We (ad kids from Kutztown) recently visited a whole slew of generous, kind and talented people:
GrandArmy at the New York Art Director's Club, Richie Glickman at JWTNY, James Douglas Shields and Stacey Quick and all the crew at Sandbox Studio in NY.
And then Stacey Wiley and Josh Goldblum at Bluecadet, Bill Starkey (with some help from Ben McCool and a mystery Groundhog) at Red Tettemer, and Jenny and Doug at 160over90.
Wow. We learned so much. Funny how these themes seemed to recur:
1) You've got to do your own personal work to get to the next level. As a student, it might be taking on extra internships, doing work for real clients, or entering competitions - going above-and-beyond your class assignments is what pays off with a really stunning portfolio. As a professional, adding to your own workload (translation: nights, weekends, and days off) pursuing your own passion/interests/growth as an artist is what makes the great great and the good merely good.
2) The only way to accomplish the above is to have a supportive creative community around you. Whether they are your best buddies, mentors you admire, anonymous bloggers you strike up a conversation with, or people you meet at work, you need other creative brains around you both to push you and to console you. Find people who you think are talented and can be honest with you, and get them to look over your work. Seek out the best. Be nice to everyone. Be a good person to be around. Help your friends and they will help you back.
3) Over and over again we heard the importantce of not giving up, of continuing to refine your ideas or come back with better ones if they get shot down, of supporting your ideas with thoughtful research and thorough knowledge of the problem, and of the patience and emotional resilience it takes to shepherd even the greatest idea through layers of approval and revisions without losing sight of your goal: great work.
"It's hard!"
But it's also fun. And just seeing the amazing projects produced by all these talented people was inspiring. Thank you thank you thank you. I sure do feel lucky to have bumped into such superstars along the way. Meeting lots of people is a lovely byproduct of age!
Below: Seniors pretend they are Doug and/or Jenny at 160over90 (they wish!)
