#Themoderncreative: Bridging the Gap

The Modern Creative:

The Top 25 Things Every Creative Should Know

For many creatives taking the plunge into the “real world,” the leap between classroom and studio can be particularly ominous. Drawing upon her own experience (and that of her fellow optimists), Jamie Wieck’s #The50 Things Every Creative Should Know has become an internet sensation (over 1,000,000 visits), proving to be useful advice to artists and designers alike. the following are our top 25.

1. You are not the first: There are very few ‘firsts’ these days. Countless others have started studios, freelanced and requested internships. It can be done.

2. Success is not a finite resource: College fosters a zero-sum mentality: that someone has to fail for you to succeed. In truth, another’s success doesn’t limit yours.

3. Don’t always take no for an answer: Fight for superior solutions. Demonstrate your thinking to your client, take them through it – it’s hard to argue with logic.

4. Pick your battles: The creative industry is often infuriating, but not every argument is an argument that needs to be had. This takes time to learn.

5. You cannot score without a goal: If you don’t know what you want, then how can you pursue it? Having a goal defines an end point, and subsequently, a place to start.

6. New ideas are always ‘stupid’: New ideas are conceived with no context and no measures of success – this falsely makes them feel silly, awkward or even impossible.

7. Dress smart, look business like: Take your work seriously? Then take your appearance seriously. Clients are more likely to deal with people who look like they care.

8. Create a clean and simple website: An online portfolio is the alpha and omega of your career. With a wealth of web services, there’s no excuse for not having a website.

9. The path to work is easier than you think: To get into the industry you need just three things: great work, energy and a nice personality. Many forget the last attribute.

10. Curate your work: Never stop editing your portfolio. Three strong pieces are better than ten weak ones – nobody looks for quantity, just quality.

11. Listen to your instincts: If your work doesn’t excite you, then it won’t excite anyone else. It’s hard to fake passion for mediocre work – scrap it.

12. Make your work easy to see: People are lazy. If you want them to look at your work, make it easy. Most of the time employers simply want to see a JPG or PDF.

13. Time is precious: get to the point: Avoid profuse humour or gimmicks when contacting studios for work, they’ve seen it all before. Get to the point, they’ll be thankful.

14. Make friends with a printer: A good relationship with a printer is invaluable – they will help you save money and the environment.

15. Ask questions: Assume nothing. Ask questions, even if you think you know the answers. You’ll be surprised at how little you know.

16. Seek criticism, not praise: You learn nothing by being told how great you are. Even if you think your work’s perfect – seek criticism, you can always ignore it.

17. Make friends, not enemies: The creative industry is a small world: it’s a network where everyone knows everyone else. Remember this before pissing someone off.

18. News travels fast: A good intern will find their reputation precedes them. Jobs are nearly always offered on this word-of-mouth evidence.

19. Network: There’s some truth in ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know’. Talk to people, send emails; at the very least sign up to Twitter.

20. Never work for free: Working for free not only devalues the profession, but it makes you look weak. Even a ‘nice’ client will take advantage of this.

21. Negotiate: If you really have to work for nothing, negotiate. Clients and studios have access to many resources that can be viewed as ‘payment’.

22. Embrace limitations: Limitations are invaluable for creating successful work: they give you something to push against. From this tension comes brilliance.

23. Show sketches, not polished ideas: Clients often mistake ‘rough’ digital work for the final design. Show sketches for as long as you can, it makes them feel involved.

24. If you’re going to fail, fail well: Being ambitious means you have to take on things you think you can’t do. Failures are unfortunate, but they are sometimes necessary.

To keep up-to-date with current events and new trends in the creative industry, follow our blog series, We Made a Living here on the blog or at #Wemadeitaliving @graphisinc on Twitter.

If you are new to the blog, hello and welcome to our worldwide community of influential designers and photographers. We are always looking for new talent and would love to see your best work. Submit your entries over here, and become a member today at Graphis.com.

#Themoderncreative: Bridging the Gap

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