MilÂton Glaser died last week at the age of 91, a long life that includÂed decade upon decade as the best-known name in graphÂic design. WithÂin the proÂfesÂsion he became as well-known as sevÂerÂal of his designs did in the wider world: the Bob Dylan poster, logos for comÂpaÂnies like DC Comics, the Glaser StenÂcil font, and above all I ❤ NY. Glaser may have become an icon, but he didÂn’t become a brand — “one of my most despised words,” he says in the interÂview clip above. He also acknowlÂedges that speÂcialÂizaÂtion, “havÂing someÂthing no one else has,” is the sine qua non of “finanÂcial sucÂcess and notoÂriÂety.” But “the conÂseÂquence of speÂcialÂizaÂtion and sucÂcess is that it hurts you. It hurts you because it basiÂcalÂly doesÂn’t aid in your develÂopÂment.” When we sucÂceed we usuÂalÂly do so because peoÂple come to rely on us to do one parÂticÂuÂlar thing, and to do it well — in othÂer words, nevÂer to fail at it.
But as Glaser reminds us, “develÂopÂment comes from failÂure. PeoÂple begin to get betÂter when they fail.” As an examÂple of develÂopÂment through failÂure he holds up Pablo PicasÂso: “WhenÂevÂer PicasÂso learned how to do someÂthing, he abanÂdoned it, and as a result of that, in terms of his develÂopÂment as an artist, the results were extraÂorÂdiÂnary.”
We may, of course, quesÂtion the relÂeÂvance of this comÂparÂiÂson, since many would describe PicasÂso as an artisÂtic genius, and not a few would cast Glaser himÂself in simÂiÂlar terms. SureÂly both of them, each in his own way, inhabÂitÂed a world apart from the rest of us. And yet, don’t the “the rest of us” wonÂder from time to about our our own potenÂtial for genius? Haven’t we, at times, felt nearÂly conÂvinced that we could achieve great things if only we weren’t so afraid to try.
Glaser breaks this fear down into conÂstituent threats: the “conÂdemÂnaÂtion of othÂers,” the “critÂiÂcism of critÂics and othÂer experts and even your friends and relÂaÂtives,” the prospect that “you won’t get any more work.” But “the real embarÂrassÂing issue about failÂure is your own acknowlÂedgÂment that you’re not a genius, that you’re not as good as you thought you were.” We can’t bear to acknowlÂedge “that we realÂly don’t exactÂly know what we’re doing,” an inescapable realÂiÂty in the process of self-develÂopÂment. But there is a soluÂtion, and in Glaser’s view only one soluÂtion: “You must embrace failÂure, you must admit what is, you must find out what you’re capaÂble of doing and what you’re not capaÂble of doing.” You must “subÂject yourÂself to the posÂsiÂbilÂiÂty that you are not as good as you want to be, hope to be, or as othÂers think you are.” And as the famousÂly nevÂer-retired Glaser sureÂly knew, you must keep on doing it, no matÂter how long you’ve been celÂeÂbratÂed as a proÂfesÂsionÂal, a masÂter, an icon, a genius.
RelatÂed ConÂtent:
Paulo CoelÂho on How to HanÂdle the Fear of FailÂure
Based in Seoul, ColÂin MarÂshall writes and broadÂcasts on cities, lanÂguage, and culÂture. His projects include the book The StateÂless City: a Walk through 21st-CenÂtuÂry Los AngeÂles and the video series The City in CinÂeÂma. FolÂlow him on TwitÂter at @colinmarshall, on FaceÂbook, or on InstaÂgram.
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