The Best Workshop Ever – Sahre Victore Wilker ’10

As I fly home with suitcase full of dirty clothes, a notebook full of scribbles and quotes and dirt in places I didn’t know existed, I reminisce about my amazing week with 3 very inspiring men and 17 other students who taught me more than I ever anticipated.

Jan + 17 of the workshop students posing with our ridiculously amazing $20 bill sunglasses.

My goal for this class was to not have a goal. I wanted to be a blank canvas, living in the moment of the city, the people and my teachers. The week started off with a happy hour and I immediately realized how diverse the class was.  We had a designers from Portugal, Austria, Australia, Brazil, New York, two from Portfolio Center, India and as a complete surprise, a previous classmate and a new friend, both from Kent. It would turn out to be a remarkable mix.

It was a very long, information filled week, and while I’d love to share every detail, I think the class is different for everyone and I highly recommend you take it if you get the chance. I do want to share some highlights of what I learned, though, and the major ideas I took away from the week I had with Sahre, Victore and Wilker. I hope that even just one quote will inspire you like they did for me.

(Oh and I also added some pictures because who doesn’t like to see pictures? You can read and see more after the jump.)

Sahre Victore Wilker was held at the Art Director’s Club in Chelsea. It was a fantastic, editable space for the class and became our home away from home during the workshop. The entire class was 6 full days and one happy hour meet-and-greet, which gave each teacher 2 days to give a lecture and to work on one or more projects they assigned. The following notes are just a highlight of the things I took away from week.

James Victore started the week off with a bang and scared the living shit out of me… in a good way. It’s been a long time since I’ve been told no or laughed at or that someone has been perplexed at an idea I was trying to express. It was phenomenal. James’ teaching method and words hit me to the core and his method of getting past the cliche designer methods and ideas is something that really had me on the edge of my seat. I couldn’t write the information down fast enough and I can’t help but share some of the quotes that are now etched into my very tired brain.

When you tell your personal story, others can see themselves in you because it’s the truth. It’s not something you’re imagining or making up from scratch, it’s the truth. The particular is you and the story you want to tell and the universal is the rest of the world. In the truth of your story lies the truth for others. Telling your truth makes a good design great.

James’ words will stay with me hopefully until I’m old and grey. These are things I want to live by. Oh and he has a book coming out and Paul Sahre designed it. You can find a pre-order here (and yes, the link is for Overstock. If you don’t use them yet you should! They’re great! I use them to buy all my books).

Pictures from James’ printed inspiration wall in the ADC gallery.

Paul Sahre started day 3 and I swear I could listen to him for hours. Paul tells great stories. On the night of day 3 we visited Victore’s studio/home and spent the evening drinking beer and wine and eating pizza as we listened to Jan, Paul and James talk about their experiences “working for the man,” business failures and successes and overall life lessons about happiness, money and relationships. It felt surreal and ridiculously awesome.

James’ studio and home. Gorgeous collections of posters and pieces of design that inspire him.

Paul had a lot of great things to say that night, as did Jan and James, but the thing I took away from him especially is that a balance in your life comes from doing the things you love and then figuring out a way to make a living from it. It’s hard, but as Paul put it,

“I can’t imagine a life not being fulfilled with what I do.”

To hear the hardships that they all had when starting their businesses made me realize that even the best designers struggle with where their next paycheck will come from. A balance of happiness and money is key. You may have a mansion but you have to sacrifice. You may have a small apartment with a tube tv, but you’re doing the work you love. There are few that can have both.

“Where is your happiness?”

We ended the night at a German Bier Market in Williamsburg with Jan and eight of the other students, talking about the difference between art and design. A great end to the evening.

Day 6 and 7 were with Jan Wilker of KarlssonWilker. I think Jan surprised me the most because I have seen James and Paul speak in person or on Vimeo quite a few times, but really didn’t know what to expect from Jan. Little did I know I would come home seeing my creative process completely differently.

Our lecture and crit area and the gallery at the Art Director’s Club.

Jan’s focus was on our own way of working creatively: our personal creative process. There was no sugarcoating this one. After drawing out our processes on a large sheet of paper and pasting on the wall in front of everyone, it became crystal clear the things we were missing, lacking, struggling with or were content with. Our drawings said it all.

What I noticed from my drawing of my creative process was that I get really excited about a project, have lots of ideas and get right to work, then after about a week I get scared. I put in on the back burner with all the research, inspiration and ideas I have for the project and believe they aren’t good and that I need to keep looking for something better. This can go on for hours, days, months, surely years for some of the projects I’d like to do for myself, and I just hold on to it all until the deadline is close and then dive in with ideas I had in the beginning. This is not the most productive way to create, let alone keep a client happy. This information had never really been set in front of me before and I had to explain myself in why I chose to work this way.

This is something I want to change. While I may be nervous or think there is a better idea out there, what I learned from Jan is that spending time with a project is the best way to get a successful product. The more you know and play and touch and feel, the more you become aware of what really is good and bad and what will work for your client. Ha! Amazing isn’t it?

The Chelsea Design Center – aka the home of KarlssonWilker and the Office of Paul Sahre

So, in conclusion:
1. Being a designer is AWESOME. There are good times and bad, but we really are a lucky bunch to do this for a living.
2. Always ask for more money. (thank you, James, for this one!)
3. Spend more time with a project. This is a new personal goal.
4. Enjoy what you do and create a balance of work and money that works for you.
5. Continue to take workshops and classes that challenge you, aka

GET UNCOMFORTABLE!

Sahre Victore Wilker will be back next summer and I hope you get the chance to take a workshop like this at some point in your life. It really moved me. Thanks for reading and I hope you took away something from the experiences that I had. :)