Although all of the advice from the designers is very helpful, I really resonated with Rachel’s post. She was brutally honest, but optimistic. I personally struggle with insecurity about my work, especially now that I’m in a class full of designers. She mentioned that you may be intimidated by the other designers in the class, and that they might be better, but that doesn’t matter because each designer has a different background and style. Also, almost everyone wrote about time management and starting early, which will be noted! I personally struggle with this and procrastination is my fatal flaw, but I’m working on it. Also I really resonated with anyone that said that your first idea is usually not the best and constantly improving and revising your ideas and drafts is helpful. My original idea never becomes my final. While taking VIS 207, I actually started over many of the project or scrapped my original draft because I got tied down to one idea that wasn’t working. Like John said, letting go of an idea can be very helpful and lead you towards growth, which I have experienced and agree with! These posts reassured me that the stress, countless hours on the computer, scrapping your ideas, and trying to make sense of scribbles in your sketchbook eventually comes together beautifully at the end.
It is totally normal, Anastasia, to feel insecure at this point and to compare yourself unfavorably with your classmates. But don’t you worry, you WILL grow and you WILL begin to define your specialty. This is only the beginning. :)