Jimm asks:

From 1984, Jean Baudrillard responds:

To everyone who has entered into a design competition and been selected … to everyone who has successfully pitched a new client … to everyone who's gotten press …

You did it!

Are you a success because you think you are a success? Or are you a success because others say you are a success?

Or... Maybe we need to ask ourselves “What is my definition of success?” After all, is getting an award the only way to measure “success”? How about “doing what you love for a living” — isn’t that a form of success?

I’m sure that there are others, too.

...what stares back is more powerful than any award.

Like many of us, I certainly am not making a million bucks doing what I do, but I certainly consider myself successful - that guy staring back at me in the mirror may not be as financially rich as he'd like to be but he's got a fair bit going for him that he wouldn't give up for any amount of money:

A profitable and sustainable practice that pays the bills and then some; allowing for regular savings and investments. A marriage that works and a wife that still gets his pulse racing when she walks into the room. A child that he can take walks with in the park, who (re)teaches him how to draw with crayons and do the actions associated with nursery rhymes. The fact that he can take time off from work and not have it hurt either his practice or sense of worth. The time to hang out with friends over a beer in a pub or a coffee at a cafe.

I do believe there can be an awful lot of money made in this business, but I don't neccessarily measure my time in dollars, and while financial sustainability is very high up on my list of priorities, financial wealth is somewhat lower.

I think ultimately you're a success because you've built a life that you enjoy, that challenges you and that invigorates you. What exactly does it for you (money, fame, awards, personal satisfaction, family time, spirituality etc etc) may not be what does it for another, and as such, ultimately, you're a success because you think you are.

The benchmark is your own desires and dreams.

I have thought about this and find there are two angles.

One, the young designers, who have a designer for fame and reputation.

Two, the experienced designers, who have won an award or two and have the fame.

Group one reads about, and looks at group two and how they got there. Which is hard work, getting some recognition, etc.

Group two says, don't work to hard and award competitions are meaningless.

Catch 22. I don't know. What to do, what to do. I think I'll become an accountant.

"Success is when you train your cat to bring you YOUR dinner...."

I have... many muscles

Brilliant!! :)

I think ultimately you're a success because you've built a life that you enjoy, that challenges you and that invigorates you. What exactly does it for you (money, fame, awards, personal satisfaction, family time, spirituality etc etc) may not be what does it for another, and as such, ultimately, you're a success because you think you are.

Personally, I think you hit the nail on the head with this one. I believe that the definition of success is determined by one's individual parameters.

There is no bona fide answer to define success in a universal aspect. Values fluctuate from one person to the next.

jimm also has pretty good moves under the basket, and a good jump shot.plus he dee's up.

maybe this is success.

Ah, Jimm, it seems like yesterday, those Searsport days...

Finally, a commentary about awards that speaks to the inherent contradictions and mixed feelings all of us have about them. I appreciate Jimm's honesty—it DOES feel good to see your work staring back at you from the pages of a reputed journal or book. Any one who at some point says that it didn't at some point is probably lying. Why else would they enter the work?

But I think there are larger aspirations, too. One is that many of these journals and books we speak of will be records of design culture in the decades to come. To feel as if we contributed in some way to the betterment of that culture (design and beyond) is an aspirationn of mine, and certainly of others. In a weird way, it validates the notion that maybe our work did a little good for the world. Second, we all have opinions on what good work is and should do. One way to play a role in actually using that opinion in an influential way is to judge, curate, archive design work for these publications. The only way to be selected as a judge is to have your work visible. The main way to get the work visible is—well, here we are again.

But if fame is all one seeks, well, then again, design awards aren't like getting an Oscar. Here's to Andy's vision of a rosy enriching life outside of design. Design is a means, not an end.

Success is survival.

Apart from being a designer, I am also a musician. The whole success thing is meaured similarly in that industry, so it is a guilty pleasure to read back-issues of the music press and spot the names of the “next big things” and know that those bands/artists have long since given it up, or they had a tantalisingly small taste of “successs” and faded into obscurity wearing that success like a millstone. Until you realise that mostly they are just like you — they got into it because they love doing it and any “success” they had was just an inconsequential side-effect of passion, luck and timing. The irony is that some of the musicians I know, who where considered successful in terms of the industry, became so repulsed with the inner workings of that industry when they saw it up close that they can no longer take any pleasure from making music.

