How to Get Your Sh*t Together

#graphicdesign #designadvice #graphicdesigner

Advice if you’re a designer and you don’t want to spend your life as a cubicle drone. There are different types of designer. In the context of this argument Alpha can be broken into 2 basic categories. The Entrepreneur and the Artist. The Beta designer – is the office drone, the dutiful foot soldier, the terminal “employee.” Alpha designers “eat what they kill.” Beta designers “eat what they are given.” This is an ESSENTIAL DISTINCTION – What’s this mean? The Alpha designer is RESPONSIBLE for the viability of their work. The Beta Designer is not. At it’s core None of this has to do with how the work looks or technically wether you are an employee — I’m not talking about the look of the work. You make clean, rational work? Fine. Are you a Maximalist Fine? My advice and this argument has to do with Destinations and responsibility, which I’ll explain in a moment so TECHNICALLY you CAN BE an employee and still act on this advice.

I’d suggest that every designer who’s work you know exhibits Alpha behavior. In other words, famous designers in most instance ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE VIABILITY OF THEIR WORK. They are responsible for cultivating, maintaining and developing an audience and economic model for the work. By Contrast the Beta designer has little skin in the game. The beta designer abdicates their responsibility for their work. In most instances the beta designer trades (LITERALLY TRADES) emotional and financial security for NOT HAVING TO ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE WORK. How to know if you’re Alpha? In the WORK THAT YOU CARE ABOUT are you responsible for finding, cultivating and developing the audience, the venue and the economic viability? Congratulations. You might be an alpha designer.