please watch it. if you’re a freelancer, you’ve been given a blank page.

make it a masterpiece…

Wim Crouwel

Originally uploaded by Alki1

Stumbled upon this gal’s photostream. From what I can gather, she’s a retired graphics and photography teacher somewhere in the Northwest US. Very cool stuff to see – a lot of “antique” design stuff. Amazing how good design stands up over time.

Check it out!

I am constantly inspired.

I’m inspired from a great number of sources. Truth be told, my sources for inspiration are so diverse, and my pool of inspirations is so large, I could blog about nothing BUT inspiration and never run out of topics.

Nature, my kids, movies, paintings, books, magazines, conversations, dreams, depression, punk music, phone calls, pop culture, yadda yadda yadda…

While that inspiration is great (and crucial,) that inspiration can be fruitless, because I have a problem with motivation. Well – that, and there’s just not enough hours in the day to fully flesh out my ideas and inspiration.

Motivation is crucial in any field, but especially in the Freelance World (capitalized for effect.)

Without motivation, you get nothing done. All the best designs in the world, all the best thoughts and ideas are worthless without the desire to get them “on paper.” Without motivation, you can starve, go homeless, upset clients, make a bad name for yourself, etc…

So what do you do to get motivated?

Good question – and one that’s largely impossible to answer. Motivation, like inspiration, is so individual that it is hard to paint solutions with a large brush.

What do I do to get motivated? Well – a number of things. And maybe this will help you get motivated:

• I look for fun in every project: If the project is boring (or perceived as boring,) I have a hard time getting motivated for it. If I can find something fun in the project, I have more of a tendency to hop on it and knock it out – because it’s fun. So – build in some fun to every project. It might be hard, but really – design and creativity is fun, no matter how dry the project is.
• I look for the financial gain in every project: I hate to admit it, and this is certainly a very un-artsy sentiment, but money is a great motivator. Money allows me to spend time with my family, drink expensive coffee and keep myself in guitar picks and India ink. Money can be a big motivator, as can lack of money. You’re doing this as a business – and businesses need to make money, so never be ashamed of using money as a motivator.
• I look to every project as a way to build a relationship: I’ve met a lot of great people in my freelance career. I’ve heard great stories and seen some really interesting things while working. I enjoy hearing stories and seeing how my art and design affect people and their lives. Design is powerful, and seeing it touch people can be a great motivator for me.
• I look to the process as a motivator: There is a ritual to design. There’s something about the feel of the paper, the sound of the keyboard, the accumulation of Post-it notes and doodles and stuff on my desk that excites me. Sometimes, just getting the process going can be a huge motivator. And the comfort and excitement during that process is enticing enough sometimes to motivate me to get rolling.
• I look to the end product as a motivator: I’ve made some really cool stuff before. I like sitting back after a project is done (sometimes long after it’s done) and seeing the finished piece and saying “Cool!” It’s rewarding. That reward can be a big motivator.

While motivation is not nearly as sexy as inspiration, it’s probably a little more important.

I’ve told my son (14!) that intelligence and talent are meaningless without followthrough. I’m guilty of the same problems of my teenager. I’m not a worker bee-kinda guy. I like thinking and noodling and idea-ing things up, but the actual work is not my favorite part.

Getting motivated is so important, and so often ignored in favor of inspiration. They’re intertwined, to be sure, but they’re also separate entities that need to be nurtured apart from each other.

Now – you’ve read this, I’ve written it, and now I’m inspired to be motivated. Hopefully, that inspiration will be transformed into motivation to be motivated. If you can be motivated to be motivated, motivation will be an inspiration to be inspired and you’ll wind up inspired and motivated and probably a little tired, because an inspired, motivated freelancer spends way too little time sleeping and too much time being motivated by inspiration, and inspired by that motivation.

(yes, I need to lay off that expensive coffee…)

I’m not a big reader (for the most part) and the brief stories and blurbs keep my A.D.D. on full stoke.

I like pictures, and I use magazines to make collage drawings (on canvas, for all you analog types like me.) Cut-and-paste, the old fashioned way.

