Do You Stand For The Brand? (Alivia™’s Guide To Being Greater Than The Haters)

alivia-cooneyNew FIT class, new post! New year, new me!

For some of us, it’s more like “New minute, new me!”

It’s a silly concept that so many of us stay enamored with. We think that the changing color of a leaf means that it is time for us to change as well. Is this out of insecurity, or are we just trying to remain relevant?

Do you stay on top of your public image? Or do you go by an “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” kind of philosophy, making your persona as timeless as the t-shirt?

This Sunday’s Precollege class at FIT was centered around the concept of branding. What is a brand? Why do companies work so hard to establish a certain image or reputation through billions of dollars in marketing and promotion? Why do even the youngest of children know that the Nike swoosh means the person wearing it is “cool”? We watched a documentary on such “superbrands” and had an enriching class discussion to explore these questions.

The concept of the “brand” is a very controversial one. Many people are wary of the near monopoly certain brands seem to have on the market, at the expense of smaller businesses. Even more people worry about the literal brainwashing aspect of the phenomenon.

It’s not just in fashion, or even in food and other highly marketed, factory-produced products.

Since the rise of social media, branding has taken on a new meaning. Because we now have more direct control over our image than ever, everyone is obsessed with their aesthetic, persona, and vibe. Such attributes, which were once exclusively found in the moment, in interpersonal interactions, are now highly calculated. People realize that they will not be given a chance with anyone if their social media page does not line up with the person who they want to be, or who they think they are. It’s a very interesting growing phenomenon that is unique to Generation Z.

We can see this especially in celebrities, the best example being the Kardashians. They built an empire out of nothing but decent genetics and being in the right places at the right times. They then used branding tactics to expand their images onto TV shows, ad campaigns, clothing lines, makeup lines, and more. Everyone wants in on their gold touch, which is why so many people buy their products and “keep up” with them. I consider them to be superbrand superstars. They know how to play the game and win. Even the newest addition to the clan has been named Dream Kardashian; straight out the womb, brand already on point.

Love them or hate them, you know them. They have been drilled into your mind whether you want them there or not. You can probably name each of them, list their age orders, and reference some memes about them without so much as an “um.” Some people are resentful of this factor. This “forced” factor, in which people feel as though their subconscious is being invaded, has oftentimes turned public pedestals into social stakes.

Think of that person who’s more popular than you, or who simply gets more attention than you. You get jealous, right? It’s human nature. If an additional factor comes into the scenario in which you feel they are undeserving of such recognition, you have a recipe for pure resentment. Have you ever known a person that you have come to hate, even though they’ve never technically done anything bad to you personally? It was likely due to this “forced” factor. You were expected to be obsessed with them, and you weren’t, and it burned you inside. It is the same thing with celebrities. The only difference is that they are on a much larger public platform, so it is more socially common (if not acceptable) for people to voice their discontent.

As an aspiring artist, I’ve inevitably dealt with my fair share of criticism, particularly regarding the way I brand myself to the general public. After all, art is controversy. And the way I’ve developed my character? It’s art! My public relations technique took years of training through observation of everyone (taking the good and leaving the bad from each person) and researching others who I wanted to embody. Maybe it’s because I’m an actor, and being a chameleon of sorts is only natural to me. I don’t know. Nonetheless, in order for any craft to have meaning to anyone, it must first spark some strong reaction in someone.

Due to my acting career, I’ve had to grow especially thick skin in very short amounts of time. Whether it’s criticism of my weight (which I’ve since lost, and which is an example of applying constructive criticism), or someone not “getting” my jokes, or even a risqué costume that was beyond my control but necessary for the character, you can’t please everyone. I try to live by the mantra “Don’t try to win over your haters, focus your energy into impressing those who already love you.”

In a further effort to avoid wasting my time with the naysayers, I am learning to separate art from self.

For example, if someone criticizes a performance or an article I’ve written, or even just the way I carry myself and my personality (which took years of artisanal craftsmanship to develop), I accept their statement and move on with my life.

This was a hard balance to achieve, considering I take everything I do very seriously. There were times when I’d just sit and sulk over it. I even rejected the idea of this balance at first, since my entire brand was built initially out of more of a “Be yourself, and if people don’t like it, change” sort of philosophy. (I don’t debunk this statement completely, as it was necessary for me in a different way at an earlier time).

Then I realized my own worth. I began focusing more on myself in a way that actually wasn’t selfish; I started viewing my output as a more spiritual kind of thing. God (or your spirit guide, or your parents, or whatever you do or don’t believe in) gave me these gifts, and I have no right to throw them away. In a way, I’m more humble now. This balance was so necessary to achieve in order to keep moving and inspiring others through warmth. Because you can only be warm toward others when you are well-adjusted in yourself.

You cannot stop for people who ultimately don’t actually care and are just speaking to fill up time and distract from their own lack of hustling. In the wise words of Alyssa Edwards, “Don’t get bitter, just get better.”

It’s okay if they don’t know why you do what you do. As long as you are secure and truthful in your own intentions, you can do no wrong. Never. Your conscience will be clear and so will your skin.

