to design students everywhere...

I'm all about freedom and no limitations, and that's why I chose an “Open Letter to Design Students Everywhere” by Jessica Helfand. Jessica is a Senior Critic at the Yale School of Art, and though I have a hard time accepting that Yale and Ivy League schools should have more credibility than others, I'll give her props for that.

I think it will be important to call out the quote at the beginning, or at least the part that says, "whatever diminishes constraint diminishes strength." And though the quote is from "The Poetics of Music," it applies to design, or any aspect of life. As a student, constraints are very frustrating. I know constraints are meant to prepare us for jobs we will eventually have, but most of the time creativity is completely eliminated when everything is too strict. Jessica emphasizes the importance of getting your name out by putting your work online, because it's not so much about a physical portfolio anymore. Nearly everyone around the world can have access to your work through their computers, and it's easy, if they know how to find you.

Learn everything you can. Spend hours just being inspired, it will save you time in the long run. The last paragraph is where Jessica ties in the openness of the letter that describes the title; she says that "freedom, le'ts not forget, is what education is all about... Go out and make great things, things that help us, enlighten and change and impact the world in millions of meaningful and glorious ways." She also reiterates what a teacher of mine from last semester said like a broken record, "what you're doing is learning how to learn." It's very true. Having a world view will also help.

- J.