**Warning: The following post contains small amounts of gloating, BUT it’s still worth reading**
Hard work is tough. That’s why it’s called hard work. It’s always nice though, to get rewarded for the hard work especially when it envolves design. In November, I found out firsthand how nice it really feels. I was fortunate to have one of my designs selected by the Flux committee .
Flux is a national design competition hosted every year by AIGA Blue Ridge. This past year, my Hightown Bakery brand design was selected as one of the top entries and I must say, it feels pretty nice! It’s especially nice, because it’s my second time to have a design selected for this competition. My AIGA | TAMU brand design was selected in 2009.
Being rewarded for great design is always nice, but it’s also really humbling. I know I couldn’t have done it without a lot of help along the way, so I’d like to thank you to everyone who helped me get to where I am today.
I also thought, rather than making this post all about me, I thought I would take the opportunity to share some quotes/sayings/words-of-wisdom that have helped me get encouraged about what I’m doing, because let’s face it, it’s a lot easier to create good work when you’re encouraged.
Quotes/Sayings/Words-of-Wisdom
- “Don’t look at how far you have left, look at how far you’ve come” - Unknown
- “Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you.” - Aldous Huxley
- “Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one.” -Stella Adler
- “When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” -Henry Ford
- “Anything unattempted remains impossible.” -unknown
- “The essential part of creativity is not being afraid to fail.” -Edwin H. Land
- “You can’t do better design with a computer, but you can speed up your work enormously.” -Wim Crouwel
- “Computers are to design as microwaves are to cooking.”
- “A designer can mull over complicated designs for months. Then suddenly the simple, elegant, beautiful solution occurs to him. When it happens to you, it feels as if God is talking! And maybe He is.” -Leo Frankowski
- “The life of a designer is a life of fight: fight against the ugliness.” -Massimo Vignelli
- “Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing.” - Salvador Dali
- “The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless.” - Jean-Jacques Rousseau
I hope some of these will be useful. I know sometimes life throws you a curve ball and you just have to deal with it. Just remember to keep you head up because you can’t design in a vacuum. Besides, there’s so much great inspiration out there. One little piece can be the spark you need to create an amazing design.