my advice to new graduates
May 22nd, 2009 • posts i've written
I’ve been thinking quite a bit lately about the new crop of graduates ready to leave academia and join the ranks of we, the slick persuaders.
Before I begin, consider disregarding everything here. Consider disregarding taking anyone’s advice but your own. Whatever tale I weave, it’s only the sum of my personal experiences. If you’ve escaped college still able to make your own judgments, then you truly are our Harrison Bergeron; dance while you are free.
First, let go of all the bleak predictions shoveled on top of you. This isn’t your recession. Recessions spell the end of business as usual, not for the business never before seen. Remember to resist entering the world to join the ranks of the status quo; the world doesn’t produce something new only so that it may replicate what has come before. Your place in this world is simply to evolve everything.
Avoid the industry. Quite simply, beyond artifice and affectation, at times, there can be little here of substance. These are not the ivory towers; this is the Emerald City. Behind the famous names, and famous faces, often lie feeble men with tricks of smoke and mirrors. In truth, there is good work being done by extremely talented folks, but many of even the most talented are fighting for their lives; and it’s a fight you can choose to step around.
We need to see amazing work come from outside of agencies. You’re part of a generation coming to age with a greater cultural and technological literacy than ever before – don’t ever forget that, or take it for granted. You should be building things, tearing them down, analyzing them, and starting over again. Be free to make mistakes. You also just happen to represent the most attractive demographic to most any brand out there; and if you can create something that garners attention from your peers then you can find someone to buy it or advertise on it. If you never quite get there, you’ll still have learned more in that short time than any of your entry level peers.
We live in a world where creating conversations, earning attention, and mobilizing human beings are the most valuable skills to learn. Put everything else aside.
Never stop being curious.
And never stop being skeptical.
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this is good advice bud. it can be really easy to get caught up in all the negative energy emanating from the “old-line” design firms about how their business is going away, but really, its not as though LESS work is being done, its just being done by more people in even more creative ways.