Mais Que Nada

He's up, he's down.

Often wracked with a sense of 'not good enough,' I think designers are constantly in a state of personal reflection. Since all designs are problem solving, and seen in terms of 'what looks good', or 'what works better'... that same examination, or microscope can often be turned inward, on ourselves.

If a designer knows he/or she is good, are they doing their job? Or do they have to be constantly challenging themselves and pushing themselves, reflecting on themselves and their work... to be 'good.'

A day like yesterday, where everything seemed wrong, incomplete, or just not designed good enough, made me wonder: Should I throw away 20 years of designing in the recycling bin and look for another line of work..... The classic suffering artist never thinks their work is good, never gets public acceptance until long after they are gone. But I think graphic design has a greater sense of urgency, with work that is viewed by many eyes, especially in website design where the audience is literally the entire globe. So I push and push and keep forging ahead.

Today things seem to be going better, the problems are getting solved and the client loves the designs. The thought now is to either sit back and enjoy today's 'ups' and revel in the joy, or do I stop, reflect and push farther and harder still? In the old days, the 'boys' in the ad dept. would all go out for happy hour (or a long lunch) and drink several scotches, pat ourselves on the back and go to work the next day with a splitting headache.

I don't think that is going to work for today, though. But I did go to Record Theatre last night and bought a handful of 45s, that seems to help some.