9
O P I N I O N
Your professional sword
You have to keep the blade sharp through the long process of making key connections, educating oneself, and repeatedly rising to the challenge.
C areers in the design profession have always been a little different, and one of those things that, if you are not in one, it’s difficult to understand. The commitment to the work is overreaching and extensive. The pay is small for the time requirement. The choice to be at work verses engaged with other things in life, most people don’t understand. Many relationships – personal and professional – have fallen to the wayside because of the unique culture of this profession. Designers, for the most part, aren’t like everyone else and they always strive to be better no matter the cost.
Hank Thomas
One of the best analogies that I have developed for this is a sword. Throughout history great swords were crafted over time. The craftsperson began with raw material and took months if not years to create steel that was heated and folded over many times to create the hardest and sharpest sword possible. Like the craftsperson, a designer exits college with raw material. We have all of the basic knowledge of what it takes to become a professional. You begin your career with that first job, large hammer strokes, and those details that you draw over and
over until you understand them. You see them in your sleep. Then the sharpening begins, this takes a little more time. Under the tutelage of other professionals you learn and expand your knowledge. Sometimes testing it at war. During meetings with clients or city council you are asked questions that you must know or help with. You become a better professional as time passes. As your knowledge grows you switch stones for your blade. Promotion and changes allow you to refine and broaden your knowledge; your
See HANK THOMAS, page 10
THE ZWEIG LETTER December 9, 2019, ISSUE 1323
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