Thinking Forward

Two years ago in early 2008 I had a very expensive lunch with my soon to be boss. I tried to begin a discussion about designing and advertising for mobile devices. This was a time when the iPhone was just beginning to gain relevance, as well as other smartphones. Him and his partner shrugged it off claiming that not enough people used mobile browsers for it to generate considerable returns. Look at how it is now with how many people surf the web on a mobile device. Needless to say his company is now kaput.

A big flaw with upstarts is not wanting to take a risk on forward thinking ideas. You shouldn't think what's working NOW but what WILL be working in a year or two. A lot of success comes from being "in" before everyone else. You have to be a step before everyone else. If you're not willing to take risks on guessing what direction the next step is then be prepared for failure.

Going Solo

I've recently been on a search for new music to listen to. When I say "new" I mean stuff that I haven't listened to before, although they could very well have been produced years ago. One of the techniques I use in my search is going to the Wikipedia pages of bands that I love and seeing if there are any new albums out, b-sides, or side projects I haven't heard before.

There is one trend though that I have been noticing occurring in the past year: Going Solo. Members of bands recently have been branching off on their own to pursue solo projects or careers. For example, Kele Okereke of Bloc Party went on to produce a solo album coming out in a couple weeks called "The Boxer." Also, Paul Banks of Interpol released a solo album entitled "Julian Plenti is... Skyscraper." Additionally, Karin Dreijer Andersson of The Knife released her own album, "Fever Ray."

So why has it been a relatively recent trend for artists in bands to go solo? I feel like independence is a significant key to being able to make bigger strides artistically. When it comes to a collective, although many good things could come out of it, sometimes it's restricting from a creative standpoint. Multiple minds might have to compromise their ideas to appease one another. Going on your own, working your ideas at full potential without trying to please other people before being able to move forward is the best and most productive way to work in a creative environment.

Media-ocre

Maybe it's just me being extremely critical, but I'm finding that the production quality in all kinds of media, whether it be film, photography or web design is mediocre at best when done commercially. I find that usually the better quality stuff comes from those creating for personal purposes as opposed to commercial.

If you're just starting out in creating media I feel like it's better to take on personally motivated pieces before trying to do anything commercially. I feel like those who've allowed their creative energy to fruition in personal projects first end up doing way better with commercial projects. If you just try to go straight for the money with your work, your end products will suck. I've seen it time and time again and I'm just giving an honest opinion.

If you want to go anywhere in any creative business, and if you want to get any better artistically then you should first pursue personally motivated works.

Choosing Your Path

As I was graduating High School, my teachers and counselors always told me, "You can pretty much do anything, you can go anywhere." I believed them. My grades were up there, I had high aspirations and I was really motivated. I remember as my name was getting called up during graduation the Superintendent read, "James Cabrera, attending Stony Brook University with a double major in Physics and Mathematics... looks like you're going to have a very busy schedule ahead of you!"

That was the plan, but things never ever usually go to plan. Everyone usually has some kind of inner struggle in deciding where it is they want to go with their lives. The most common one is what you want to be doing versus what you expect to be doing. Going through college most students visualize themselves undertaking socially-highly-regarded positions. The money-making, secure future. It's either that or doing what their parents want them to do.

The real world is tough. I repeat it time and time again. When you're going through college everything is planned and you're just going through a set of actions to an apparent and clear goal, your degree. But when you're let out into the real world, it's all you. There is no clear goal. At first you think it's accumulating as much wealth as possible, and for some people it stays as that. For me however I quickly realized that's not what I want my goal to be. In all honesty I don't think the accumulation of wealth should be anyone's goal.

Your goal should be finding something you'd be content doing everyday. Something you wouldn't mind waking up to every morning. Something that you could still do even when times get rough. Your path shouldn't be dictated by other people's expectations. I've read and been told stories of people who live their lives doing their hobbies, and take on multiple part-time jobs just to make rent and afford food. If you love a hobby enough that you could put up with that lifestyle, I say go for it.

I say that people should do what they, themselves, want to do. Don't chase money but chase your passions. Strive for meaning more than money. That's what I'm looking for right now.

Disciplined Blogging

If I keep advising myself of the fact that the "hardest advice to follow is your own" it appears that I will be stuck in a never ending cycle. This is actually my bazillion-th attempt at starting up a blog and for one reason or another I begin losing interest and cease to post. I was always interested in becoming an active blogger but the motivation would always tend to fall off about a month later. Of course I can say "things will be different this time" but we can only see.

I love sharing my thoughts, but I find the greatest motivation killer is feeling like no one is reading what you're writing. If you allow yourself to believe that no one is reading, then you begin to fall into a habit of writing to yourself. Your blog no longer becomes a blog, but a personal diary if you treat it that way. For this reason, every entry you compose should be written with other people in mind. Think about what other people will get out of your writing as opposed to what you can get out of your own writing. That's what will ultimately make it interesting and build a following.