Image by Tim Parkinson
How do you deal with rejection?
Back when I was a first year graphic arts student, my class entered a design competition for the Canadian branch of an international organization.
I can’t recall exactly what the design was for. Something commemorative, and I think it was something round. A coin, maybe. It was a long time ago. Most of the details have faded into the mist of Things That Don’t Matter Much.
What I do remember is the outrage I felt at receiving a warm and fuzzy rejection letter, thanking me for entering the competition, and telling me how much my hard work was appreciated.
Why outrage?
Here’s how the letter began:
“Dear Stanley…”
Do you know what happens to your work when you send it into the world? You might want to give that some thought before you end up with an unfortunate chapter in your memoirs.
Cautionary tale #1: keep track of your clients
Back in the 20th Century I did freelance Web design work. One of my clients was a non-profit arts organization. I heard from them occasionally, when they had a new batch of photographs to add to their gallery pages.
One day I happened by their site and was horrified to discover someone else was maintaining it—and doing a sloppy job. I wasn’t upset because I’d been dumped—I charged them half my usual rate as a goodwill gesture because they were strapped for cash, and strongly suspected the new person was a volunteer.
I was not impressed about having my work mangled, but there wasn’t much I could do. The client had moved on, they owned the site, so what they did with it was their business.
The problem was no one bothered to tell me. I had the organization listed as a client on my website. The awkward additions could have hurt my reputation as a designer, and I could have looked like an idiot in the eyes of existing or potential clients—if I wasn’t keeping track of my own work, could they trust me to look after theirs?
When you run your own professional creative practice, you sometimes find yourself overwhelmed. There seems to be a thousand things to do, and only a few people to do it. Maybe you are the people.
The obvious way to set priorities is to take care of the most time-sensitive things first so you don’t miss any deadlines. But what happens after that?
If you’re someone who enjoys being organized, you’re reading this with your finger already poised over your mouse, while your mental To Do list is writing itself. No need to read further.
If you’re an intuitive type, you’re probably praying for an easy, magic solution.
