What I Learned in School (2005 Year in Review)

In past year-in-review posts (2002, 2003, 2004), the focus has been on the world, with a small part relegated to my personal life and a brief bit about my favorite album of the year. I can't really do that this year. This year, I have to talk about what I've accomplished.

I finally graduated, yippee. Especially my final quarter: the rigors of completing a portfolio, a 64-page annual report redesign, my bi-weekly part time freelance gig, my full-time job, attempting to see my friends, and trying to spend quality time with my girlfriend that didn't involve one asking the other to trim and mount artwork fresh from the printer--I'm still amazed that I did it. But do it I did.

So, this post isn't nearly as much 2005 in review as it is the past three-and-a-half years in review. And in the long-standing American tradition of end-of-the-year numerical lists, I present two:

Five most important things my teachers taught me:

• Work it out in your sketchbook before touching the computer.
• Thumbnail with a pen, not a pencil, so you can't erase and second guess yourself.
• Someone has already thought of your first solution. Keep thumbnailing until you surprise yourself.
• Know why you're breaking a rule before you break it.
• As paradoxical as it sounds, your design becomes clearer when you stand back and squint.

And, more importantly...

13 things I learned that my teachers did NOT teach me:

• Don't try to escape from your past. Use it.
• Learning is an active process, and it isn't easy.
• Letratac is better than Studiotac. It sticks better, it's easier to clean up, and its cheaper.
• To paraphrase the final episode of the original BBC version of The Office: It is better to be at the bottom of a ladder you want to climb than to be halfway up one you don't.
• Keep your markers in the refrigerator. The alcohol doesn't evaporate, and the markers won't dry out.
• There is truth to be found in all criticism.
• Gradient fills and drop shadows are fine as long as you have a reason to use them.
• When challenging authority, use an amount of respect that is inversely proportional to the threat to your mortality.
• A work of art is never completed; it is merely abandoned.
• When someone asks "why," he or she can tell when you make up the answer off the top of your head.
• If its a font that comes with Windows, don't use it. (Exception: web design, where you rarely have a choice.)
• InDesign is better than Quark. (Does anyone still willingly use Quark?)
• Never be in it for the money.

Kicking hyperbole to the curb, it can only be stated that finishing my degree is my most important accomplishment to date. I'm glad to be back.

As for the politics of 2005, I think it can be summed up very easily: After Katrina, Social Security, and the Supreme Court, anyone who still thinks Bush is a good president at this point is either a stupid skinny bitch or a fat-ass blowhard.

Happy New Year, everyone.