Knowing what we do NOT want to do gives us opportunity to do what we love.
Following is a brief summary of the presentations from Get Worked Up conference, September 22.
Part 5
Holy Sh*t! I got my degree (Things I wish I knew when I began my career)
— Casey Kelly
We spend a lot of time and energy worrying and second guessing ourselves, especially at the beginning of our careers, wondering whether we are doing it right. For her presentation, Casey shared many of the practical lessons that she has learned over the years. Following are some random highlights.
Good choices aren’t as good as you may assume and bad choices aren’t as bad as you might think.
There is no such thing as all good or all bad decisions. Negative experiences are valuable because now we know what types of projects or positions do not work for us. This allows us to focus on the good stuff and not waste time and energy on projects that are soul draining.
A design career is a paradox, embrace it.
Now that we know what kind of projects do not work for us, how do we decide which projects to take on? Knowing whether we should accept of decline a project can be broken down into this handy Venn diagram. Yellow and green zones are pretty good, and knowing what your red zones are is extremely helpful.
Should I or should I not?
Casey presented 16 lessons that she has learned during her career that can help us be great designers and great humans.
Practice gratitude personally, professionally, with the world, and with yourself.
Take Away: Listen. Challenge your perspectives. No > Yes. Be weird. Be quirky. Ask for help. Gratitude.
Casey Kelly
Websites: Buffalo Design Studio and Pretty and Grit
Instagrams: Pretty and Grit and Casey Kelly
More presentations from Get Worked Up:
More information about the AIGA Emerge program: https://www.aiga.org/emerge
Upstate New York Twitter: @upstatenewyork
AIGA Emerge Twitter: #aigaemerge
