in those first few weeks that I had never even thought of, techniques and materials that were new and amazing. When I used these tools and techniques myself I felt... like a rock star.
Our apartment was on the 12th floor. You could see for miles in every direction. It was in Detroit and every now and then we’d see smoke off in the distance. We’d grab our video camera and go chase it. Film whatever it was. Eat at White Castle. Drink more soda. It was bizarre and magical. It was classic art school.
I had always been a late night person. I didn’t do mornings so much but could stay up late easily and plow into my creative work past 11, 12, 1, 2 or 3am without any trouble. This powerful creative rhythm was my time and apparently at art school, everyone embraced this rhythm. I finally felt like I was among my people. Time had no meaning, the floors in our apartment were constantly active and full of creative activity.
I remember one day I was about to take the stairs to go to class. A piece of paper was stuck to the door with a handwritten note in black marker. “Use at your own risk.” Later I found out it was because someone had tried to take their own life and there was blood on the walls. They were fine but left the school after that. That was a moment that made me really think about the kinds of struggles that people could have so close to me.
I remember stopping on the highway to pick up car bumpers that had been torn off cars during collisions. We mounted these bumpers in our apartment. It was “art.”
I remember microwaving all my meals and eating a ton of hot dogs. I remember on a whim buying some sort of blackened tuna patty thing in a box. And then microwaving it. That was the last time I bought a fish-related food item on purpose.
One time I bought a cheap new toilet at the hardware store. I decorated it with paint, fuzzy fabric, lights, and some glued-on accessories. We put it on a table in our room and it became quite the topic of conversation. I wish I could say that it lives on to this day but sadly my parents disposed of it after it sat in their basement for a decade. They said it was neither art nor a toilet. Oh well.
Somehow I survived. But here’s the real point of the story. Even though car design had been my “one ultimate thing,” after I got to the school and got a few months in I started to feel my world expand in a new way. I met so many people and had so many great experiences that something changed inside me. Or maybe not change, but evolve. I realized in the first semester something profound, something incredible.
God made me to be creative.
And I can be creative anywhere.
That’s right, after going all the way, enrolling in quite possibly the best car design school in the country and sitting under the best teaching in industrial design that one could ever hope to learn from, I came to the realization that car design was not my thing.
Car design was not my thing? But it’s always been my thing!
Everyone said it was my thing. I love drawing cars! I AM CAR DESIGN!
At first I was stunned. How could this be? Why was I feeling a disconnection to car design when I should be feeling a deeper and deeper connection? I’m here at art school fulfilling my destiny and pursuing the one thing that is so obviously my passion and calling. So why do I feel like I don’t want to actually do this?
Sidenote: Here’s the thing about being a car designer. It’s elite. It’s hard. There are more NBA players than car designers. You have to be both motivated and talented. You have to have that eye and that imagination but also technical execution and the chops to translate a vision into a sketch that people can understand. It’s a very specific and demanding field. Now those things alone don’t bother me; those aren’t reasons not to pursue something. But the challenge ahead of me caused me to pause. “Is this what I want?” I didn’t have a real clear answer to that question but after my first semester I knew that something inside me had changed. It was good. But also unnerving.
I recall walking into the school offices to inform the various staff that I would not be returning the next year. They were shocked to be honest (I don’t think for this major that it happens very often). “You’re not coming back? Why?” they asked me. I had trouble coming up with an answer. I felt like I should be returning, to finish what I started, to go all the way, to achieve my dream of becoming a car designer.
Except it wasn’t my dream anymore.
I had a new sense of what “my thing” was. It was being creative. I could do anything, be creative anywhere... which sounds great, except for when it comes to telling your parents your plan. Because I had none.
Summary: You may be the best in your school for something but you’re probably not the best in the world. Or your state. Accept that.
Brain dump: If someone asked you what you’re all about, what would you say? Do you have a sense of calling in your life? That there’s a specific purpose or direction that it’s your job to uncover?
Tips and advice for young creatives
Let’s take a pause and talk about creativity and careers. If you’re thinking about a career in something creative such as digital advertising, web, design, video or interactive media here is a list of some tips, advice, and resources to think about as you start to own more and more of your future. If you’re looking at a career in something hyper-specific like automotive design or gaming then this can also apply. Basically, these are some rules of the road for ensuring you are on the right track to stand out from the competition and get to where you want to go. In no particular order, here are some “pro tips” for aspiring designers, marketers, filmmakers, communicators, and creatives:
Try Everything: Get experience in all different kinds of art forms and media. Don’t get locked into one particular form like making logos, doing video or designing one thing. Try everything and get experience. You can tighten your focus later in your career.
Get Connected: Participate in forums and networks where you can share your work, get advice, have your work evaluated and get inspired. Make sure you take advantage of programs and offerings within your school system as well as extra-curricular activities.
Get Mentored: Find someone who’s doing what you want to do one day. Talk to them, see where they work, how they do things. A little hands-on experience and job shadowing can go a long, long way.
Be Diverse: Start collecting your best work in all different kinds of art forms and media. Put together a portfolio that shows you are diverse and able to appreciate and work in many different types of design. Make sure you have a digital presence online and a simple way to point people to your online portfolio.
Save Your Work: Get organized and make sure you are saving all your work. Get in the habit of self-critiquing your work, constantly asking, “How could this be even better?” If you give away work to a friend or relative make sure you take good pictures of it before you give it away. Document all your work and keep a standing list of places your work has been used or displayed.
Take Some Risks: Opportunities come to those with initiative, not just people with talent. Just because you’re good doesn’t mean you’ll automatically succeed. You have to have a marketable skill set as well as the confidence and initiative to go chase down what you want and pursue your goals. Talent is not enough.
Be Artsy, Be Organized: You’ve got to constantly grow and develop your skills as a creative person, that’s a fact. But you also have to be a self-starter who is in control of your time and goals and able to organize your life, not just make amazing designs. There’s nothing more frustrating
