Three years after graduation
It’s now become a tradition that every year I post a very open evaluation of the year that has passed. As we (the world) count years from the birth of Jesus, I count the years since I graduated. This has given me the opportunity to reflect and evaluate my development as a human and as a creative. I really recommend writing a yearly review (if you don’t already). My other advise is to publish it somewhere online, it’s amazing how many conversations your honest evaluation will spark and you’d be surprised how many people resonate with it.
Just before we step into this really long article (your warning to retreat), I would like to salute the 2017 Leeds College of Art graduates! This is the first year that I have not known or seen any of you (not entirely true, I did have a Skype chat with some not too long ago, thanks to John Watters). As you progress through your careers, remember that creativity can be found outside your discipline, life itself is your creative opportunity. Enjoy and stay golden!
Recap.
Let’s pick up from where we left off. In my last post (year two after graduation) I took you on a little journey of self rediscovery. In short: took a trip, did some thinking, freaked out, learned some new things, built relationships with clients, got some new, lost some old, massively failed, lost confidence, lost myself, realised it’s not the end of the world, was reborn. If you want to dig more into this melodrama called “my life after graduation”- go check out the previous post. If not, stay with me and I’ll take you through some new dramas in my life.
My journey before The Kennedys
As I type this I find it hard to remember what the hell happened through the year that is worth sharing. I decided to squish it down to 5 big moments that made a huge impact on my career as a creative this year. I tried to keep it short & sweet but I massively failed. So grab a cuppa and let’s do this. Just to fill you in if you’re confused what the Kennedys is, it’s a creative incubator initiated by Wieden & Kennedy Amsterdam. In other words it’s 8 months of absolute madness, confusion, hard work and a lot of fun opportunities. I’m not certain that any of these events led me to a successful application to The Kennedys (probably not) but they are definitely the highlights of this year.
№1 The Skype chat with Achos. It started with an e-mail: You definitely don’t know me, but that’s why I’m writing this e-mail. My name is Greta Madline. It now looks ridiculous but back then (January 17) I was freaking out A LOT. This was a really big step for me. Showing my work to someone I admired felt scary. It took me three days to write the e-mail. As I faced my screen I started to doubt if I should send it at all. Eventually after getting a bit of a kick from my former colleague Eglė, I pressed send. Straight after, the doubts started creeping in. “What have I done? What if they don’t reply? What if they hate ( really?) my work…” The usual brain vomit. But it was post factum and all I could do was wait. The next morning, after I already gave up hope (As if anyone would check their emails during the night?- hahaha 🙄😂) they replied and wanted to Skype! OMG! Can you imagine the excitement after all that unnecessary worry? We had a great chat and left off with an idea to collaborate at some point in the future. (It still hasn’t happened, it will, and it will be golden). I believe this moment was proof that sometimes you just have to let go of the fear of being out there and being seen for who you are. I’m not sure if you ever have that moment of being enough at all (surely not as long as you’re judging that by how others view you). So just do it. Send that e-mail, call that client, resign from a job you hate, start that passion project, speak up…
№2 Going to one job interview and coming out with two job offers. To start this off I have to mention that at that point and time I was desperate for change. I was a bit tired of the peaceful shores of Klaipėda, was feeling a bit stuck and not really learning anything new so I decided to e-mail places and invite them to have an informal chat/coffee. I have to admit it was the most fun I’d had in a long time. I opened myself up for opportunities. After many informal meet ups that included a lot of caffeine and some possible but not certain chances to collaborate, leaving me in the same uncertainty. Finally I came upon a job offer. VIVI a natural cosmetics company was looking for a designer. To understand why this was really unusual is to understand the nature of my creativity: not great with repetitive tasks, hate layout design and find it quite boring working on one brief with one client. But the desperation to move into the capital of Lithuania (Vilnius) as well as the desire of stable income was greater than my designers principles so I went to the interview. It went well and as I was about to leave these guys (Andrius, Aurimas, Andzej & Arminas or the A Team) called me into the studio and introduced themselves as CandyShop design studio. They started explaining their collaborative process and what their studio was about and then I found myself surprisingly in another interview. The moment they told me they are massive Snask fans was the moment I knew — it was destiny. Two weeks later I was sitting in their studio collaborating on fun projects. The best thing about this studio was that they balanced my freelance frustration as I was allowed to work on my own stuff as well as our collaborative work. To make this shorter for the reader who’s gonna be skipping through most of this: Trust in the chaos of the universe and it will lead you where you need to be. Oh, yeah and take a chance, talk with people, you never know what’s just around the corner.
