Let's talk about vulnerability. Everyone is scared of something, right? And not just like spiders or plane crashes or high dives. (although those are scary too.) At least for me, I'm scared of things much deeper than that. I'm scared of things like failure and disapproval and embarrassment.
What I'm finding lately, though, is that I have chosen a major that confronts me with the possibility of these things every single day. Graphic design is unlike any school work I've ever done. In most aspects of life, there's right or wrong, yes or no, black or white. But for me, design is like all the gray areas in between. There's no one correct answer in design, ever. And that terrifies me.
It's scary and awesome at the same time. I've noticed over the past year that sometimes I dread working on my design projects. I put it off, dance around it, think about it, but it's SO hard to start taking action. Usually when you dread a class, it's because you don't want to write a paper or study your notes. But I've figured out that's not why I push away my design work, because I truly love graphic design. I push it away because it's scary. It's scary because it can always be better. You're never really done. You can always push your design one step further.
Any art form is this way, and I believe that's what makes art so important and honest. What's tricky for me is reconciling this freedom with the university world of grades and critiques and GPAs. Luckily, though, the structure that grades and deadlines and classes provide forces me to face my work, and do the very thing that scares me the most. And for that, I'm eternally thankful.
What I'm finding lately, though, is that I have chosen a major that confronts me with the possibility of these things every single day. Graphic design is unlike any school work I've ever done. In most aspects of life, there's right or wrong, yes or no, black or white. But for me, design is like all the gray areas in between. There's no one correct answer in design, ever. And that terrifies me.
It's scary and awesome at the same time. I've noticed over the past year that sometimes I dread working on my design projects. I put it off, dance around it, think about it, but it's SO hard to start taking action. Usually when you dread a class, it's because you don't want to write a paper or study your notes. But I've figured out that's not why I push away my design work, because I truly love graphic design. I push it away because it's scary. It's scary because it can always be better. You're never really done. You can always push your design one step further.
Any art form is this way, and I believe that's what makes art so important and honest. What's tricky for me is reconciling this freedom with the university world of grades and critiques and GPAs. Luckily, though, the structure that grades and deadlines and classes provide forces me to face my work, and do the very thing that scares me the most. And for that, I'm eternally thankful.