Perks of being a Wall(flower)-Designer

Megan — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 05:42:10 +0000

I recently saw the film, “Perks of Being a Wallflower,” and loved it. It sparked some thoughts I have often had about being a graphic designer. I think there is something wallflower-esk that led me to nerd out and focus on design, thinking I was alone in my obsession with fonts. I feel like my creative work in film has to be seen but not heard. Even if it’s front and center it has to belong in the environment and look like it’s always been there. People always ask what I work on for my job and a laundry list flows out of my mouth (Logos, IDs, Brochures, Websites, Photo Comps, Signage etc.). The response is always, “Oh I didn’t know they needed someone to make that stuff.” Most of it has to do with clearance issues but yes, they do need people to make that stuff. Thankfully because (for the most part) I love my job.

When I started out, I think I wanted everything to stand out and be heard but eventually learned the art of blending in, which isn’t as easy as it looks. One of the perks of being a designer in my arena is that I get to meet so many other interesting and driven people. I love that I get to help keep up the ruse and add to stories. Film and TV can be so powerful and to have an opportunity to create graphics for these stories has been really fun and led me to design some things I never would have imagined (like a championship boxing belt for Real Steel).

In the movie, they learn that they are not alone and some of the most interesting people are the ones observing. I can say that through my career as a designer I have met some extremely creative people that continue to inspire me. I hope to continue learning and growing as a designer and meet more wallflowers along the way.

Enjoying the Creative Process

admin — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:54:03 +0000

I am a graphic designer for film and television. This is my attempt to keep a record of my creative process and inspirations.

Enjoying the creative process is pretty essential to me. I have been learning to enjoy the highs and lows of doing creative work and not getting too caught up in where I am but concentrating on enjoying the creative process. I try to keep in mind there are going to be days my work feels fresh, new, and amazing and other days I just want to hit control (apple) Z and undo everything.

I get inspired all the time by living in such a diverse city, full of people who seem to be in that constant state of creative flux. It can be overwhelming to be surrounded by everyone experiencing such highs and lows on a daily, weekly and even monthly basis. I like to remember that it’s not about “making it” (success is a relative term) but more about what you are learning on your creative journey while not comparing yourself too harshly to those around you. If you are passionate about what you are creating and you keep diligently working on getting better I think you will be successful and can get through the pendulum swing of being an artist. Besides, when you finally “make it” you quickly learn that there are a whole different set of problems just over the rainbow to deal with. That pot of gold over there is just a prop filled with gold painted hockey pucks and that rainbow was green screened.

I thinks it’s possible that our ups and downs may teach us amazing life lessons that you couldn’t have learned without taking the risk of your creative pursuit. In my experience, I do my best work when I let go and stop trying to force something to happen. I might have to restart a few times but the fact that I won’t give up and my portfolio is never finished is what keeps me motivated to keep working on my projects. I have been a bit apprehensive to start this blog but as I have learned with any design problem the hard part can just be getting started. These posts will have some ups and downs but I will try to be fearless and write my thoughts.

Thanks for reading and just a little disclaimer: I am in no way a writer by any means. However in 8th grade when I did win the “America and Me” essay contest so maybe that gives me some motivation that I could manage to write a little blog post every now and again. To be fair, I picked Helen Keller as the person that inspires me most and let’s be honest… Hellen Keller always wins (I don’t care with the competition is).

Welcome To Greydanus Design

Perks of being a Wall(flower)-Designer

Enjoying the Creative Process