Are You Afraid to Fail? (Week 12)

“An inventor is simply a person who doesn’t take his education too seriously. You see, from the time a person is six years old until he graduates from college he has to take three or four examinations a year. If he flunks once, he is out. But an inventor is almost always failing. He tries and fails maybe a thousand times. It he succeeds once then he’s in. These two things are diametrically opposite. We often say that the biggest job we have is to teach a newly hired employee how to fail intelligently. We have to train him to experiment over and over and to keep on trying and failing until he learns what will work.” ~Charles Kettering

Don’t be afraid to fail. Success rarely comes from the first try. Ever eat a banana? How many times do you think it took somebody to figure out to peel it before eating it?

In most of your classes there is a right and a wrong answer. Usually it is all right or all wrong. That is rarely the case in the real world and never the case with creativity. Don’t be afraid to experiment. Would this look better in blue or dark green? What if I tried this brush style instead of the default. What does this tool do? How could I use it to make my project better?

If you are afraid to fail, you’ll never succeed.

Wow me with your Vector Illustrations. If you want an “A” on your illustration it better show improvement over your self-portrait. I expect shadowing, gradients, different brush strokes, etc.

Also, don’t forget all the final steps: Enhance in Photoshop | Turn final Print into my dropbox | Image: Vector Illustration

November Desktop Calendar

When you are done with your Vector Illustration, you are going to use it as the basis for creating your November calendar. If you forgot how to set it up, check here.

Here are some examples from Smashing Magazine – Desktop Wallpaper Calendar: November 2011.