I've been fortunate to hold positions where I get to play a small role in shaping the hearts, hands ,and minds of many talented young creatives. But from this privileged position, I sometimes worry about what I see. I worry that many of these emerging leaders are trading their creative curiosities for the promise of a job certainty that doesn't exist. I worry that the designers of tomorrow have lost their desire to look backward as a way of moving forward. I worry that our perception of "good design" is becoming nothing more than what's popular. Most of all, I'm worried about the health and wellness of the talented young folks trying to make their way through rigorous design programs where professors lionize competition and glorify exertion to an extreme degree.
It's with all that in mind, that I write to my dear design professors in Detroit. Sue. Liisa. Chad. Doug. Matt. Michelle. Nelson. Thank you. Thank you for teaching me how to see. Thank you for sharpening my senses, heightening my awareness and training me to ask good questions. Thank you for gently molding my critical mind. Thank you for teaching me that the designer’s role is to solve problems and create beauty, but not always in that order.
When the career counselors said "get a job," you invited me to learn about the world from a worm's perspective. When the career counselors said "raise your GPA," you invited me to read books that interested me. When the career counselors said "four years left," you reminded me that school is only the beginning. So thank you. Thank you for showing me how to get lost in the library stacks. Thank you for teaching me how to draw inspiration from the sidewalk. Thank you for reminding me that the computer is simply a tool. Thank you for prompting me to dream bigger, and for suggesting that my aspirations should stretch far beyond graduation or my first promotion. Thank you for being supportive influencers at the beginning of my journey.
With gratitude.