What A Generalist Wishes She Learned in Art School

I am a self-named design generalist. I do a lot of things well, some things very well, but no one thing exceptionally well. As you might imagine, this presents some issues when tasked with writing a one-sentence bios, cocktail party introductions or jobs searches online. I can't fit into a box.

This is not necessarily a negative thing. Being multilingual in processes, frameworks and outputs are deemed great in art school when outcomes are opaque and tasks vague. It's advantageous for creative teamwork when you can get comfortable in any role, rounding out the groups skillset, and it’s beneficial for successfully describing the creative process to outsiders. It’s fantastic for showing off in job interviews.

It is not that great, however, for young designers getting started. With the creative industry remaining grounded in traditional design roles and labels, there isn’t much room for the young generalist to blossom. They are not a UX/UI pro, or a fully blown Graphic Designer, or a CAD whiz, but they know how to navigate these worlds and — more importantly — they are comfortable in the space between them.

The reason I applied and attended grad school was to define, to myself, what the “red thread” in my work was. What was the communal core factor of my seemingly disparate design deliverables that tied them all together and tied them all to me? Well, turns out that school isn’t the hotbed for all major realizations. So since I’ve grown, and left, and grown again, I have some suggestions for my peers to consider.

Be comfortable with your all-over-the-placeness
Everything you make does not have to fit together. Everything isn’t equally substantial and editing yourself too soon makes more harm than good. Trust yourself to make things in an inconsequential manner and never judge your own work.

Try everything, but define what makes you happy
Being able to do everything doesn’t mean that you should. Define what you like to do, because there is no point at being ok at eg. video editing if you hate it. Harness the skills that you want to have and forgo all the others.

Brush Your Shoulders Off
When you’re trying to experiment with unknown mediums and tools and what-have-you, you’re going to fail at it. Failure is part of the learning process(duh) but knowing that in your head and in your heart are very different. To this day I still remember the crits I bombed in school, and how they made me feel. I wish someone had told me then that they are all opinions — informed and well intentioned — but opinions none the less.

Dont take everything so seriously
Deciding that making something just for the pleasure och creating it, is reason good enough. No need to strive for perfection, or even usefulness, as the making of it in the first place fulfilled that need. Work is allowed to be ridiculous, silly and serious, but sometimes letting it get there on its own is easier on everyone.

As a generalist, I struggle to remind myself of these things daily. “Define the core of the idea” and “examine why it should exist in the world”- I ask myself. But I’m learning that those might be the wrong questions entirely.