Over the last seven years, Jacob has worked as a graphic designer at Illinois State University, and he has screwed up. A lot. Working with a super-sized ego at a medium-sized web office, failure comes fast; but so does education. With some humility, a lot of self-deprecation, and just a touch of irreverence, Jacob will share stories of professional embarrassment, creative conflicts, democratic dissolution, and international espionage (note: there is no international espionage). Through these professional flubs, some simple but challenging truths were discovered that help projects run smoother; even in an environment when common sense solutions can seem elusive.

1. Things I F#@$!d Up
Stories from a Young Designer
Jacob DeGeal
Creative Operations Manager - Illinois State University
@jacobdegeal #mpd11

2. is a taco a sandwich?

3. Who I am, where I work, what I do
Creative Operations Manager
Web and Interactive Communications
Illinois State University.

18. Graphic Designers are perceived as:
● Arrogant
● Self-absorbed
● Cry babies
● Narcissists

19. Yep
that's me.

20. But I'm also
● Self-critical
● Self-aware
● Self-motivated

21. Conferences always focus
on success stories

22. We rarely talk about our
failures though...

24. “If you’re not prepared to be
wrong, you will never come
up with anything original”
- Sir Ken Robinson

25. We learn the most from our
failures, and gain the most
insight.

26. Story 1
Tim

36. Lesson Learned
:)
Be nice.

37. Story 2
Lisa

39. Lisa

42. “If everything is red, then no one will
understand what to do”
“No one likes the color red. It’s too intense”
“Blue and brown colors together are really
hot right now”

44. Lesson Learned
Consistency in design is not a bad
thing, it’s just a bad argument

45. "Consistency is the hallmark of the
unimaginative."
- Oscar Wilde.

46. "A foolish consistency is the
hobgoblin of little minds"
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

47. “Consistency requires you to be as
ignorant today as you were a year
ago.”
-Bernard Berenson, Renaissance
Art Historian

48. “If you try to be consistent, you tie
yourself to a rock and you restrict your
own movements! Don’t do this! Let all the
paths be reachable without any obstacle!
Free yourself from the consistency!”
- Mehmet Murat Ildan, Turkish novelist
and playwright

49. “Success is neither magical nor
mysterious. Success is the natural
consequence of consistently applying
basic fundamentals.”
-Jim Rohn entrepreneur and motivational
speaker

50. “It's not what we do once in a while that
shapes our lives. It's what we do
consistently.”
-Tony Robbins, motivational speaker

51. Lesson Learned
Consistency in design is not a bad
thing, it’s just a bad argument

52. Story 3
John

55. John

59. John

63. Lesson Learned
If people are the problem, people
are the answer.

64. Thank you!
Jacob DeGeal
@jacobdegeal
#mpd11