SCABs

Always Wear Sunscreen – By @mazzystar81

By Mary Kerr

Always Wear Sunscreen

 

What I wish I knew before I started the SCA.

Always wear sunscreen. Even if it’s not sunny – give your skin a chance because SCA will take its toll and the bright skin and the twinkle in your eyes that shine out from the group photo taken at the beginning will soon fade to a pale shade of Dulux dead mouse before the end of the year. Wear sunscreen and go fora pale and interesting shade of white than grey.

Snack happy. Bring snacks in that give you energy by don’t cause an energy slump. Long lasting snacks. Also be generous with snacks as snack sharing is often a topic for other creative’s SCABS. 

If you’re going to try to play with Photoshop and illustrator this summer definitely work on a project you are passionate about. It’s harder to throw your laptop out of the window (which I’m sure you will want to do) if you’re transforming your niece into a superhero that shoots pancakes from her fists. In my next scab I will list the most useful tutorials and links.

Read the books on the SCA reading list but don’t panic! I read the first one about training my memory and I can’t remember the rest. My memory is long gone now. I did try with the other books. I bought them. Then I bought them on audible. Then I tried to piece them together by reading google reviews. Some are better than others. Nudge is great and I loved Predictable Irrationality, possibly because of the giant gum ball machine on the front. 

Plan an exercise class once a week. Even if it’s yoga and you go and cry before falling asleep on the floor – my usual Sunday morning. Or an 80s dance class where music is blared out so loud you can lose yourself and your mind. But try to commit to some exercise. I’m sure I would feel more balanced if I did more. 

Don’t have any regrets. Try everything. Do everything. Go the extra mile. Have 9 ideas? Try them all. Make things. Connect with people whose work you like. Write to them. If they write back. Say thank you. Say thank you anyway. Everyday. Use your commute to read and listen and learn from podcasts. Read your classmates scabs. Use your class. You aren’t in competition with anyone. The best ideas usually come from a friend misunderstanding your initial idea. So use your classmates as much as your mentors. 

Buy a pack of plain cards and write down all your random thoughts on them. Random places you think could be useful to communicate your message. I just watched a woman getting a logo tattooed on her forehead. Write down funny words. Funny ideas. Words. Places. People. Things. All m on cards and see how you can connect them on a wall. How can a grape, a dinosaur and an astronaut be a theme for a restaurant? 

I wish that I’d gone bigger earlier with my campaigns. I think I spent the first term creating safe work that could ‘run tomorrow.’ The world doesn’t need safe work and SCA is not the place for safe work. You have to make “the catwalk collection” to get the job to make the work that could run tomorrow. So go big. You have a year to go mad and if you get arrested you have Marc, Max, Marcia and Amy on your team.

I wish I’d learned time management I still have no idea what it is but it’s not too late and I’m sure I will get there in the end. Wow that sentence is either geniusly ironic or totally mad. 

Don’t forget about family your family. They are the only touch point of how to measure your insanity as the year goes on. Most importantly look after yourself. Give yourself breaks and do the things you’ve always loved and if you go outside always wear sunscreen.

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