The Handmade Marketplace (part 2)

So this post continues on from part 1. There have been times when I am reading an interview with a designer in Rock Sound magazine, and I am amazed to find out they are the same age as me (or younger!), yet they already have an extensive portfolio of work for big bands and concerts. And other times, I find out that designers I really admire have gone to study design later in life and are only just finding their creative niche in their 30s.

So I found this piece of advice in The Handmade Marketplace from Liz Smith really inspiring...

Don't worry about where you are in the process of building your business. Everyone is at a different stage, but everyone is at some stage. Listen to people ahead of you, help those who are still catching up to you, and don't be intimidated by people who seem to have it all figured out. No one has it all figured out.

Advice to Obey

Whenever I'm reading interviews with designers and illustrators, I love when they get asked about advice for other designers. I was reading an interview with Shepard Fairey in issue 99 of Rock Sound Magazine, and I found his message of 'never give up' to be very inspiring:

"My advice is, if you stick to what you believe in long enough and keep making work, eventually it's gonna find an audience. People should always find an outlet for their artistic passion and make it happen on nights or weekends if they can't do it full-time. Never give up. Also, don't chase design and art world trends in order to try to succeed more quickly. You've got to just do what you believe in and then your day will come. No one ever gets anywhere or any respect for just jumping on art or design trends. There are a million Banksy copycats out there but there's still only one Banksy. I'm just too stubborn to give up, so it eventually had to work out for me. But it is totally hard."

If you want to read the rest of the interview, you can access it here. Thanks to Design Shard for scanning the interview.