Meeting James Victore yesterday was a fabulous, inspiring opportunity. Being around someone so different from myself, or even the people I’m around everyday, was eye opening. It was neat to meet James Victore in person and see that he is definitely a man of action. He didn’t waste any time getting into what he had prepared for us. Time went by so fast! I wish I could sit and talk to him all day, but from my short workshop this is what I learned:
He started off by saying, “Knowing about the little things like jazz music, auto-racing, and wine can make you a better designer. Graphic design should be about stories from your life, experiences you’ve had, and using your hands. The best designs do stuff like punch you in the gut, or, at the very least, stop you in your tracks.” I believe that his work definitely, at the very least, makes you stop in your tracks. It is very different from the things I have seen and am used to. I feel like James is a great designer to learn from, especially since his motto is to get paid to be himself. And I believe he is doing it right now. What a great motto! He says, “Be the producer and director of your life, not the actor or actress. You should enjoy the graphic design business and have more influence in your life than anyone else. Be the boss of yourself. If you are in a career that you love, then you’ll never work a day in your life. That’s how I feel, all I do is be myself and get paid for it.”
One topic of conversation at the workshop was how James Victore, as a designer and teacher, is trying to give back by teaching students to have a sense of bravery; bravery to put yourself out there, to not be too attached to your work, to be honest and genuine with everyone, to be ok with criticism, and to have the ability to relax and not try, just do. He then quoted Yoda from Star Wars, “Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try.”
James made a solid point that in order to be successful, strong, smart, educated, or focused in your life, you MUST set goals. He says, “You know? Think about 5, 10, 12, 16, whatever years from now, what do you want to have accomplished and be known for? Set goals, have a plan, choose an amount of years that’s significant to you and set the goals. For me it was 15 years because I loved country music back in the day and that’s how long it took for my favorite artists to become famous. Keep your eyes on the prize and don’t ever let off the gas. Imagine how you’re going to feel when you have accomplished these things, what you’ll look like, where you’ll be living, and other things like how much money you will have made. Then do stuff! Be active to achieve your goals, then make more!”
The second part of this workshop was the idea to “Get your head out of your pod,” or think outside the box and mainly to GET OUT OF THE MOTIONS. Just be the person you are and be cool with it. He said we need to have a massive amount of self-acceptance in our lives and that this is very hard for most people to do, especially graphic designers. I would have to say I agree with him. I feel as if most of the time graphic designers are always trying to solve other people’s problems without really daring to solve their own. We also are very critical of ourselves and worrying about whether the work we do is good enough. James says heck with that, be yourself, be honest, be genuine, accept who you are and run with it, that is what’s interesting to people.” He summed up with these three things 1-Look for the truth. 2-Do great work. 3-Learn to live.
I guess what I gathered from this experience was to be myself, be honest and genuine, get inspired - especially by doing, not just reading about it or looking at photos, to be different and get out of the motions - don’t just be another graphic designer that works in a cubicle. Have courage - because graphic design is a career where every minute we put ourselves out there for criticism, to set goals, to have a plan, to never let off the gas, and to LEARN FROM THE MASTERS. We can only do what we know, so I say, learn from those who know more than you!
“Get your head out of your pod. –love, Victore” is one of his posters. He gave us all a sticker of this poster at the end of our workshop. I shook his hand, got his John Hancock, and left with a whole bunch of new knowledge and inspiration. Thanks, James Victore for this amazing experience!
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