undiscoveredartist

It seems like many times when things begin to go too well they go downhill fast. This isn’t the case yet, things are going rather well, I am getting some really good press with a local corporation. It looks like I am hooked in for all their graphic design work. However, the past design firm doesn’t want to let go. They have heard there’s a new kid in town and they are trying to make amends for their poor service.

Some of the staff are going with her on projects, which I think is insane. I don’t care how many degrees a person has. If you don’t have talent, that is it. This firm also gets paid twice as much as me and I am WAY better. I am not saying this out of conceit. I have been running this racket for about ten years, I have designed hundred of logos and I have paid my dues in battle scars from the most difficult customers you can imagine.

As is often the case with the undiscoverd artist, we see things in terms of “who you know” instead of the actual quality of the work. We see things through this lense, no matter what.  If it seems that someone is ahead, and the quality is not there (and you all know what I mean by quality) we begin to question the ethics of people.

Wouldn’t it be nice to be a fly on the wall during these times? We sure would learn a lot.

Anyone privy to information such as this, would be a very wealthy person or their whole view on life would change. You may not like what you see. For all we know, the art world could be driven by a bunch of narcissistic people that only see what they want to see because it is convenient to them.

This would be the pessimistic view. The optimist in me hopes and believes that people recognize a good thing when they see it. Time will tell, but if this graphic design firm steals my opportunity with crappy work, I probably will begin to doubt some of these beliefs.

This kind of things have happened to me in the past. Personal experience tells me that people choose the work that is insubstantial because they are pressured to make this choice. When it comes to doing work in a community for example, people may be worried about upsetting the old guard.

This is the case in web design as well. The company may go with Mrs. Smith because she is Mr. Smith’s wife. She has her cute little copy of FrontPage and all it’s tacky themes, and even though she does a pi%$ poor job at designing web pages, Mrs. Smith is a sweet person, so they keep her on the payroll. Unfortunately their web presence is diminished and they have poor sales. Oh well, at least Mr. and Mrs. Smith are content.

This field is competitive. Expect to be disliked, especially if you have fresh skills and a fresh outlook. All I can say is work with these people the best you can and prove that you can do better. Give them value. Give them quality. If they don’t choose you, feel sorry for them.