Sean Patrick
Our second guest this semester was another Web Design graduate, Sean Patrick. An Oakville local, having biked to us, Sean came into the room with a sense of humour and some wisdom about success and failure. Pulling up his slideshow, he told us what he would tell himself 30 years ago. Before we get into that though, let’s take a moment to meet Sean Patrick.
Web Design Class of '91
Avid coffee lover
Self-proclaimed BBQ god
His LinkedIn reads
“For the marketer looking for innovative, integrated digital solutions that are guided by business strategy, Sean Patrick provides the leadership, creative discipline and strategic business acumen necessary to deliver brilliant integrated campaigns that ultimately drive measurable results for their business. With more than 20 years as a creative talent, specialized in and passionate about digital strategy – as creative director, professor, and business owner – I offer unparalleled expertise to ensure success for my team and my clients.”
Education
3 Diplomas from Sheridan College - Graphic Design & Computer Graphics
Work History
Beer.com | 2001 - 2003
Sheridan College | 1995 - 2015
Mosaic Sales Solutions | 2008 - 2015
Patrick Paradisi Inc. | Present
The Four Rules: “Lessons from an old guy”
1. Don’t be afraid to fail Perfectionism is a fear of failure, but it’s more fun to fail brilliantly
Know your fear triggers
Try everything - “It’s okay to suck”
Learn always - “If you ever stop learning, walk away. When you stop learning, your brain is shutting off. The other part of your brain will start taking over, emotion, and that’s when you start to ‘hate your job.’”
2. Know what you’re good at
And what you’re not – then move on
“Be careful what you get good at doin’ ‘cause you’ll be doin’ it for the rest of your life.” - Jo Carson
3. Look around you
Step away from that screen
There is no time saved by not taking a break
“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon shoulders of giants” - Isaac Newton (Sean lives by this)
4. Be Prepared
Getting the project done is only half the challenge
Get it done the day before the due date
Don’t forget to put your name on it
No one owes you anything for staying up all night
Tips for Success
Try going to a busy place and get some work done - the majority of jobs out there will require you to work in busy places, offices aren’t much of a thing anymore.
Take the opportunity to make friends in this class. Sean is still close friends with 8 people from his class, and they never left the studio.
If you come to class and you just want to show up, you’ll get what you give, which isn’t much.
Nothing that will happen this year is actually worth freaking out about (in this program).
Successful isn’t an end state.
You’re not here to make great things; you’re here to make things work.
When you do something wrong, it becomes what you truly value as experience.
About Your Value
As new designers, it is hard to decide how to value yourself in the sense of an actual number when doing freelance work. Sean had a few words to say about that. He began by talking us through freelance charging, insisting that you need to do what seems right and fair for the amount of work you put in and the skill that you have. Some statements that stood out to me included: “Be protective of your creativity, because it has value,” and “You’ll only make what you think you’re worth.” I found this conversation really important, as I’ve struggled in the past to price myself accordingly for the work I have done for people and found myself getting walked all over. What matters is what you value yourself at. If you don’t put value on your time, you’ll hit a wall.
The Superhero Exercise
Sean finished off his talk with a quick drawing exercise for all the students and himself. He asked us to each draw ourselves as a superhero, emphasizing our special power that makes us unique. His was a funnel with arms and legs. He followed up his show and tell by saying: “One thing I charge my clients for is the brief: the work I do is strategy, if it’s really complicated, I can simplify it to 4 simple rules. I am ‘the distiller,’ that’s what I love to do. I love the challenge of taking a scribble and making it right. That is my superpower.” A few other students were then asked to tell us a little about what makes them super. Maddie was “the motivational cheerleader,” Inara, “the love” and a very cute drawing, and finally Sheila, “the connector” who is a master at bringing people together. My drawing came out as a remote control with arms and legs, as I like to direct, adjust settings, and get people where they need to be.
Sean took a moment to explain to us what the quote used to start this blog post meant to him. In this very program, he had a polish teacher, “the scariest man.” He wore minimal non-colour beige from head to toe and spoke very slowly. When everyone had settled into their seats, he began by saying, “Sooo you vant to be a designa?” He finished by saying, “you are not an artist, you are a problem-solver.” This program is in part about appearance, but truly about functionality and providing something to the world that works, and works well. Our goal here is to create good design, and as Steve Jobs said, “Design is not just how it looks like and feels like, design is how it works.”
Concluding, the most important thing that I’ve gathered is if you are afraid to fail, you will never give yourself the opportunity to succeed. Sean told us a story about when he worked for Gillette-Axe as a client. While working with them, he found himself forced to write copy for the first time, which had always scared him. Not a native to the English language, he feared messing up writing, but discovered he really liked it and could potentially be very good at it after working for this client. I think this story really speaks volumes to his most important lesson, that you cannot fear failure. That is what I took away from this talk most prominently. There are many times where I want so badly to take a step back and hide away from responsibilities, and opportunities. I simply cannot do that. Being an entrepreneur, a successful designer and creative director, Sean is a great example as to why you need to take a chance on something in order to be good at something. I plan to hold onto this on the days where I feel overwhelmed or afraid and never let it go.
If you’d like to know more about Sean, take a look at his LinkedIn, his company, Patrick Paradisi, and at this TedTalk that he highly recommended watching about the “scary blank page.”
