“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
- Theodore Roosevelt
I have been discouraged time and time again through trial and error with my designs as an art student. Criticism usually burns through pretty well, and I leave the discussion of my piece with a great deal of discouragement and question if this is really a practice that I love. Am I truly cut out to be a designer? What makes good art anyway?
I suppose criticism has never greatly affected me until the last Spring semester of my sophomore year. The Typezine Project. The project that I have failed to the best of my ability and has burned through the core of my confidence as an artist. What I thought was showcasing my talent and creativity was really a small booklet of every rule that a designer should never break. How in the world did I miss that?
The six people in front of me presenting their Typezine were booklets lavished with great design. Intentional placement of image and text, sensitivity to the hierarchy of different size typefaces, and wonderful integration and relationship of color, text and imagery. While each person went, I slowly realized that my Typezine that I was so confident in was completely off and wrong. Alas, as I presented my booklet of failure, my professor was left speechless, in of course, not a very good way. He asked nothing more than a few questions, clapped as everyone did after a student presents, and moved on to the next person. My little artistic world that I have been dwelling in since childhood has never been shaken up so much in my life.
With this great criticism that I have received, it has only sparked a greater passion to do even better. I have failed miserably, but as Roosevelt has said, I suppose I can say that I failed “daring greatly.” in which, is more than I can hope for.
Ah yes, and I will tackle this Typezine Project again for my own sake as an artist. Take two. I decided to showcase the closest people in my life along with the match of imagery with the places and the things that they love. Simply, it is called “People, Places, Things.” The work is still in progress, but reader, you are able to look out for it at my new portfolio site, in which I hope to add more than one project: http://be.net/kristylee
So cheers to every artist, musician, actor/actress, composer, and dancer who has battled through tough criticism and developed strong ears to listen to those who judge frankly. This only marks the beginning of my artistic career, and it is only by the Great Artist whose strength that He grants will I be able to soldier on and well…fight for my art.
(Was the last line cheesy? Sorry, I couldn’t help it :) It just related to the title too well and I didn’t even plan it!)
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