Who knew there is a formula to winning graphic design contests?! According to Michael Bierut in Seventy-nine Short Essays, you have to 1) enter cool-looking projects that solve easily understandable problems, 2) not enter pieces that unfold or unwrap, 3) enter items that will be the biggest on the table 4) enter actual work, not slides. And that’s it. Awesome! Sounds simple, but step number one is the most difficult to accomplish. So how do I do that?
Bierut says the key to success it to create lots of cool work and the way to produce lots of cool work is by doing lots of free work. It is easier to be more creative doing free work than paid work. And while searching for good pro bono projects, find something that is dear to you. Don’t try to simply leverage a cause for your own success. He also recommends steering clear of the the super large corporate-size institutions that tend to be as bureaucratic as large for-profit companies. Bierut suggests local theatre companies and other creative groups.
Reading this sections makes me want to gather other Michael Bierut material and start soaking up his words of wisdom. Perhaps that will be part of my holiday reading.