To Go to Art School Or Not?

I used to have the mentality that going to art school was a waste of time. When actually depending on your level of skill already it may not be. The reason that I chose to go back and finish is because of what I learned from Robert Greene’s Book called Mastery.

Then you have to think about how quickly you will learn on your own compared to learning in a classroom. I’m not saying learning on your own is bad. Because I am constantly teaching myself things and learning on my own. For example being self taught in learning spanish and learning from doing so many design tutorials.

You can learn the technical side of how the programs work in school. I remember when I first started my journey into design I was more of a technical type of designer knowing how to use the programs swiftly. Then after I was told the programs will not help you design better.

I will leave you with this quote from John Cleese

Teaching creativity easy being creative is whats hard.

Learn from those who have came before you and how they developed their skills and etc.

The Golden Gun

This is a prop of the famous Golden from James Bond. The channel name is QUARTERMASTER PROPS I’m just amazed the level of craftsmanship that is put into this prop. In the comments many asked if he was ever going to sell others and he said it was just a one time thing. Seeing the Golden Gun brings me back to memories of playing 007 on nintendo 64 with friends.

A Letter A Day for 27 Days

Recently I began a new project to draw a letter a day for 26 days. The reason behind it was to really see what I could come up with. So far I’m only the letter E. But by the time you read this I should be on the letter I. I Post the letters daily on my instagram Here’s some of the Letters I have done so far.

My thoughts after graduating from college

Here’s a picture I took of my table at the portfolio show. I was pretty happy with how it turned out. The overall look at feel was to get people to look through my portfolio which worked out great. There were some very interesting people that came through the show.

But lets get to my thoughts about how I feel after graduating. This was my 3rd time taking portfolio class. The first time I took portfolio I was not ready at all. Mainly because I was finding myself as a designer. Then the second time I was not able to continue because of not having a way to pay for the class.

I am so proud that I was able to make it through easily. One of the things about it that made it easy for me was because I was prepared before the class. The reason for being prepared was knowing that I did not have a choice this time around. Also realizing that I am capable of graduating.

After the graduation ceremony was over I thought ok you graduated from college now what are you going to do? Are you going to continue waking up at 5 am every morning and going further each day? I am not going to think just because I graduated from college I made it which is not the case.

I’ve been applying to many design jobs in Fort Lauderdale where I’m moving to with my brother and sister in the next couple of months. Also I realized the many opportunities I have been missing with not being a member of AIGA. Hopefully I’ll be able to join soon and land a Job in Fort Lauderdale. I’m going to hustle hard to land a Job and continue designing daily.

Before I end this post I just want to say thank you to every single one of you who has followed my blog/left a comment or even read a post or watched a video I posted. Thank you.

Swen iPhone App design

I had started recently working on an iPhone app design. The reason I decided because there did not seem to be an app that would let you know if your favorite website/blog is updated or I could be wrong. The approach I was going for with the app is to make it extremely easy to use.

This is a self initiated project for me to expand my design skills in many different areas besides print. If there’s any questions you have about the process and or app feel free to leave a comment below.

Interior Design: The New Freedom: Massimo and Lella Vignelli, 1981

I really enjoyed this interview with massimo and his wife. One of the main things I have noticed about designers is there is quite a bit of us who will make what we do not have around us. Because when Lella was asked about the furniture in their living room and she said we didn’t have any so we designed our own.

How I graduated from college after failing the first time

Many people could not even think of getting a college education or that could just be me. I had chosen that I wanted to go to art school and get an associates degree in graphic design. Then first time around I had got to the end and I ended up getting burnt out.

What caused me to get burned out was I had tried to do too many things without focusing on whats most important. I’ll admit that I was not as confident as a designer as I am now. The class that I had failed was portfolio class by a letter grade. I am glad that I did not pass the class.

Because the time that I took off to immerse myself every single day in design doing tutorials, learning about design, learning about other types of design, looking at the world around me in every detail changed my mindset and approach to design. When you get out of your comfort zone you will do more then you thought you could.

A person that really help me to stop playing with college and thinking of it as a game is Eric Thomas. He’s one of the many people that inspired me to set goals and to not give up. I used to think that I would just get a job and live a regular life but I realized that I’m capable of more then that and so are you. It all depends on what type of life you want to live and if you believe you can do it.

Some tips to graduate college and stay focused

Realize why you are there
College is not a game
You are going to have loans to pay back
You are setting an example for others in your family to follow
Stop hanging around your loser friends and get new ones
Cut out things you were doing before you got to college
Focus on what is important
Quit making excuses
Partying? graduating college is more important and there will always be parties going on

M.C. Escher Documentary

I had heard about M.C. Escher in class a couple of times but never really knew too much about him. This documentary shows how dedicated and infatuated an artist can get with their work and exclude everyone else. One of the many parts that amazed me is when he spent a whole year coming up with his own style of illustration or division something along those lines.

Google Glass 2.0: What If We Had Glass?

I’ll admit at first I didn’t really think of google glass as something that would be great for society and I’m slowly changing my views. The capabilities of what it can do are amazing. I for one would love to try out a pair for a week and see how they hold up and if they actually improve and help with my day to day life. Sadly I missed the opportunity to apply for them.

What do you think about google glass do you think it’ll do more harm then good or vice versa?

31 days of public transportation photos

I recently finished a little photography project that I just felt would be pretty fun to do. I posted a picture a day for 30 days on my instagram

Here’s some pictures from the project

Day 30

Day 26

Day 16

Check out the rest on my instagram @JostenDooley