Seth Johnson

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend the event: AIGA LA Education Committee presents Seth Johnson, “I didn’t know Sh*t [until I started working] on campus at CSULA. Seth Johnson is a successful designer. He started up his own business called Seth Johnson Design which he launched in 2007. In his presentation, he went over his entire background, how his design skills stemmed all the way from grade school. Even though he was interested in design at a young age, he didn’t study it in college. Instead, he studied theater and received his bachelor’s degree in theater. But throughout his work experience, it seemed to always have something to do with design. He first started working for a local newspaper in Wisconsin at age 15. He then went to college in Wisconsin and got a job on campus at Copy Corner. It was funny because he said that the graphic art students were upset at him because he got the job and they didn’t. The reason for them being upset was that Seth was not majoring in graphic design. He landed the job because of his experience. He then moved to Los Angeles, attended Cal State L.A., and worked for Graphics on campus. Eventually Seth moved to Minneapolis where he finished college with his bachelor’s degree in theater and started working for Waychick Design which opened a new door of opportunity for him. From his experience working at this small design firm, he was able to create his own business.

In Seth Johnson’s presentation, he went over six of his projects. Each project had different experiential learning involved. I won’t go into detail of his projects but each title had a very strong message in itself. The first message was “It’s your job to tell your clients what you think they need.” If you feel that your client could benefit from an idea you have that can grow their business with your skills, then it is your job to help them. When you take that type of initiative with your client, it helps you build a trust relationship with your client and they will more than likely come back to you with their future projects. The second message was, “Make your own work.” When you have your professional portfolio, it shouldn’t only have class work projects in there, it should have something that is your own project. These projects will say something about you. Seth Johnson said something along the lines of, “Don’t be afraid to put your own work in your portfolio. It’s a conversation starter at an interview.” Also a mini lesson he gave us was that we should always take good photos of our work, advice I plan on keeping to. The third lesson was, “Do a lot with a little.” Even though you are being hired to help design something, there are underlining things that can prevent you from using your maximum capabilities. For example, two of the companies that Seth did business with, they were on a low budget. This meant that Seth had to work around this to find a solution for them. He worked with them to make sure he could maximize their product but also stay within their budget. That sounded difficult to me when I heard it. It’s hard for me to keep things simple. I always somehow have to make it big. Meaning that I most of the times I tend to go out of budget on things. This is something I know I need to work on. If a job has a tight budget, I am going to have to work on finding solutions to make things work out. The fourth message was, “Shut up and Listen.” There are times when you just have to be patient and really listen to your client. Seth Johnson’s example of this was that he had clients whom he had to make multiple designs for. Each time, there was something disagreeable with the mock design he created. There were a lot of trials and errors on this project, but the end result was that he listened to what his clients wanted and was able to work something out that they agreed on. It turned out that Seth went back to one of the old designs he presented and then re-presented it to his clients and they liked it, but with a condition of changing the colors on the design. The fifth message was, “You have an obligation to make things better.” I can understand this very well. A designer should be able to see faults in certain things and be able to come up with a solution to make a product look better. Not only should a designer make something prettier, they should also make sure that it is something that is functional and easy for a person to use. Lastly, the sixth message was, “Always be curious, never be satisfied.” When working on a project, we need to ask questions. It doesn’t matter if it’s a lot of questions, the more knowledge of what you have to work with, the better. You want to make sure that you are working your hardest to satisfy your client. Research is always helpful to attain your goals. Be curious to ask why something looks or is a certain way and what can you do to improve it.

This presentation brought into light for me the life of a designer. I am glad I decided to go to this even because it was a great opportunity to learn about someone’s history in the design field. The messages Seth Johnson gave will truly help me when it comes time for me to build and shape my career and work ethics in the design business.