At my first year of design school, 

I remember my classmates and I said “Oh they are so lucky!”
about great students going to the best design companies for internship or job.

They went to Nike in Portland, Louis Vuitton in Paris, Toyota in Tokyo, Adidas in Germany… Students who started like us traveled all around the world to do the job we love: Design amazing products!

Yes, they are lucky! 

However, except in rare cases, it is not due to randomness.

Gary Player once said:
“The more I practice the luckier I get.”

I like to think that way.
To me, it means we have control of our destiny. 

If we put on the work, we attract Luck.

There are basically 2 teams in the world:

• Team A: The unlucky – who never meet opportunities.
• Team B: The lucky – who meet great opportunities.

Nobody wants to be in team A.
But most of the people are part of it without knowing.

Let’s look at the main difference:

• Team A is the one who waits.
  Wait for an opportunity to come to start doing something.
• Team B is the proactive one.
  Practice, learn, train till the opportunity come. And that day, (that often comes sooner than expected) – they will be ready enough to grab their chance. 

While Team A is looking at the “train of luck” passing in front. 

Team B prints its own ticket to take the “train of luck”. We don’t know its schedule. But we know it will come. (Internship, job, networking, project, recommendation, promotion, working in a foregin country…).

Make a change with Discipline

The good news is anyone from Team A can join Team B.
My recommendation is to feed your passion with discipline. 

Discipline sounds like a tough word.
Like if we were forced to work. But the trick is this.

As an upcoming designer, you a passionate person.
Focus on that passion that burns inside you.

Instead of telling yourself: “I will glue myself on the chair to work”
Replace the word “Work” by “Enjoy”

Keep playing, learning, strengthen your skills
like you would do in a video game!

When it will be the time to save the princess,
you’ll be strong enough to save her. (i.e. Zelda)

Remember, nobody can make your design portfolio for you.  

I know how much you dream of joining your design dream company.
It may seem like a long way to go.
And it may be frustrating if you are a beginner.

But that is ok. Keep your appealing goal.
Be ambitious. So your portfolio will be too!

If you wanna reach your goal, you will if you listen to what’s make you thrill.

Till that day, you gotta appreciate the journey of the hero (Zelda).
Learning perspective, drawing products with great viewpoints, make them appealing and communicative, present them in public…

All these techniques are like the Magic poitions and treasure you will find along your practice journey. 

You will succeed and fail. But you will learn. ; )

Love that journey.  

Whenever you learn something new in sketching,
you will be rewarded of a new skill for life. 

Learning perspective, drawing products with great viewpoints, make them appealing and communicative, present them in public…

And the day you will need that specific skill or knowledge, you will feel lucky to have it. For that, you can feel proud of yourself to have “Luck” on your side all along the way.

2 actions to attract luck

To provoke the Luck, I invite you to define 2 actions on your daily routine: 

Example: 

• I commit to take my sketchbook out every day and draw anything I see to expand my library of forms – even if it is not related to my school homework. 

• I commit to visit the “Movie animation corner” and open the Artbooks every month to get inspired by professional artists and designers 

•  I commit to stop looking at my phone when I get bored, and think about my design projects and doodle note all my ideas.
• …

The actions do not have to be a drastic change.
Start with something simple that makes you happy.

They will soon become automatic. 

Once again, do not wait for school to give you a task to accomplish. You are in the Responsive mode. Be in the Proactive mode.

Don’t wait for drawing.
Do it anytime! Now! 

Have a wonderful day!

Cheers,
Chou-Tac

PS: For design portfolio examples, you can visit www.coroflot.com