So if you love what you do and you are still doing it, that is all the success you need and probably all the success that you want.

I had the pleasure of chatting recently with Stefan Sagmeister (whom I know some of the regulars here don’t rate). I asked him how he measures becoming a better designer. He couldn’t come up with an answer, and neither can I, for which I am relieved. As long as their are creative frontiers to explore, awards, just like all those other things, will just be something to stick on the fridge.

Competition is healthy if you keep things in perspective. However I think it's a mistake to measure your own success through other people's so called wins. If you run into an arrogant designer, they're probably A. really shy and don't realize it, or B. they haven't grown up from that first colouring contest win. Unfortunately they never grew out of that phase of needing someone else to give them a gold star. From those designers that I admire, there seems to be a balance between self confidence and fear that keeps them honest. They're open and don't need to tell you how great they are.

And have a happy birthday Jimm

Unfortunately they never grew out of that phase of needing someone else to give them a gold star. From those designers that I admire, there seems to be a balance between self confidence and fear that keeps them honest. They're open and don't need to tell you how great they are.

Bravo, Michael Surtees—wonderfully said! Perfectly said.

See, in the end, it has to be about the work. One is alone with one's work. That's it.

It can't be about...knowing the "right" people, or becoming famous, or being nice to people you think can be helpful to you and a schmuck to everyone else, or becoming the next Stefan Sagmeister so that you, too, can autograph copies of your book for a long line of drooling design students. (Not a knock against Sagmeister, by the way. Not really, anyway... It's just that if there's a celebrity chef of graphic design today, it's him. And there just has to be more to design than that.)

Love of the process has to carry you. It can't be all about "Look at me, look at me!"—because if it is, you'll crash and burn.

Success in life is about how you treat other people, the work that you accomplish, how you react to adversity, and what you do with the resources given to you. And it's about love; love for others and love for what you do, how your small contribution can make the world a better place.

Awards are great, for sure, but you shouldn't need them to validate your career.

I'm in my second year of a four year design program right now. The competition I inflict on myself is beyond ridiculous. I not only need to be the best designer I can be, not compromising on my design beliefs (if it means staying up for 5 days straight) but I also need to get the best GPA I can. But this year I hit an epic crossroad with a bad grade (my first B+): Do I design for my professor, or do I design for the audience?

I had a debate with my professor over the use of Helvetica or the use of a grungy typeface (outside of my usual style). It became the issue of commercializing HIV/AIDs with Helvetica or selling reality. Her argument for Helvetica was that it was subdued and let my illustrations tell the story. My argument for the grunge type was that it reflects the reality of HIV/AIDs (it actually looked like smeared blood).

So what do I do? Do I take my design principles and sacrifice my beloved dream of perfect GPA, or do I sacrifice my design? Some of my friends suggested to submit the Helvetica and change it later. I decided to err on the side of design principles.

I took both my designs out in the "real world." I asked patrons of my target audience which ad they would most respond too and my study showed 9/10 dentists agree, Helvetica is bad for your teeth. Okay, so they weren't dentists but university students. But they were the target market. The designers give me a B+. So who do I design for? But that's another question.

It's the grade that got me upset. Am I a worse designer than I was last year? Are people simply better than me this year? Am I not trying as hard as I could be? Competition drives me mad. It's artificial. It's malevolent. And it's what pushes me to be my best. Without competition, I don't think I'd even try. Why try? When the bear's chasing you, you only need to be 10 steps in front of the guy behind you.

Without my unrelenting need to go down in history as some great designer or educator or whatever (as I'm sure we all dream of) I don't think I'd be half as good as my friends tell me I am. But I'm 19, so I haven't had the time for the world to corrupt me. I still haven't had the corporations kill my spirit with bureaucracy. And when they do, the fight they get from me will be like none they've ever seen before. Man, am I ever gonna be poor.

There are only a feel things I have learned about success, and I usually forget them (especially when I most need them). But I reminded them now, so I won't push my luck:

� All you can be is the best you can be at the moment. It's an impossibility to go further — to try that is a sure way of developing a mental disease. So, your success should be measured by the question: "did I do the best I could without going nuts, given the circumstances?"

