1 - STAY HUNGRY LIKE BIGGIE ON HIS FIRST ALBUM - Success can satiate hunger and blur the line between confidence and laziness. It’s best to remain critical and be open to the criticism of others. You’ll not only continue to grow as a designer, but you’ll keep things fresh and exciting for yourself. What kind of man would Bob Dylan be if he just continued to do the same thing album after album? He would be Donovan I guess. And you don't want to be Donovan, man.
2 - LISTEN TO POWERFUL 70s ROCK AND ROLL - Nothing makes me question the authenticity and integrity of my work like listening to Bruce Springsteen. Trust me, but if you don't trust me, then trust The Boss. I quit my first job out of school because I listened to my Born to Run LP every day after work, and I am much happier since. And now on job applications, in the "Reason for leaving" section of my employment history, I can write, "Last chance power drive."
3 - NUTS & BOLTS vs. BELLS & WHISTLES - It’s not called breaking the rules when you don’t know that you are—it’s called making a mistake. Our buddy, Modernism was nice enough to lay down some ground rules for us way back when and we are well-served to learn them and follow them, when appropriate. But at the same time, you did go to art school. Throw a couple lasers in there or something, dude.
4 - CALL YOUR MOM - Just because she doesn't completely understand what you do for a living doesn't mean she doesn't want to hear about it.
5 - SUCK IT, YOKO - There are two types of designers: Lennons and McCartneys. As a John Lennon, you create work that is message-driven, stark and serious, but you run the risk of seeming pretentious and/or naïve. (In John Lennon's defense, he was unfortunately married to the world's worst art director.) To be a Paul McCartney, on the other hand, means creating beautiful, meticulously crafted graphic design pop music, heavy on style but light on content. While either can be successful on its own (I fucking love Wings), the best design employs both ideology and style. (See: popular music group "The Beatles").
6 - COPY - This is a dangerous idea, because, well, the world is already completely saturated with derivative horse-puckey created by knucklehead boner farmers with no taste. It's okay to bite another style, as long as you don't swallow the whole thing. Use it as a jumping-off point and don’t emulate it. Nobody is simply conjuring ideas out of ether and pixie dust. Be aware of your influences and use them to your advantage. If you have talent, intelligence and integrity then your unique style will show through. I truly believe that.
7 - PRO BONO = GOOD ; U2 BONO = BAD - Do something for free! It will make you feel good and you'll have more creative control. Build your portfolio doing what you want to do. Employers can smell the creative musk of a portfolio grown with passion.
8 - EDIT EVERYTHING - Sometimes saying goodbye is the hardest part. Making something you love isn't nearly as difficult as letting it go. An argument could be made that the real talent in design is to see and realize why something is ugly, not pretty. Designers, like the rest of the creative world, have a tendency to over think and over design. A more effective tactic is to find out whats not working and get rid of that. It's rough, but your mom never liked that one anyway.
9 - MINE THE DEPTHS OF YOUR COLD BLACK HEART - Graphic Design isn't as dry and emotionless as it sounds when you explain it to girls at bars. If you get a visceral response to something you make then there's a good chance it will stir up similar feelings in other people too. Get those guts out as much as you can. If nothing else it will be interesting.
10 - BE FREE TONIGHT - Unlike the controversial atmospheric electrical phenomena known as ball lightening, which can exist in a vacuum, design is married to commerce, and thus cannot. Being visually versed and technically proficient isn't enough to create successful engaging design. It demands that we draw upon history, pop culture, advertising, psychology, and a whole arsenal of non-design things to arm and inform our work. The best way to stock up is to get away from the computer and go out and live your life. Have some laughs, take a road trip, make out with babes, barf on the subway platform and throw something off a roof. Whatever it takes. Go out there, punch life in the neck, and steal its wallet.