Change is always important in a person. The ability to reflect, and to see what you can change about yourself to become a better person in the future, is such a relieving experience. It’s amazing to think of all the possibilities in the future that can help make you more complete in yourself. However, as much as I wish to say it is a easy sequence of events, it will never be. To look deep into yourself, you need to look at all aspects, with nothing left behind. This includes the ugly parts, which some associate ugly with failure. Why so?
I was asked what I wanted to write in my first article. When the topic of failure as an article to a loved one was introduced, the look on their face was full of absolute confusion and anxiety. What this individual has been through was that they were always expected to be successful at a young age academically. Especially being the middle child, they wanted to break out of the mold, to be different than their siblings, so failure was not an option to them. And now, the person close to them is writing an article on how this is ok? That it isn’t something to worry about? How will I, a college student, get a diploma if I fail? Unfortunately, this loved one is not the only one believing this. The more you succeed, the more you’ll be able to gain access to the better things in life, is their ideology.
In my opinion, people overexaggerate failure. When people, such as the person I am close to, think of this, they like to think of failure as the whole, rather than small bits and pieces. This is where it leads to trouble on how it isn’t okay to make any mistakes.
I am a second-year graphic design student. The majority of my work, such as many other majors on campus, relies on failure to get better for your field. A large part of creating my projects is presenting them in front of a class and taking criticism. As funny as it sounds, one of my professors in my freshman year said a design I made looked like a roach. What’s incredible about art to me is progress. Your work is never the same in a long amount of time, it’s constantly changing as you adapt to the creative skills you desire as an art style. What’s even better, is that art can be anything you want it to be. That doesn’t go without saying though, that pieces of art can still be subject to criticism. Being in college to focus on my art made me realize that I focus on only one medium, rather than others to explore perspective I never went outside of my comfort zone, and never realized how much I enjoy creating posters on events, or even movies.
I am taking a Introduction to Graphic Design class this semester, and it’s made me realize that, even in my progress, I still have a long way to go to change into the art style I would like to be. In presenting, my work isn’t perfect, but I notice that every project I create after the next, it gets better. I know how to perfectly align my type with the other. I prepare to have a aesthetically pleasing art palette, and I ask peers on what their opinion is. As we all have different styles in creating, it’s very fun to get their opinion on how to improve.
I don’t have a great art style or one where I’m perfectly satisfied. And yet, that is okay. Because of the failures I have taken, I can make it better in the next art piece. These small failures can equate to a bigger success. I know, like many others, to take criticism and to take those experiences and be a better person or artist for it. If you accidentally crumble up a piece of paper but have another one perfectly smooth, it doesn’t have set a good advantage to be pretty or elegant like the smoother paper. But if you take a different route, and take paint around the areas that are crumbled and shape it to make a unique position, it can still be successful. It’s not going to be the same as the smoother paper, but it still can be recognized as a work of art similar to that. Failure is never easy, but it’s needed. To overcome change with yourself is important, and to never learn in a place you are unsatisfied with, you will never move forward. It’s not easy to accomplish, but it can be. Your future depends on you.