� While trying to always be the best you can be, don't forget to live your life. You know, enjoy the stuff that reminds you somehow that design is just design, no matter how many times it seemed more important than your actual existence. Enjoy what really matters: family, sleep, walks, a sunny day after months of winter, listening to that song that since you lost that cd you never heard again (thank you, mp3!), etc. Because if, in the end, you became the best you could be, but that wasn't good enough (with so many designers around, the odds aren't low at all), at least you have the joy of have lived happily; you have good memories to dive into. Because, beeing 25, I can only imagine how nasty it would be to, 50 years from now, look back and see, no matter how successful I get in design, no matter from whose perspective, that I took for granted the time I had to live — actually live. Let alone if I don't get all that successful, from my perspective.

Anyway, as I said, I usually forget all this but, when I have a crappy day, I do try to remind "it's just design" and then I walk home almost laughing, thinking "to hell with all that! Where are we having dinner tonight?" Oh, great, now I'm a self-help author... lame!

Just make sure you stretch daily. There's nothing worse than trying to reach the highest mountain of success, only to fail because you weren't loose enough, weren't flexible and healthy. Design muscles need to be regularly expanded and made taught, so they will tighten and function efficiently.

The idea of success is almost frightening. What do you do to get there? Then once you have it, where do you go? I can only hope to have the grace and the aptitude of some of the greats to have a lifelong passion for whatever it is the moment is offering me.

Success is a recent sort of struggle. The money is good, I get recognition of my peers at the office and in my small slice of design community. I've done some work I'm proud of. My wife is and family are wonderful. But somehow there's always an itch that hasn't been scrathced. And sometimes you never feel satisfied. I guess the question is whether success and satisfaction are the same thing. I'd live with satisfaction, if someday I was able to stop for two seconds and accept that it's there.

Marko, if it's any consolation — and I acknowledge the generalization, but it's more than true — not a single employer will care about your GPA. A designer with a 4.0 GPA with no talent, knack or understanding of design is useless. I finished with the equivalent of a 2.5 GPA. Some girls in my class who only aimed for the 4.0 GPA are some of the worst designers I have ever seen and I wish they stopped doing it right now. It's about the work, not the grade.

> I appreciate Jimm's honesty—it DOES feel good to see your work staring back at you from the pages of a reputed journal or book. Any one who at some point says that it didn't at some point is probably lying

True. And it's a shame that we are ashamed of enjoying it. As much as design has built this award tradition I find it incredibly paradoxical that, in general, awards are a bit of a dirty thing that you enter at night while no one's watching and the kids are safely in bed.

When talking about success as a designer, a profession that doesn't get much recognition in the public realm, you can't help but gauge it within the response it gets from the design community. We are a smart bunch, so it's not that bad.

I don't know if anyone said this already but I think if you are happy with what you are doing and the person/company you are doing it for is happy, then you are a success. That may be a per project thing I know. It's hard to compare yourself to other people in almost anything. To be successful at running a marathon doesn't mean you take 1st place everytime. I don't think there are too many people that think they are going to take first place in a marathon. Yet they still do it and they still can be successful. Set a realistic goal and achieve it. That's success to me.

>>not a single employer will care about your GPA.

While GPA is less important than a personal interview and portfolio review, I always make a point to check out grades. I want to hire *smart* people who can handle multiple projects on their plate and excel while doing so. In many ways, that parallels juggling studio work and the other class requirements at many larger colleges and universities. I've found that meticulous students tend to be meticulous designers (and workers). There's a lot more to being a successful staff designer than having mad creative skills, such as meeting with clients, taking good notes, handling jobs at vendors, etc... If it came down to a hiring decision between 2 very talented designers who interviewed well and had equivelent books and 4 yr. BFA'a from reputable schools, I would take the 3.75 GPA over the 2.0 GPA every time. So, short story long: work hard in the studio, but not so hard that you sleep thru your 8AM biology lecture.

my .02

not a single employer will care about your GPA.

