Don't Hide Your Light Under a Bushel!

A friend of mine asked my opinion on one of his graphic designs recently. It was excellent, as good as anything you would find in one of the Tokyo art galleries. Here's what I wrote back to him-

My feeling is that your core ability is with the design, not
necessarily with t-shirts. Don't confuse the medium with the
message. I encourage you to try as many designs as possible, and
to try them in different formats. For example, print them out, or
have them printed, and show them whenever and wherever possible.
My nephew, who lives in a very small town in Texas, does similar
work. I encouraged him to have some of his designs printed out,
mounted, and displayed in one of the local coffee shops. Many
local businesses like restaurants and coffee shops are happy to
display designs like this if they fit the motif. It improves their
image, and promotes local artists. They also find that the
constant changing of the designs keeps their shop interesting and
attractive for their customers.

One small restaurant I know in Sunnyvale (California) always has
fresh flowers on the tables. I wondered how they could afford it,
so I asked the owner one day. It turns out that the flowers are
placed by the florist next door at no charge. What they discovered
is that the restaurant customers, after enjoying the flowers
during their meal, often stopped at the florist to buy flowers on
their way home.... The florist's sales went up by an average of
20% once they started displaying their flowers in the
restaurant....

Last fall I read an article about an Israel woman that started
selling her photographs on the street side along Omotesando
boulevard. She loved taking photos, and many of her friends
commented on how great they were. She liked to hang out in the
Omotesando area, so just for fun she printed out some of her
photos as postcards, and small prints. At first she would just sit
in a coffee shop there with her photos arranged on the table as if
she was sorting through them while she was enjoying her coffee.
People started to notice and express interest. Finally she started
to sell some, and the shop owner had to ask her to leave so she
changed to selling them on the street. People liked her work so
much that they started to bring friends and word of mouth spread
quickly. Then she was invited to have a show in a gallery there,
and now she has her own studio....

On the other hand, I have an old friend, an American that has
lived here for more than 25 years, and makes his living doing
contract jobs for gaishi that use Mac systems for business
applications.... You couldn't find a narrower, tougher niche to
try and survive it. Imagine trying to do part time work, for
foreign companies, in a foreign land, on a system that has less
than 7% market share, and is primarily graphics, design, and
publishing focused.... It's what American's would call
hardscrabble farming. You grow more rocks than crops. Yet my
friend has the most intense photographic sense that I have ever
run across in my life. When he lets his spirit free with a camera,
magic usually happens. His work is fantastic. I think that the
photographic/artistic side of his being is so strong that it
frightens him, so he hides it in a closet and seldom lets it see
the light of day. I feel blessed to be one of the few people that
he has shown his works to. I am also frustrated because his works
and his genius will be lost to the world unless he shares it.

The ability to share experiences, insights, and beauty between
people and across generations is the only thing that distinguishes
mankind from any other animal on the planet. The world needs more
beauty and light. People that can create, that have the vision,
talent, and passion, have an obligation to all of mankind to share
with the world.

Go for it!

- posted by tempusmaster @ 10:15 PM