This post is something I wrote for an online magazine that never came to fruition. So instead of wasting this beautiful piece of editorial art, I’m going to share it with you. It’s a bit out of date, but fun none the less. Enjoy.
A fair portion of the people I know are either artists, designer, writers or all of the above, and a lot of talent amongst the group. My good friend Stephanie Han-Windham, featured in this very mag, is a talented artist and graphic designer. Some of my fellow contributors are exceptional writers and tend to dabble in other arts as well. Even Malik, the leader of this surly crew, is an artist, designer and musician. Myself? I’m a designer by trade, I write a bit and I have been known to pick up a paintbrush or charcoal pencil now and then. So with all this talent, you’d expect at least some of us to be reasonably successful, but you’d be wrong.
I don’t want this to come off the wrong way, but of most of my friends, even those beyond the virtual BRONZ walls have to maintain some sort of gainful employment just so we have the time and money for our artistic endeavors. This mag is a labor of love for Malik, something he’s been wanting to do for a long time. I applaud him in his efforts and if its success was based solely on his passion and talent, we’d all be superstars riding his proverbial coattails. Unfortunately, there’s a lot more to success than a right brain mentality and a dream.
For most artists, sales is a four-letter word that we avoid as much as we can get away with until it becomes detrimental. D
uring the dot-com bust, I worked as a freelance designer, but barely made rent each month because I never wanted to market myself to anyone. Why is that? Mostly I was lazy, but I think my laziness came from my fear of rejection. Worse than rejection would be my fear of success, and this is where I expose myself completely, because if I’m successful in gaining more clients, then I’ll have more work to do and I’m too lazy to want that much work. I should be committed, but this condition exists in a lot of folks. I’m just better at self-deprecation than most.
The truth is, save for a few exceptions like my friend Stephanie, as artists/designers/writers/musicians we inherently suck at self promotion or just can’t be bothered with it. The worst part is how much easier it is to promote ones talent with the advent of new internet technologies and social websites like YouTube, Flickr and the ubiquitous Myspace. Old ideas about marketing are dead. People are immune to advertising and in-your-face attention grabbing tactics, but blogs and other sites based around community and interaction are making the job of promotion easier and more cohesive to the personalities of the artists themselves. Sure, some have taken advantage of these opportunities but the majority of us have not. The question remains is it ignorance or apathy? Perhaps a little of both.
I say as I’m kicking my own ass for not doing anything about it even though I’ve educated myself to Web 2.0 science. I’ve done the research and talked about these things to others but done nothing. I’m kicking myself because I’m watching Malik pursue a dream while I sit on my butt instead of finishing a painting or updating my portfolio, but then I’m just like you, aren’t I?