Field competition starts early. In high school, I found myself competing for a scholarship to attend the Rhode Island School of Design. My school was to send one person. By the end of the year I had been sent to detention (a term of 1 week, + all 0s) so many times that I had to get a petition signed by the entire art student body - challenging the art teacher- just so I could graduate. I barely got into college and and never graduated. No one ever asked for a degree. The icing on this cake finally came 10 years post high school. The talented, well-mannered girl who recieved the full RISD scholarship called me at Ogilvy, "Felix, remember me from high school? I'm in Times Square standing next to the naked cowboy."

I wonder if the statistically, more men enter competitions?

I ask because a part of this competitive drive is biological:

In species where females make a greater parental investment, they tend to be more discriminating in mate choice, so the reproductive success of males depends largely on their ability to compete for mating opportunities (Trivers, 1972) either by winning fights with other males or by presenting displays preferred by females (Darwin, 1871). The fitness benefits of these outcomes tend to increase the prevalence of genes that promote male risk-taking and competitive ability at the expense of decreased investment in repair capacity and disease prevention (Daly and Wilson, 1978).

source

Of course when I opened this can of worms to myself, all kinds of things started spilling out— are there more men in advertising and packaging? more women in publication? Do more men win awards? There are many ways to (carefully) go with this.

There was a question raised recently about gender bias in the industry, and it seems that despite overwhelming numbers of female practitioners, this is still a male-dominated sport.

Grades are just another form of an award. We all in some respect try to design for the client and other designers. If you're doing corporate work, it not only says look at this company/product, in the process a designer says look at me, look at my product.

Any one who pretends to be jaded by awards or claims they don't mean anything are just being grumpy. Recognition is given in every profession, especially the aesthetic professions. And there's nothing wrong with a group of your peers saying "good job". In fact, it generally kicks ass. So I'm going to go out right now and start designing something with the goal of winning an award. How bad could that be?

As a woman, a human, a slave to success - to guessing to hope, I would say Britney Spears seems somewhat content. But rather, the Sigourney (sp) Weavers have their hands up asking when does happiness and success collide and when does the door open again, wider, well oiled. Maybe success isn't measured in doors, that's where the ladder comes in. I agree with Armin, that we are a smart bunch and looking for approval from colleagues is never a bad thing. An article in Adweek stated that gender and creativtiy are pretty much mutually exlusive. So why all the debate. Let's just get out there, smile and drive the pony.

Marko, if it's any consolation — and I acknowledge the generalization, but it's more than true — not a single employer will care about your GPA. A designer with a 4.0 GPA with no talent, knack or understanding of design is useless.

I know that after I graduate my GPA will only matter for grad school, but while I'm getting my B. Des. I need a way to pay for it. Grades equal scholarships. Sholarships equal continuing my education without my ever growing debt. While design is highly subjective, I think that in design education, it should be that grades reflect your creativity, understanding of the target audience, successful communication and actual technical proficiency. That's how my school grades (according to our project briefs, anyway). So by having a 4.0 it would, in theory, be a reflection of a great understanding of design and execution of said design.

Some girls in my class who only aimed for the 4.0 GPA are some of the worst designers I have ever seen and I wish they stopped doing it right now. It's about the work, not the grade.

So if this is the case, where do I find the compromise between getting scholarships on academic merit and keeping the integrity of my work? I don't feel everyone who aims for that perfect GPA is a bad designer, but I think I might be on the defensive now. I guess I can always enter design competitions to pay for my education, but doesn't that bring us back to square one? The competitive drive to be the best designer? If I can't prove it with my grades then I can prove it with accolades from the design community. No one wants to fund a second rate designer through school, just as no client offering the highest paycheck would hire a designer without a few awards.

Sorry for ranting, lately I've been trying to come to terms with what I'm looking for out of my design education. But I have to say, my competition against myself has been the reason I've learned so much this term.

>>I guess I can always enter design competitions to pay for my education

I would strongly suggest NOT using that as a fall back plan.

if i ever win a thing that warrants a speech then fuck me if i couldn't deliver something like http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/2005/pinter-lecture-e.html this.

and . . . 25 years ago today. jai guru deva om.