And, I find the typography and the different layouts fun and inspiring.

The big problem is that my wife does not like my stacks of magazines all over the place, and the subscriptions can get to be a little costly. So – I’m down to just a few real subscriptions. You’ll take my Mad Magazines away when you pry them out of my cold, dead fingers. Nowadays, I do the “green” thing, the “digital age” thing and get a lot of my magazines in PDF format from PDFMags.com.

Now – some of the magazines are clinkers, but there are some really, really beautiful magazines out there by individuals, design houses and mainstream sources, and this place seems to have them all – and from all over the world, too…

You can read and look and browse for days. They’ve got it all laid out very nicely, very searchable and super-organized. I’d list some of my favorites, but there are just too many to list.

Design inspiration, photography inspiration, typography inspiration – almost anything you can think of.

Now, instead of giant stacks of magazines, I have a single hard drive stuffed to the gills with magazines from Poland and Portland. Atlanta and Austria.

My wife will have to find other stuff to complain about. Like my inability to get the Mod-Podge out of the carpet from a late-night sketchbook collage session…

Check it out here!

I colleague of mine (check her out here) clued me in to this the other day – custom engraved moleskin sketchbooks at engraveyourbook.com.

I’ve mentioned before that I use sketchbooks and paper and pencil and pens extensively, and I think it’s a good idea for everyone out there. Wether it’s just for notes or for actual sketching and illustrating, it’s a great idea to always keep all your great ideas, bad ideas, magazine clippings, random thoughts and general doodling in a place that you can go back and use it as reference, idea starters or just for chuckles.

You are an artist, after all.

Now, you can keep all your ugly thoughts in one beautiful, custom place.

Ah – the life of a freelance graphic artist. Fun with no end!

But, this week has reminded me that it’s important to dream, it’s important to reach and stretch and try new things.

For so long, I would say “I’m happy if I have electricity, a roof over my head and coffee in my thermos.” Then, it dawned on me that my thinking and words were keeping me from other, bigger things.

If I was going to be satisfied with so little, that’s precisely what I would have. So, I decided I wanted bigger things.

I’m not talking about greed. Greed only breeds greed, but a mind that desires more and is willing to attack the situation and take the steps to reach that goal is one that will be rewarded.

Set your sights high – and then don’t be afraid to stumble. Keep walking (or running) towards that grand vision, and you’ll get to it. Might take longer than you want, but if you’re persistent and faithful to your goals, nothing will stop you.

When you say “I’d like to …” or “It would be nice if…” or “I wish…” the language itself is giving you an excuse. When you say “I will” or “I’m going to” or “It’s going to be great when,” then you’re setting yourself up to actually get something accomplished.

So – go for it. Find your passion and follow it – let nothing stand in your way.

(Wow, I sounded like Anthony Robbins there for a minute. Weird)

Check out “Design for the Other 90%.” Food for thought.

“The majority of the world’s designers focus all their efforts on developing products and services exclusively for the richest 10% of the world’s customers. Nothing less than a revolution in design is needed to reach the other 90%.”
—Dr. Paul Polak, International Development Enterprises

The vast majority of what I do is done for the high-brows of the world – and that’s kind of sad. Why should the rich be the only ones who live with objects and products with thought and soul? Why must the poor be saddled with the purely utilitarian?

I don’t know. I’m not sure where I was going with this – but I know that we all deserve a little design in our lives. Something nice to look at. It doesn’t help all that much, but every little bit helps, right?

LogoPond.com lets you post your logo and get comments from fellow designers. They discuss everything from color to layout to feel to effectiveness. Comments can be quite candid and at times, kind of rough. But, it’s designers from around the world and from all walks of life – freelance and otherwise.

If you’re like me, you have a tendency to get caught up in the work and it’s difficult to step back and look at what you’re doing without coloring it with your own opinions and feelings about the project. This site lets you get a totally fresh take on your work from people completely detached from the project.

Plus, there are a lot of great pieces to check out and get inspiration from. Don’t knock anything off, of course – but as Picasso said, “All art is theft.”

Enjoy!