I found the following interview with Ira Glass of NPR’s This American Life fame (if you don’t listen to this, it’s time to start). While Ira maybe a writer for a radio program, his message applies to design as well. You will continue to produce bad work unless you are willing to put the time, effort and repetition in until your execution is equal to your vision (and this takes years by the way).
In case you haven’t noticed, there have been a lot of films devoted to graphic design and design in general lately. Helvetica, Objectified, Beautiful Losers, Handmade Nation, Milton Glaser: To Inform & Delight and The Visual Language of Herbert Matter are a few that come to mind.
The latest film about design to come out is titled Art & Copy and is dedicated to advertising and inspiration! You can check out the Art & Copy site here or watch the trailer below.
Everyone should check out the videos Lev Yilmaz has produced as part of his Tales Of Mere Existence series. The videos are funny, accurate and oddly insightful. Take a few moments go to his web site ingredientx.com check out his work and get inspired. I have embedded my personal favorite Procrastination.
Here is an AIGA conference you really need to check out. It’s worth every penny of the $350 student registration fee. I’m also posting a video of last year’s Command X design competition (see below). During the competition design students and recent graduates are given a series of design challenges that they need to complete in 24hrs or less! Lat year’s winner Nichelle and runner up Kelly both had job offers across the country before they left the stage so it’s a good idea to look into entering the competition. Also look in volunteering for the conference. Your registration fee gets waived and you get to sit back stage with designers like Debbie Millman and Michael Bierut of Pentagram and pick their brains.