Creative Threads. Jon Barnes

it with paint, fuzzy fabric, lights, and some glued-on accessories. We put it on a table in our room and it became quite the topic of conversation. I wish I could say that it lives on to this day but sadly my parents disposed of it after it sat in their basement for a decade. They said it was neither art nor a toilet. Oh well.

      Somehow I survived. But here’s the real point of the story. Even though car design had been my “one ultimate thing,” after I got to the school and got a few months in I started to feel my world expand in a new way. I met so many people and had so many great experiences that something changed inside me. Or maybe not change, but evolve. I realized in the first semester something profound, something incredible.

      God made me to be creative.

      And I can be creative anywhere.

      That’s right, after going all the way, enrolling in quite possibly the best car design school in the country and sitting under the best teaching in industrial design that one could ever hope to learn from, I came to the realization that car design was not my thing.

      Car design was not my thing? But it’s always been my thing!

      Everyone said it was my thing. I love drawing cars! I AM CAR DESIGN!

      At first I was stunned. How could this be? Why was I feeling a disconnection to car design when I should be feeling a deeper and deeper connection? I’m here at art school fulfilling my destiny and pursuing the one thing that is so obviously my passion and calling. So why do I feel like I don’t want to actually do this?

      Sidenote: Here’s the thing about being a car designer. It’s elite. It’s hard. There are more NBA players than car designers. You have to be both motivated and talented. You have to have that eye and that imagination but also technical execution and the chops to translate a vision into a sketch that people can understand. It’s a very specific and demanding field. Now those things alone don’t bother me; those aren’t reasons not to pursue something. But the challenge ahead of me caused me to pause. “Is this what I want?” I didn’t have a real clear answer to that question but after my first semester I knew that something inside me had changed. It was good. But also unnerving.

      I recall walking into the school offices to inform the various staff that I would not be returning the next year. They were shocked to be honest (I don’t think for this major that it happens very often). “You’re not coming back? Why?” they asked me. I had trouble coming up with an answer. I felt like I should be returning, to finish what I started, to go all the way, to achieve my dream of becoming a car designer.

      Except it wasn’t my dream anymore.

      I had a new sense of what “my thing” was. It was being creative. I could do anything, be creative anywhere... which sounds great, except for when it comes to telling your parents your plan. Because I had none.

      Summary: You may be the best in your school for something but you’re probably not the best in the world. Or your state. Accept that.

      Brain dump: If someone asked you what you’re all about, what would you say? Do you have a sense of calling in your life? That there’s a specific purpose or direction that it’s your job to uncover?

      Tips and advice for young creatives

      Let’s take a pause and talk about creativity and careers. If you’re thinking about a career in something creative such as digital advertising, web, design, video or interactive media here is a list of some tips, advice, and resources to think about as you start to own more and more of your future. If you’re looking at a career in something hyper-specific like automotive design or gaming then this can also apply. Basically, these are some rules of the road for ensuring you are on the right track to stand out from the competition and get to where you want to go. In no particular order, here are some “pro tips” for aspiring designers, marketers, filmmakers, communicators, and creatives:

      Try Everything: Get experience in all different kinds of art forms and media. Don’t get locked into one particular form like making logos, doing video or designing one thing. Try everything and get experience. You can tighten your focus later in your career.

      Get Connected: Participate in forums and networks where you can share your work, get advice, have your work evaluated and get inspired. Make sure you take advantage of programs and offerings within your school system as well as extra-curricular activities.

      Get Mentored: Find someone who’s doing what you want to do one day. Talk to them, see where they work, how they do things. A little hands-on experience and job shadowing can go a long, long way.

      Be Diverse: Start collecting your best work in all different kinds of art forms and media. Put together a portfolio that shows you are diverse and able to appreciate and work in many different types of design. Make sure you have a digital presence online and a simple way to point people to your online portfolio.

      Save Your Work: Get organized and make sure you are saving all your work. Get in the habit of self-critiquing your work, constantly asking, “How could this be even better?” If you give away work to a friend or relative make sure you take good pictures of it before you give it away. Document all your work and keep a standing list of places your work has been used or displayed.

      Take Some Risks: Opportunities come to those with initiative, not just people with talent. Just because you’re good doesn’t mean you’ll automatically succeed. You have to have a marketable skill set as well as the confidence and initiative to go chase down what you want and pursue your goals. Talent is not enough.

      Be Artsy, Be Organized: You’ve got to constantly grow and develop your skills as a creative person, that’s a fact. But you also have to be a self-starter who is in control of your time and goals and able to organize your life, not just make amazing designs. There’s nothing more frustrating than a great designer who is difficult to work with, unorganized, and a poor communicator. Be responsive, on-time, and polite, and your designs will be going places before you even show anyone your work.

      Show Off: Take advantage of any opportunity to show your work; In school shows, at the local mall or bookstore, in your house, in your relative’s houses, community centers, anywhere. All exposure is good but you have to be the one to initiate getting your work out there. Just go and ask.

      Explore: Search for other artists and designers who are doing amazing work. Check out local shows and displays for inspiration. Get ideas and motivation from everywhere and everyone and always be analyzing and considering high-quality design work. Pick it apart. Reverse engineer it.

      Summary: Get organized about your work and think about how you do what you do a little bit more.

      Brain dump: Which of the above two tips really jumped out to you? How can you take a step toward applying them right now?

      I’m going to

      college again?!

      Ok, back to art school. My Mom borrowed her boss’s conversion van for the road trip back from Detroit to Maryland at the end of the spring semester. Not surprisingly I had acquired quite a bit of “art” during my first year including my fuzzy light-up toilet, various car bumpers, all the weird art school stuff you make in classes with names like “materials and processes” and “VisCom,” and all my rock and roll gear (I was in a 2 man punk band. We were terrible.) Somehow we crammed it all in, I wedged myself in amongst the boxes of sketchbooks, odd-smelling hoodies, and disassembled desk parts, and we hit the road back to Maryland. Now I’m going to pause at this point and give some major shout-outs to my parents. They’re self-admittedly not “artistic.” They put up very well with my bizarre collections, room decorations, hardcore music, and decorated toilet art. I was an only child so maybe they just thought this was normal behavior but now, in retrospect, I can see that I was one weird kid. But hey, it’s all good, my parents supported me in everything I did including bailing on the super elite art school after 1 year. And with no “what next.”

      It’s a weird feeling.

      Speaking of what next... what was next for me? What would you do?