Since starting as a creative intern at Bluestone Communications I have learned quite a lot. Some of the best advice I’ve ever received as a visual communicator and storyteller is from a guest speaker who came to talk to the Bluestone Firm. Dr. Shana Meganck, my professor for the Bluestone Communications internship class asked her dad, Professor Emeritus Robert Meganck to come and speak to our class on the creative process and his best life lessons. His presentation titled “Lessons from Life and Rock & Roll” tells stories of the best advice he would give to students after a lifetime of illustrating and over 40 years of teaching. The following are some lessons that stuck with me from his presentation:
You are what you eat
In his presentation Professor Meganck said “every activity you engage in, becomes a part of who you are” and “the more you experience life, the better you will be able to express
your creative self.” I recently took his advice and picked up photography again. I haven’t done a lot of photography since early high school so throwing myself back into it was a little intimidating. However, I recently had the opportunity to photograph an event for one of our clients at Bluestone and thought of this piece of advice from Professor Meganck. I ended up photographing the event and really enjoyed it. I plan on volunteering to photograph events in the future as well.
Everyone can draw, it’s a matter of how hard you try
I have always felt, along with many others, that I can’t draw. However, Professor Meganck argues that most people can draw, it just depends on how hard you try. I previously convinced myself that I was not a good drawer which led me to skip the sketching and ideation part of the creative process. It would slow down quite a bit because I would backtrack due to the foundation and layout not being appealing or cohesive. However, after Professor Meganck’s presentation, I decided to focus more on sketching in my design work and my creative process is now much more successful and I feel more confident in my designs. I think this piece of advice also goes further than just drawing. While I took this advice quite literally, I believe overall Professor Meganck is explaining to us that you miss all the opportunities you don’t take. If you want to become good at something, you have to go for it, don’t fall short of your dreams because you believe something is unattainable.
These are only two pieces of advice from Professor Meganck, but whether you consider yourself to be in a creative field or not, I encourage everyone to take a look at his presentation. Professor Meganck has some great advice and has definitely made an impact on my outlook as a student and my future career.
Professor Meganck’s Website: https://meganck.com/
Professor Meganck’s Presentation: https://meganck.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Lessons-from-RR.pdf