You don’t need to be controversial for your art to have meaning. As a matter of fact, the shock value approach is often the worst from an artistic standpoint, as it encourages extreme vapidity and lack of purpose (often from the perspective of a maladjusted artist). The real key here that separates the good shock value-ers (known as artists) from the bad (known as capitalists, exhibitionists, exploiters, etc) is the intention of the artist. This creates even greater controversy, because how are we to know this? Still, for better or worse, if your art is controversial, it guarantees some sort of meaning. Even if the people are talking poorly of your work, they’re talking. And conversation is the key to progression. Even if you took the easy way out through shock value, as an artist, you did something.

You did something.

Are you conscious of your own brand? Are you aware of others’ opinions of your brand? Should you even be aware? Do you really even care?

– Alivia

Inspiration, Critiques, and my New Favorite Friends

Professor's Shading Demo

Professor’s Shading Demo

There are a million ways to describe FIT’s unique environment. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough space in this post to list them all, but my favorite term to describe the FIT atmosphere is inspirational. At FIT inspiration can be found around any corner, in any hallway or classroom, in FIT’s own museum, and even in the lobbies. Looking back on my first time walking down hallway of D building on the first day of classes, I remember stopping to think, what inspires me? How will I take advantage of all the opportunities presented to me this spring? Will I make any lasting friendships? Who will influence my art, and help me better my artwork?

My New Friend, Sofia

My New Friend, Sofia

Inspiration as defined by Merriam Webster Dictionary is a person, place, or experience, that makes someone want to do or create something. Although classes were not in session this Saturday, looking through my work from my past weeks in HFA 024 Life Drawing has inspired me to continue drawing even without the early morning trip to FIT. So I spent my Saturday working on a drawing I had started about two weeks ago in class that I never had the chance to finish.

This spring, I have the pleasure of being taught by Professor Martino. I came to FIT with no knowledge on how to accurately proportion and draw the human figure. You can’t imagine how drastically important it is to know about the human anatomy to draw it. Believe it or not, when drawing the human figure each body part can first be sketched as a sphere, cube, cone, or cylinder. Simplifying the body is not as easy as it looks! Another factor that is considered when drawing the human figure is light source. The light source in a composition heavily influences the dimension and depth of the drawing. The three types of shading that Professor Martino demonstrated for us are shown above.
About two weeks ago at FIT, my class started working on drawings of a skeleton that is stored in the classroom. This was my favorite day of classes at FIT so far, because while working o n drawing the skeleton, my class managed to name him (Steve) and we all got very attached, unlike his shoulder. Steve the skeleton’s shoulder is permanently dislocated; this coincidence turned into a challenge to draw, and a joke to laugh about with my classmates. Throughout class, the girls in my class grew together by making parodies of popular songs, all revolving around Steve. “I knew you were Steve when you walked in” was sang out in the middle of a sketch, as the classroom erupted with laughter, even Professor Martino let out a giggle.

That class two weeks ago brought the class out of its shell. I believe that the opportunity to work hard to draw the skeleton together and joke around about Steve brought my class together more into a group of friends and not just a regular school class.The friends I have made have also inspired me, after our first critique on some homework to work to better my drawing even after the professor has checked it. My friends have inspired me to be persistent in my work because practice makes perfect. If you are anything like me, you LOVE critiques. Critiquing is the best place to find ways to improve not only your current artwork, but to keep in mind the advice and the mistakes you made on the piece of art and work towards becoming a better artist in the long run.

With that I would like to thank you for reading this week!
Until next week,
Yours Truly,
Kathleen

Steve the Skeleton

Steve the Skeleton

Critiques

It’s incredible to think we’re nearing the home stretch of this FIT experience. It feels like not even a few days ago I was walking into orientation, wide eyed and ready to learn. Being at FIT has definitely broadened my horizons and taught me far beyond what I expected. Many of our lessons I’ve already been familiar with (I have a bit of experience in most of the Adobe suite, so all the introductions to the programs and basic lessons I had already knew) but the one thing I’ve been exposed to that I could never been on my own has been the class critiques. And let me tell you, I’m in love.

A critique is just about exactly what it sounds like, you take you work, present it in front of the class, and they tell you what they like/dislike, what you should add/remove, and/or any bit of advice or insight to further improve your work. I know, sounds daunting, but getting the opinions from others is one of the best possible things you can do for your work. Or at least, it’s one of the best I can do for mine.

After looking at the design for so long, I definitely can begin to get a little numb to it. It’s like when you get used to a smell because it’s been there so long, or when a song just becomes background noise since you’ve heard it so many times. Having a fresh set eyes look at it helps me notice some faults I didn’t realize was there, or realize my direction. Think back to the old writing exercise, which is to read your piece backwards in order to make sure it makes sense, since you’ve read it forward so many times and might just skip over the mistakes.

Not only are critiques great for your own artwork, but they’re also a great place to be heard and really show your knowledge. There’s always the fear that if you just go up to someone and tell them all the things you think could be improved you’d come off as rude, pretentious, and/or other negative descriptions. Critiques provide an open environment to let people know what you really feel, and give you the opportunity to talk about what you love. It’s a win win! In the end, critiques break the ice. At the beginning of my class, no one would really say anything regarding other people’s work. However, after participating in our first critique, it’s rare someone doesn’t make a comment as they’re walking about the room. Do critiques sound as daunting as they did in the beginning?

Have you participated in a critique, and if so, what’s your favorite/less favorite part? If you haven’t, what’s one thing you’ve learnt in your class that you couldn’t have learnt anywhere else?

As always,

Izzy