Category: Lesson of the Day
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Developing a Strategic plan as an Artist or Designer
You finally graduated or you just celebrate a decade in the field. Now what? It’s time to sit and plan. Yes, Plan. It’s not a scary option. It’s just a way to have a roadmap. After all, you don’t drive around aimlessly. Right? In 1999, after 8 years from undergrad and 5 from grad school,…
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Fear: artist’s and designer’s paralysis
When I was an Associate Chair of Product Design at Parsons from 2000 to 2006, it often amazed me how many students I would talk with about fear and give them this simple comment: Take a risk, life is too short. Mark Twain said “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things…
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The Connection of Life’s Calling/Work and Personal Mission
by Atim Annette Oton One of the first series of exercises I give when I counsel artists and designers is about the essence of who they are. I speak to them about how their work is not only connected to their self but the state of who they were when they dreamed of what they…
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Artists and Designers are in Mid Life Crisis
by Atim Annette Oton Michael J Fox aptly warns,“However well you plan out your life, whatever courses you take, whatever degrees you get, your life is really going to get most interesting when it goes off the rails.” I remember when I actually had a mid-life crisis. I had just graduated from college, returned from…
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Inspiration: The Spice of Life’s Work
by Atim Annette Oton “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” – Mark Twain There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a…
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Inspiring Designers Across the Globe: Making Sense of the Art of Doing
The Last Week: 7 days of Inspiring Designers by Atim Annette Oton This July, I decided to write a short series of inspiring notes for designers on my Facebook page called Lesson of the Day. It was simple, a daily motivational paragraph to inspire designers and others to rise early and do what they need…
Atim Annette Oton 