Friday, December 12, 2008

AIGA Charlotte: Debbie Millman, A Struggling Designer

What can you add to Debbie Millman that others haven't already said? She's the quintessential designer, full of passion, energy and wit. Type in her name and you'll immediately find her website, blog plus numerous articles and write ups about her. She's everywhere and anywhere. So what can I say that hasn't been said before?

Let me reflect on the meeting for a moment. AIGA Charlotte invited Debbie back to Charlotte to discuss her latest book, How To Think Like A Great Graphic Designer. It's a series of conversations between Debbie and other famous designers that explore how they became who they are and what got them to this point. So last Thursday Debbie spoke her in Charlotte and she began to explain why she made the book. The genesis all came down to an interview some years ago where the journalist asked her what it feels like to be an overnight success. This really ticked her off since she had been doing the same thing for the last 25 years! She went on to explain all of her trials and tribulations of being a designer and how AIGA has been both friend and foe at different times in her life. Through it all it was the relationship she had between her fellow designers that got her though the tough times.

Now after listening to her speak I felt as though I had a connection to her. At the time I didn't know what it was. But after reflecting on it for awhile now I think I understand. The best way I can describe the core of what she spoke about was this. To love something so much and have to struggle each and every day to do it. The struggle she talked about comes from all sorts of different places. For some it's the clients; for others it's the budget or the lack of enthusiasm; maybe the inexperience; the lack of confidence; the misguided focus; the lack of communicating; and perhaps the feeling of being
disregarded by our peers. All of these things can be overcome by having a dream and sticking to it. But a long the way we struggle to achieve it because of our own insecurities.

In Debbie's career she's reached a point and a volume of work that others can't deny and so she finally has what she wanted. But I've been doing this for 10 years now, 15 years less than Debbie Millman. I've some awards, though I've never been published and my peers think I'm a somewhat decent designer. But that's not good enough. I want to do inspiring work just like Debbie. Maybe I have to do this for 15 more years and go through a ton more crap before I get there. Perhaps I have to work with creatives like Debbie who will teach me how to live and breath creative better? Perhaps I'll never get there or maybe I will. That feeling of the unknown scares the crap out of me. And perhaps that's why Debbie and others like Stephan Sagmeister are talking to us all to provide a little inspiration to make it all worth it.

Or perhaps, just perhaps it's the struggle that makes the designer?

I wish I could find an example of what she talked about but it's not online. So the next best thing I could find is a video the AIGA just released. It's only hosted through their website so check it out here. It's a little something to get inspired.

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