The Friday Five | No. 6
Five Newsy Nuggets in Five Minutes, Issued Every Friday
Welcome to The Friday Five, a weekly digest of 5 things that caught my attention in the past week. Welcome to Issue No. 6!
01 Industry News
Forget Inktober: The “100 Rejections Challenge”
Inky Goodness is running a novel initiative called the 100 Rejections Challenge, where participants are encouraged to get out there and get rejected as many times as possible. The point, they say, is “to desensitize ourselves from the pain of rejection and to overcome your fear of reaching out to clients”.
Along the way, they’ll hold open Zoom calls (available to their Inky Goodness Collective members) to share progress and to hold one another accountable. If you’re looking for a unique challenge and have an appetite for punishment, or perhaps are just trying to put a positive spin on your bad luck, this might be your thing.
The challenge runs from September 10 – December 17. You can sign up here. (You must be a member of InkyGoodness to sign up, and there is a free trial period).
On a personal note: While I love the idea of facing your fears, I do wonder if it motivates deliberate self-sabotage in a twisted sort of way. Are participants allowed to try not to get rejected? Also, if you actually get rejected 100 times by earnestly trying, how is that supposed to build up your self-confidence?
Update (14 Sep 2024) — InkyGoodness members have shared some important context about the 100 Rejections Challenge in the comments, which addresses some of my questions.
02 Worth a Follow
Brandon Campbell
Brandon Campbell (@brandcamp on Instagram) is a designer and illustrator based in Atlanta. He’s becoming quite a sensation on the ’gram, with his charming, retro-inspired drawing reels. Follow him for his exquisite technique, stay for his excellent music selections.
03 Something I Learned
How to Improve Your Memory
Whether you’ve got a speaking engagement, a live workshop, or a big test coming up, memorizing what you’re supposed to know in the moment can be a real sticking point.
In his talk with Shankar Vedantam on Hidden Brain, cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham gives some helpful advice on how to commit things to memory. He explains why it’s not enough to try to memorize facts; you need to actually understand why those facts are true. For example, if you’re trying to remember the content of a book chapter, rather than trying to quote the words, look at the chapter title and headings and ask why they are written the way they are. Or ask why the author phrases things as they do.
The takeaway: We remember things more when they mean something to us — when they are actually important to us. This can be extended to illustration in at least one way — when we are trying to draw from memory. When we understand why one part connects to another (such as fingers to the hand), we can more readily re-draw that without looking at a reference.
04 Unsolicited Advice
Do The Most Important Stuff First
How I start my workday is usually how I’ll spend it. If I begin with priority work, I will be very productive and get that work done. The opposite is usually also true.
Lately, I’ve been practicing doing my production work first, rather than spending the morning doing admin stuff, emails, writing, or other busywork. I get so much more done, and I am much more likely to feel accomplished enough by dinner time that I will take the evening off. Anything else that isn’t a priority will have to get squeezed in, which means I spend less time over all on it.
The takeaway: Do the hardest or most important stuff in the beginning of the day, and you will be less likely to procrastinate and let unimportant tasks take over.
05 Caught My Eye
How Globes Used to Be Made, 1955
As fans of maps, vintage things and the earth in general, we have a handful of globes in our home. Some are in great shape, others are falling apart or missing their equator decals. Interestingly, until I came across this reel from the British Pathe Archive (rabbit hole alert!), I’d never even thought about how they were made. I wonder how the process has changed since 1955?
What did you think of this week’s Friday Five? Please let me know in a comment!
Tom Froese is an award-winning illustrator, a Top Teacher on Skillshare, and host of the Thoughts on Illustration podcast.
I wonder about this ‘unsolicited advice’ I’ll try it, I typically start with morning pages, sketching, and writing a blog… it makes me feel more creative and energized and I carry that into my productive work…
I recently joined Inky Goodness and the rejections challenge group is amazing. It’s run by volunteer members of the collective and everyone encourages each other no matter what stage of career they’re at. So as a newbie it’s been great for my confidence in contacting art directors. And the sharing is unreal - would definitely recommend it! Happy to chat more about it on one of your next draw with me sessions. I’d better leave the globe rabbit hole till after I’ve sent out a good few more ‘rejections’ 😉 but no doubt I’ll go there!