For the parents who killed my friend's dream

"Now I feel like a shit" that is what I said when my lecturer showed us the works of the senior.

People look down at graphic design by thinking that if drawing is equal to design. Being a creative individual does not mean that that person have the knowledge on design. Even my lecturer told me that "if you want to be an artist, you are in the wrong school."

Some people are looking down at graphic designer with a mindset that, people who draw, also able to design. Dont be like that, dont be the know it all. "We think we know everything when actually we know nothing." I am not a professional graphic designer, yet. If I accidentally say that I am a designer, I will feel ashamed of my self because my current skill is not even close to the professional. :( The more I learn about graphic design, the more I think that I was stupid and arrogant to think that graphic design is easy for creative people. But the things that always makes me pissed off is the devil, the devil, or usually is the face of "parents".

Parents killed the dream of a future artist/designer. Reason? First, they think being a designer is just a side job or a tiny hobby that can be developed by time. Second, they said that designers wont make any money. Third, What is it for? It is not that important.

Truly, Ask yourself, "What do I want to be? What is my goal in life?" For me, I want to be happy and to be happy is to do what I love. I always love art since I was a kid, even when my friends started to think that I am a freak or a nerd. Well, love is blind, my love for art is blind, I will become anything to protect what I love. Oh! I also remember once Steve Jobs said;

"To make a great work, you have to love what you do, to do what you love, so you will treat the work as a lover." How about money? Does it matter? In Shanghai, one of my lecturer told me about how designers make money. Our work is abstract, means it has no physical evidence and theory, until you print it, it is a big idea and concept with a lot of thinking and problem solving. Our work, as a designer is not only an object, it is an idea, an art, our soul, I showered a lot of love into it.

An identity system contains of logo, envelope, letter head, calendar, pen, etc (stationery) will sometimes cost around 50,000RMB for 1 company. 50,000RMB x 2000 rupiah =107.296.000 rupiah. I hope that is enough for you :p So, why does it matter? What is it for? Why do you do graphic design? Art is for art itself. It is the same with design, I will do it forever even if I do not make any money at all. It is just we love what we do, we have no reason to do it.

Now, I am on a mission to prove my answer above. I want to make the so called parents shut up and let their children pursue the dream of becoming an artist or a designer. I am just a 22 years old, this will be counted as a joke for some adult, not a wise adult. I wonder why other parents think they are smart and never listen to the story of their child, for your information, parents, it is possible that your childrens have more knowledge and skill than you. Just because parents are older than children, that does not mean you are kinder, nicer, and have more compassion than us. At the end, I always go crazy when parents killed my friend's dream of becoming designer or artist with reasons likes, money, fame, no future and stuffs that are quite materialistic. I know being a professional graphic designer is not an easy work, but when you are passionate about it, nothing else matters. With passion, grit, and perseverance, I wish every people who follow their dream with risk will achieved it big!

The power of passion and perseverance: a must heard TED Talk :)

Cheers, xo

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