When I was a young and green, fresh–faced graphic designer brand new to the professional world, I was extremely fortunate to get some of the best career advice from a great and wise art director: “Detach yourself from your work.” Especially when you are young, it is firmly believed you know what is best and which concepts a client needs to choose, and in reality, you’re probably right. It is antithetical to your creative insight that they should choose anything other than what you know is “the one,” and so it is mind boggling when they don’t heed your sagacity or experience (regardless of how much of it you actually have) and choose to contribute to the already over populated world of “bad design.” You may even then proceed to take on bad habits like creating black cats, but nothing is more shocking than being told directly that your work—and hence personal taste—is not good.
It’s a stereotype that creative people are sensitive, but real artists have thick skin. In fact, if you’re willing to put yourself out there, even if you’re a delusional narcissist, you have to expect a notable chunk of the world’s population just isn’t going to dig your stuff, and that’s okay. Truth be told, I felt like I finally “made it” when someone flat-out told me I suck on deviantArt once, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s go back to that art director of mine. I was crestfallen that a client was unhappy with the concepts I had done and wanted new ones. Now I need you to know, this is not a blog to build up your self esteem and affirm that you’re good enough. You’re not. To quote one of my favorite mantras: “Nobody cares, work harder.” The reality is that this client who didn’t mix words and said, “Do it again.” Is the most wonderful type of client a designer/illustrator can have.
Don’t worry if you don’t get this comic, no one else did either.
Most people (believe it or not) don’t want to be horrible human beings, so they won’t tell you that you suck on a free online art community. Clients have opinions too though, so they need to convey if they want something else, primarily because they are paying for it. Welcome to the world of passive–aggressive commentary on your artistic endeavors. I’m not personally familiar with the Catholic theology surrounding Limbo, but if I had to take a guess, it probably sounds a lot like the electronic correspondences between a client and the artist they hired. I think it stems from the idea that someone has reached out to a person with a unique skill set that they themselves do not possess and are possibly even in awe of, only to discover what they got isn’t what they expected. They’re gracious, but unsatisfied. It then (eventually) becomes desirable to the artist to be hired by someone direct and clear who won’t beat around the bush and make you guess as to how to proceed (although it’s possible you just stop caring as you age I suppose). The sting to all of this is that when I posted the above comic strip—which I thought clearly spoke this idea—most people didn’t get it at all which ironically lead to a flurry of passive–aggressive comments in response. C’est la vie.
Awesome concept, okay delivery… but he LOVES it!
Now on the other end of the bell curve are clients and critics who just want to watch the world burn. In the American vernacular, they’re known as @$$holes. It’s one thing to be direct and tell a creative person, “This just isn’t what I’m looking for.” It’s another thing entirely to insult their life choices and curse their children for generations to come. That being said, “Detach yourself from your work” clearly becomes a necessary tool, especially if you’re submitting your work to a large audience. Sure, it’s not nice to be reminded that the internet’s toxicity can and does in fact extend to you personally; but there’s a reason the first rule of the internet is ‘never read the comments.’ I think that those dumpster fire responses are critical though for developing a thick skin and understanding that not everything you do has to make it into your portfolio. In other words, whether they are faceless trolls or paying customers; being a creative person requires abject criticism if for nothing more than a heaping dose of humility. Oh yeah, and ultimately the chance to grow as an individual, yada, yada, yada.
In the end, you have to ultimately decide if your creative side is going to be a weekend hobbyist or the breadwinner archetype. The starving artist isn’t so much a lifestyle choice as it is a reality and if taking criticism is antithetical to your nature, you are facing a lifelong climb with few to no plateaus. Everyone is in fact a critic, but many of them will absolutely build you up. The rest keep you humble, and God bless every horrible one of them. Besides, everyone gets compliments when they try something, even if said compliment is lukewarm at best. It takes a real artist to not just roll with the punches, but maybe even grow with them too.
Some of the actual and very real comments and messages I’ve received.