When I was younger, I was a huge people-pleaser. If I could find out what people wanted, I’d twist myself to meet those expectations.

On top of it, I’m an artist.

If you know anything about artists, you know that often they’re intensely focused on their vision but at the same time, deeply concerned about how their creation will be viewed.

Will the critics tear it to shreds? Will anyone understand what I’m trying to do? Will it be hailed as a success or panned as a failure?

Such are the internal conversations of an artist.

Hello, you suck

My first college major was graphic design. As a little girl, whenever anyone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I instantly said, “an artist.”

By the time I reached my senior year in high school, I had evaluated possible college majors. I realized that as much as I loved fine art, I wanted to make a living doing what I loved to do. So I looked at how to use my art in the business world and discovered graphic design.

However, my college advisor didn’t think much of my art.

During my second year as a graphic design major, in one of our advising sessions, he blurted out, “Have you thought about another major instead of art?”

I was devastated.

At the time, I was still neck-deep in my people-pleasing mode. We talked about why he asked the question (he said my perspective needed work). Afterward, I asked my anatomical design professor if my perspective was off and if so, where. He said my perspective was fine.

This is the problem with trying to please people. You’ll never please everyone.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how one views it), I switched majors. I tried marketing for one quarter and when I got overwhelmed with quantitative analysis, I switched finally to communications.

The irony of all this? Today I make my living by helping businesses with their marketing needs, providing assets that include both copywriting and design.

So today, graphic design plays a part in what I do as well as marketing.

Create for yourself, first

Never play to the crowd.

Today, more than ever, it is easy to look around to see what everyone else is doing. But apart from studying the best practices in your field, I’d say resist the temptation.

Those who are doing what “everyone else” is doing are only generating unoriginal art.

They’re looking to please the critics, which is a futile endeavor.

Instead, first focus on what you love to do and master your skills. Become so good that people can’t ignore you.

Create for the joy of creating. Allow yourself to reach deep within your soul and bring forth something unique to the world.

Study the “old masters” of your craft. Learn the rules first before breaking them.

And then study the new masters of your craft to keep current with trends and developments. I can safely say that today’s marketing is vastly different from the marketing that was taught from 1970 – 2000.

After you’ve figured out what you love to do, then start to think about who could appreciate it.

Find those people.

Communicate to them and demonstrate how you can help them. Listen to them because sometimes they’ll have a great suggestion for how you can create your next work of art.

This isn’t the same as trying to please everyone. It’s finding your own tribe who likes and wants your art.

Who Else Wants To Be A Critic?

Here’s the dirty little secret about critics.

Their “rules” for what is good and what isn’t is a bunch of B.S.

Really.

For example, how many times have you had a discussion with friends about a movie and someone shouts, “Oh my God… I hated that movie! Two hours of my life I’ll never get back!”

Then someone pipes in, “Are you crazy? That was one of the best movies of the year! Oscar-worthy, for sure!”

And someone else will say, “It was okay. I preferred this one instead…”

As they say, everyone’s got an opinion.

Now granted, if I took the time to create a gourmet meal, a professional chef’s opinion will be welcomed. But if I took that time to create something wonderful and the chef thinks it tastes great while my friends and family dislike it, whose opinion is more important?

As I said before, you will never create anything that pleases everyone.

This is why it’s so important to first create for yourself. You’re the one with all that powerful mojo spinning around your head. Let it out and see what happens. But don’t pin your hopes on getting noticed or getting the applause. It’s not going to happen. At least not at first.

Many artists toil away in relative obscurity for weeks, months and years. Meanwhile, they’re creating things for themselves first. It’s only afterward, when they take their creation out into the world that they start to find the people who dig what they’re doing.

And now, with the Internet, it’s even easier to find your own tribe. Eventually, you’re going to find the people who will think you’re brilliant.

So don’t focus on the critics or those who are the self-appointed judges in your field.

Just create.