On Design and Entreprenuership

As an industrial designer, you are asked to solve a problem. It might be as simple as increasing the usability of prescription pill bottle, or as complex as creating a sustainable model for a recyclable automobile. Let's compare this to the entreprenuer.

According to Mark Cuban (I don't like quoting him, but he's right on this):
"Few businesses only have one opportunity. Every entrepreneur's mind goes crazy with the new and exciting things they can do beyond the new and exciting things they are already doing. The risk is that you can drown in all these opportunities. Far too often when an entreprenuer hits a rough patch or competitive challenge, the temptation is to "turn on the thinking cap" and find something new for the company to do. "

This type of thinking is equivalent to the brainstorming and research phase of the design process. Therefore, design and entreprenuership both draw on the same prerequisite of the individual being a visionary. Observe situation/problem, see opportunity/solution. The objectives, however, may be quite different. Designers look to help the lives of people by creating products of value, making a buck off their services. Conversely, entreprenuers look to make a buck for themselves and those around them by creating products and services of value.

Mark Cuban describes an entreprenuer's emotions to a T:
"There are few things more exciting than starting a business and getting things rolling. The fear, the adrenalin, the excitement, the hope that every entrepreneur feels, are all intoxicating. In fact, very often they are TOO intoxicating. Very often, along with some success comes the feeling of invincibility. I have been in situations where I have told myself that Im smart, I know what Im doing, that I will figure things out as I go, so its OK to take on this new opportunity. "

These are the EXACT same emotions a designer feels. You get a project that you may or may not be completely sold on, but you get started on the brainstorming and research. You learn about the market. You map out the user's lifestyle and habits and you begin to see how you can solve this particular problem... and then you become consumed. You live, breathe, and sleep design. And every step of the way, you'll hit a roadblock of some sort. It strikes fear straight to your core, planting the seeds of self doubt. Then stroke of genius will hit as you're falling asleep, jarring you out of bed and to your sketchbook. Or you'll be riding the subway and something about the train's door and window configuration gives you a new perspective to your design. It is both exciting and intoxicating to experience this process from sketchpad to storeshelf.

Why is this? Read Brian Kim's opinion:
"Is it any wonder why adults envy children so much? They are untainted. They are free. They live life the way they see it, with no worries. Children had the power to create their world because there was no negativity surrounding it. Nobody frowned upon them for doing so. Fast forward years later and most adults lost that power due to the negativity surrounding that exact same power and as a result, have become bitter and jaded at life.

Yet, that choice always remains within all of us. We do have the power to live life the way we see it. It’s just that we lost the map to that power of choice, that power of creativity, the power of dreaming and it is only up to us to find it again, but the longer we wait to reclaim it, the further down it sinks into the abyss. Sure you can yank it up every now and then, but it will just start sinking again once more. The power that was slowly stripped from us must likewise be slowly restored. You’ve got to pull it up little by little and reclaim the very essence of our being, the power to create our own world."

Within the context of the working world, design and entreprenuership are occupations that set you free. They are the rare jobs that allow you to create all that you can dream.

Education

School has always been a contemptuous point for me. I never liked it. I didn't like the feeling of obligation. I was obligated to attend class. I was obligated to take notes. I was obligated to do the assignments. I was obligated to get good grades.

When I was little, I did well in school because I was smart kid and if I didn't.. well, I heard it from my parents. But somewhere along the way, my parents stopped going to my parent-teacher conferences and stopped looking at my report cards all together. They knew the expectations I placed on myself and trusted that I'd meet them.

When that happened, I began to devalue education on a subconsious level. Maybe it was because I had a problem with authority. Maybe it was because I wanted to break every single rule and stereotype. I don't really know, but I entered college at that level of maturity and never really took it seriously. There wasn't a single semester that I pulled it all together. I simply went through the motions to do just good enough... never exceptional, and never failing. I crammed the night before exams, I pulled last minute all-nighters at the art school, and skipped an endless number of classes.

In spite of all that, somehow I developed a passion for learning. I've always seen myself as an entreprenuer, but since I've moved to NY, I've slowly become extremely committed to my talents as a designer and artist. I can see what path I'm going to take to succeed, and it is one as a designer, artist, and entreprenuer. Never as only one or the other, but as a combination of the three. It also makes me realize how much further I have to go, how much more I have to learn, and that I cannot stop until I learn it all.

Progress

Slowly, but surely, I'm making progress. I've gotten the rendering portion up and running on Rhino3d and have finally figured out the ins and outs of getting a hot rendering out of that program.

I have three networking resources ahead of me. I met with my freelance guy's contact and he's setting me up with two giant Industrial Design firms sometime in January. I also met this guy who knew a girl from his high school that does ID. He got in contact with her and passed her info along to me. Apperently she works with some UMich people, which is a crazy coincidence.

Anyhow, I feel the momentum building. This rendering thing is HUGE. Networking is definately way easier than applying to every job posting I see. And after getting myself reacclimated this weekend, I spent all afternoon/evening pumping out renderings left and right. It's like I'd been wandering the streets the NY on foot then hijacked a Ferrari in front of a highway. I can feel things coming together in terms of my design skills, networking, and my life here in general.

Now, if only I had more than $4 in my wallet...