As with everything in life, the beginning is always slow. This is also true for any creative, even the most ambitious. If fact, the more ambitious you are, the less patience you will have to keep working through the tough times. Everyone has to go through the grinding phase where no one really gives a toss about you or your skills, not because you’re not capable, but simply because you have no experience. The first step for most people is to take up a university or college degree. All though this has been the norm for a long time, this is slowly starting to shift. Nowadays you have the abundant university of the internet where you can learn almost anything by watching videos or reading illustrated how-to blogs. Times are different, even for someone like me who graduated in the first decade of the millenium. Back then universities were king, whereas now it’s all about talent, determination and smart work that gets one ahead in the professional life. The educational system can’t keep up with the exponential advancement of technology and the professors are struggling to learn all this new stuff at the pace it’s coming out. Adobe releases a creative suite with new features every single year.
That’s how a young kid who grows up in the digital age gets an edge over the analog old-schoolers.
You may be from the old-school (meaning non-millennial) and want to get better at leading your creative team or you may be a young entrepreneur with a creative flair wanting to learn more about building design teams. Either you’ve been through the slow and painful process of starting out, or you are completely unknown to what the future awaits for your chosen profession. The truth is that most people only work with someone who has a track record, therefore you must work very hard (and often for free) just to build up a body of work. I remember my own struggles when I got really frustrated because neither the fame or the money came in, no matter how much sweat I poured over my projects.
I graduated during the height of the recession in 2009 and the first industries to suffer were the so-called luxury professions such as art and design.
Some 15 years later I realised that the struggle was part of the process. We all know the famous saying; The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory. And if this whole thing came easy, I don’t think we’d appreciate it. After my studies, I was living in (a rough part of) south London with only a handful of pounds to my name as I hustled my way through odd design jobs to make ends meet. At one point I did consider giving up, but took up a part time job as an interpreter to get by whilst I built up my design credentials. I decided to keep going because I’d worked so hard to get to where I was. There was no way I was going to go back to Norway as a failure. And you have to be determined and set your mind at the end goal in order to get through the initial uphill.
Once you get momentum, keep pushing and you’ll be surprised how far you will go.
T-Shirt made for an upcoming Norwegian urban brand during my post graduate studies.