet rational thoughts may be entertaining, but it’s draining my creative energy.

I’ve played Facebook my breakup song, and removed it from my iPhone and bookmarks. I have shifted focus where my mind can breathe, and where I feel at home, and where creative expression has a little more value. I’m looking at you Instagram, Deviant Art, & Pinterest.

It’s not you Facebook, it’s me.

Don’t be Afraid to Offend People

From a young age, many of us are taught that it’s not nice to offend people, or the ever popular “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”. While in your regular life these may be good marks for a well mannered demeanor; in your artistic life they hold you back. Now, I’m not saying you have to intentionally make a point to piss people off, because someone reading this is thinking it, but it's time to take a look at the big picture.

Throughout this blog I’ll use myself as an example where I can since the whole point of this is to share my thoughts about my creative mindset. There were times when I would mock up something and then get that sinking feeling, “This is probably too offensive” or “some friends and family probably wouldn’t like it”. Eventually, I learned that I needed to suppress that urge to revise or censor my work, and embrace my original idea in it's true form.

If you were walking though a forest on a nice calm trail and throughout your journey you picked some flowers along the way, you’d produce a nice bouquet when you arrived at your destination. This is playing it safe. Everyone can make that bouquet, pick the same flowers, and extract the same feelings. 

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”

— Hellen Keller

Be bold, take risks, and venture further into the forest. The forest is full of dangerous creatures and treacherous terrain that will make your journey difficult. Difficulty breeds determination and reinforces skills. Your journey into the unknown will bring you to things you otherwise could not see or discover from the road...your bouquet will be unique. When you reach your destination and present your arrangement some will hate it, or even tell you it isn’t as fragrant as the other bouquets, but your senses don’t lie. 

Society has many feelings of what makes something beautiful, creative, or thought provoking. As an artist, if you can present your work to the public, and make people question their own standards then you are doing things right.

Always be yourself. Not everyone is going to like your work or support the same subject matter that you do. Never apologize for your work. Stand firm, close your eyes, and breathe in the fragrance of goddamn greatness.

Why? I Don't Know, but English Sucks.

My sophomore year in high school I failed english. While I don’t have records on hand it is a safe bet that the highest grade I ever got in any english or literature class was a C. I never wanted to become a writer, or even read a lot of books, and grammar lessons might as well have been torture for me. 

Yet, here I am, writing a damn blog. Wtf. 

I’m letting you know upfront, this will not be an eloquently written blog by any means. You will find mistakes, weird phrasing, and problems that would likely make any english teacher cringe. 

For a very long time I thought it would be cool to share with other designers and/or aspiring designers things I have learned over the years. Several times I have started this idea, but I never follow through. Now, over a decade into my career, I think I know why I failed at this blogging thing…I cared too much. I wanted to help everybody, and have detailed instructional guides for some cool stuff I’ve done. The problem is that it has been done before (for which many of us are grateful for), and the prospect of producing content sucked all the damn fun out of it. 

“Start wide, expand further, and never look back.”

— Arnold Schwarzenegger

You wont find a library of carefully crafted tutorials with step by step instructions, or checklists for ways to make your artwork awesome. What you will find here is unfiltered advice and knowledge to guide you to where you might want to be. I am not a life coach, or even a teacher, but I know things. I know things that I wish I had known years ago and that’s what I’d like to share with you.

If all this sounds good to you then cool, but if you want me to show you how to make a design “vintage” in Photoshop, or do InDesign text wraps then you are in the wrong place.