№3 Ką žmonės dirba? a discourse about creative life and unconventional work in 21st century Lithuania. Projects are never just about the work they are all about relationships. This project in particular touched my life in many ways. I got to meet people that I probably never would have met and most importantly hear their stories. It all started with one girls idea and the dream to change Lithuanias future. Rasa is a true inspiration (sing, “This girl is on fire”) and has an amazing ability to tell stories in the most captivating way, even when those stories are about milk sausages, Lithuanian cheesecake snacks, Soviet canteen foods or the delights of nostalgia and heritage. She’s one of the most talented storytellers and writers and a bad ass communication specialist. She is a true leader that knows how to light up people (or make them long for the sea). Enough said when Rasa approached me for an interview and offered me the chance to join her project — I was immediately in. Still am. The moral of this moment is that if you get the opportunity to participate in another persons passion project — do it and you might just find yourself as passionate about it as they are, in that case you both win.
If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
№4 Why a designer from a small town will never work with an international company like Twitter? Oh wait, I did that. You probably have read this a thousand times now but I can’t stress this enough: the only limitation between you and your dream is you. I always thought when I get a big client then I’ll be successful. Why am I talking about all this? It’s for you the reader (Hi, mom!) to understand the mindset and the environment I was in at this point of my life (early Spring 17). I was struggling with time, money and stress on a daily basis. Moving into a new city didn’t really drastically change my routines until one seemingly regular evening. I was walking down the streets of Vilnius, absolutely mesmerised by the beauty of this city when suddenly, as you do in a city that small, I bumped into one of my old friends. We walked together sharing some stories, some ups and downs. I ended up thinking out loud: What if we limit ourselves with a certain type of client, certain wage, certain type of work because we think that’s all we can. Not intentionally. Unconsciously. 🤔 I applaud if this thought seems natural already. To me it was a breakthrough. I didn’t have an answer how to change this. I just noticed it. The next day I got a Facebook message with an offer to collaborate (didn’t seem a big deal) but ended up being one of the biggest projects I’ve worked on. Things escalated quickly afterwards, I did conferences that led to new clients. Eventually I won a pitch with Twitter (shout out to The Backscratchers). Found myself considering to buy property (Me? Property? Just few months ago I was thinking how to pay my rent which btw is not high in Lithuania). Oh and it gets crazier afterwards. But let’s wrap this up first before we go any further. This definitely would be one of the those random life changing moments or thoughts. Keep in mind that thoughts materialise eventually and the best insights are made outside your work space. So go for a walk more often (not now tho, finish reading first).
№5 The Kennedys
I’m gonna give this one a bit of space. Don’t worry it’s not one of those “oh, look at me I’m so lucky to be here stories”. This one starts back in 2013, second year of Uni, Leeds College of Art. One of my mates told me about this project in Amsterdam called The Kennedys. Obviously I googled it and it sounded ace! It became my main obsession in April when the application opened. I was ready to quit Uni and drop everything if I got in. I made this ridiculous video about toilet paper (that became my first video ever made, thanks for that). I didn’t get in even tho I answered every question and spent all of my time on the application resulting in bad grades that year. 2014 I didn’t have much time to spare as I was working on multiple projects and juggling work and college trying not to drop out. Still I spent a week putting together my application, all I can remember is that it was green and I think it had my body parts printed on each page. And you know what? I didn’t get in. 2015 I was already a graduate and had moved back home and was feeling pretty down, I felt that The Kennedys was exactly what I needed. So I spent all of my time, efforts and imagination answering each and every brief. Sadly I didn’t get in. I decided not to participate in 2016 as I had a festival to brand and was really disappointed at not getting in the previous 3 years. I was about to call it a day on the whole thing but strangely enough that was also the year I visited the outside of Wieden & Kennedy’s office in Amsterdam and took a picture with my moulage camera of the front door sign. I remember I promised myself there and then “When I’m 26 — I’m gonna be here, I’m gonna be a Kennedy”.
I’m 26 and as I’m typing this in the Wieden & Kennedy office in Amsterdam while The Kennedy sign shines above my table, I’m truly grateful and kind of freaked out about the whole predicting part — maybe I’m a prophet? (jokes).
When does this end?
It end’s and it begins again now.
Never give up.
Greta
