I recently got to hear Paul Barnes and Christian Schwartz from Commercial Type speak at the Mercury Cinema in Adelaide. Along with their insights and anecdotes on designing commercial typefaces for newspapers and magazines, they also made some interesting points on being successful in the world of type design which are equally applicable to graphic designers.

Number One: If a project doesn’t really interest you, you won’t be able to do it successfully. That’s not to say that we never have to work on anything ‘uninteresting’, there are times we need to pay the bills, but to aim for the types of projects that offer you a sense of satisfaction with achieving.

Number Two: Ideas can be recycled and given a new lease of life so there’s no point in bitching about things not getting past the client, just move on to the next stage and keep your ideas for another time, another project.

Number Three: Design requires patience and tenacity as well as creativity. Stick to your principles and will see the rewards.