I can imagine, when I get married, a loooooong time from now, my wife can tell me if I'm successfull or not. 'Till then I don't think I'll ever know. Graphic Design feels like some huge Hemi in my brain. Screw success, Just Drive!

Rich without taste.

Successful without humility.

Famous without empathy.

Leave that to Paris Hilton, thanks. If you make fame, wealth and success your destination, you may reach them, but you will never properly experience any of the things in life which make fame, wealth and success enjoyable and ultimately, unecessary.

> Grades equal scholarships.

Say no more. Ace that stuff.

After reading this, I've decided to remain 23 forever, settle into my combination idealized/jaded self, and pretend success isn't a catch-phrase dangled before me like some sickening lure just waiting to dig into my flesh once I bite down.

Than again, living paycheck to paycheck isn't fun. Catch-22. Yossarian Lives.

Jason Tselentis: Just make sure you stretch daily. There's nothing worse than trying to reach the highest mountain of success, only to fail because you weren't loose enough, weren't flexible and healthy. Design muscles need to be regularly expanded and made taught, so they will tighten and function efficiently.

A big thank-you for this. It's so easy for me to forget that. "Stretch daily" was something I found so easy to practice during the college years, and now that I've been out for awhile, I forget that I need to warm-up before I attempt a marathon.

Again, thank you, from the bottom of my design-loving heart.

It's true that praise from one's peers feels good. But I think that it's important to get beyone the narcissistic fix of others' approbation. In fact I think it's important to remain undaunted both by lavish praise and by any criticism that's not constructive. Lavish praise makes you complacent and hollow criticism is just useless.

Armin wrote:

Some girls in my class who only aimed for the 4.0 GPA are some of the worst designers I have ever seen and I wish they stopped doing it right now.

So (just playing devil's advocate here), should the girls stop designing, because they suck?

I think that, if they love and believe in what they're doing and if they can keep body and soul together doing it, they should keep on keeping on. I also think that, if they love and believe in what they're doing and can keep body and soul together doing it, that probably qualifies them as a "success".

The difference is that Armin will go down in design history but the sucky girls won't. And that's okay. Isn't it?

happy birthday jimm

But somehow it is not enough. How can it be?

Because awards are fleeting. Because the very people submitting

are the same people judging. I say let people who have nothing to do with design pick what’s best..someone anyone rip this idea off…put the work out there and let the audience deicide...then it will be exciting because then all our "friends in the business" wont be there to pick "our piece"…. now there’s a design book I'd run out to buy… there is a "contest" I'd submit my work to and actually care "if it got picked"..every award "book" is rigged and yet we ALL run to that bullshit like ants on sugar...a smart bunch? lately ...I wonder.

“you can't help but gauge it within the response it gets from the design community.”

This is just SO wrong in so many ways.

every word true, i wonder the same things most days, i think all designers do.

happy birthday all the same...

I say let people who have nothing to do with design pick what’s best..

So if it was UPS vs. FedEx vs. that yellow and red shipper, who would win? Would the winner be based on aesthetics or price?

> I think that, if they love and believe in what they're doing and if they can keep body and soul together doing it, they should keep on keeping on. I also think that, if they love and believe in what they're doing and can keep body and soul together doing it, that probably qualifies them as a "success".

Well... There is more to my "they sucked" and it is a whole other story. But no, none of the above applies.

at this point I've had enough of this logo vs. that logo it's pretty basic mudane critisism. i think it would be interesting to hear what makes someone who has nothing to do with design react to the work..sort of a fresh take rather than just going the industry which is usually based on a "group" decision, like a committe or a club..i dont trust that. success can be measured in ways other than contests and trophies.

There is more to my "they sucked" and it is a whole other story.

Given the nuance and meticulousness of your writing, I have no doubt that there is more to it than that. I really was just playing devil's advocate. Didn't mean to sound churlish!

But no, none of the above applies.

Yikes! That's sad.

Best way to measure success is by the people you attract to be around you ... you are successful if your girlfriend is really hot. Who cares about awards when you've got a really hot girlfriend?

The more you think about whether or not your successful thes likely it is that you are.

Sorry I am an unsuccessful speller and editor.

Here's what I meant.

The more you think about whether or not your successful the less likely it is that you are.