None of Your Business Posted October 15, 2022 by Matthias Ott 132 Webmentions #creation #work I bet you know this: You’ve created something – a drawing, a layout, a video, a piece of code, or a blog post – and after you’re more or less done, you pause and you look at it. And you don’t like it. Maybe it is a little detail that is not right, or maybe you don’t like the whole piece for reasons you cannot explain. Whatever it is, you are just sure that this one piece of work isn’t particularly good. Or is it? Whenever I’m in such a situation or people mention feeling the same way, I have to think about an interview Debbie Millman did for her Design Matters podcast. In their lovely conversation, comic artist Lynda Barry told a story about one of her teachers in art school. Lynda had just finished a drawing. She and her teacher were looking at it, when Lynda said: “I don’t really like this drawing.” Her teacher paused, then she went: It’s none of your business.” What? “The drawing is already here. It’s none of your business whether you like it or not.” For Lynda, this was the crucial moment of her entire career. She realized that there is another way to look at her work besides just asking “do I like it or not?” You don’t have to like your work for it to work. Liking or not liking it isn’t the essential part of making something. As long as you are the only judge and as long as it is unpublished, even, what’s the difference whether you like it or not? Or, to put it another way: everything you create will only work if it helps other people or if they like what you created. Every piece of art that is supposed to have a value and impact in our culture is meaningless unless it is seen by someone. Only by the interplay between your work and the people who interact with it, its real value will reveal itself. So, if you did your best when you created a piece of work, but your perfectionism or fear of judgement or lack of confidence makes you not like it, ask yourself: who is this piece for and will it work? And then, allow it to exist, to grow, to evolve, to improve, to fade away, or to shine. But first, make it work. ~ 132 Webmentions Aaron Maurer None of Your Business matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… Krishna Chaitanya good read matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… mwcreatif None of Your Business, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… sonikmatter An important read for creators that are as critical of their work as I am. via @swissmiss matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… lark ⚔;️; お;前;が;知;っ;て;る; “The drawing is already here. It’s none of your business whether you like it or not.“ matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… berkes ????; ????; ????; ????; RT @matthiasott@mastodon.social I recently wrote about eye-opening advice from comic artist Lynda Barry for anyone creating anything: ✍;️; None of Your Business matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… mastodon.social/@matthiasott/1… Tanner Smith "You don’t have to like your work for it to work. Liking or not liking it isn’t the essential part of making something. As long as you are the only judge and as long as it is unpublished, even, what’s the difference whether you like it or not?" matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… Carl Lister ????; This is a great perspective realignment. Be it a piece of design, art, code or video - ultimately it’s not for us the creator but for some other person or persons. When it’s done, “It’s none of your business”. @m_ott matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… ????; Simone Vittori Just ship it matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… Dana Ciocan I like this way of reframing - "You don’t have to like your work for it to work" matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… Gabin Aureche In 2014 when starting out I was reluctant to share my work because of a lack of self confidence. This article sums up pretty well one of the best advice I was ever given by @nathanjpowellUX back then: matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… by @m_ott Lucia Conti None of Your Business, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… Prototypr ????;️;✨; You’ve created something and after you’re more or less done, you pause and you look at it. And you don’t like it 😑 matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… by @m_ott Stefangnie Waltergeist This: "if you did your best when you created a piece of work, but your perfectionism or fear of judgement or lack of confidence makes you not like it, ask yourself: who is this piece for and will it work? " matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… Faizal Ardiansyah "You don’t have to like your work for it to work. Liking or not liking it isn’t the essential part of making something." matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… Hack Design None of Your Business matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… Chiyana Simões ; None of Your Business · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… Marco "is Halloween bald vorbei" Hengstenberg Strong advice there! ❤;️; Kerry Clark Excellent thoughts on #creativity: None of Your Business, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… Dr. Viviana Menzel ????; "It’s none of your business." matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… @m_ott IB Sobayo “The drawing is already here. It’s none of your business whether you like it or not.” matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-…? Deborah Edwards-Oñoro "Every piece of art that is supposed to have a value and impact in our culture is meaningless unless it is seen by someone. Only by the interplay between your work and the people who interact with it, its real value will reveal itself." matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… JW ????; “Every piece of art that is supposed to have a value and impact in our culture is meaningless unless it is seen by someone. ‘ matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… Christophe Porteneuve ????; ZOMG, so much this. I fall prey to this myself. Sort of "MVP" mindset but for every content you produce. matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… David Bisset In context, a great thought to start off my week: "You don’t have to like your work for it to work." David Coveney Perfect. David Coveney Perfect. Alexander Lehner Great food for thought ???? Manuel Matuzović None of Your Business! ???? Matthias Zöchling Coincidentally, this blog post is a piece of art. Roy Tang Shared: None of Your Business · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-…. > So, if you did your best when you created a piece of work, but your perfectionism or fear of judgement or lack of confidence makes you not like it, Luis Orduz I must say, this is the best way I've seen this advice framed. matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… Hosam Sultan "You don’t have to like your work for it to work. Liking or not liking it isn’t the essential part of making something." matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… Imad Aldoj Good to read We're our worst enemy, discarding projects near the finish line muffindev 😲 matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… Matthias Ott Mehmet Mercan None of Your Business, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… Egor Kloos This is one of the things I learned very early on doing design and illustration work. This understanding applies to all creative work, including development. It’s painful watching someone attach their entire being to their work. Sebastian Lasse | @sl007@digitalcourage.social [teacher] “The drawing is already here. It’s none of your business whether you like it or not.” /me shortly thinking about the "Scheisse"-stamp of Prof. Otto Steinert :) Florens Verschelde I liked it. Matthias Ott Glad it is helpful! I saw your tweet the other day and thought that a blog post might be a better answer than just another tweet. Enjoy creating more videos! Sara Soueidan "None of Your Business" — "[..] ask yourself: who is this piece for and will it work? And then, allow it to exist [..]" ;—@m_ott; If u're a perfectionist like me, read this. This is probably one of the most helpful paradigm shifts I've had. matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… Sara Soueidan "who is this piece for and will it work?" This is literally one of the most helpful articles ever. Thinking about whether "it works for someone" as opposed to "do I like it" is fantastic. Perfect timing as I record more videos for the course, too. Thank you for writing this 🥹 5 Reposts Max Böck michel Nicolas CHEVOBBE Florens Verschelde Cristian Díaz 84 Likes AleksandrSl Manuel Penaloza mkalina Eetu Järvinen Marco "is Halloween bald vorbei" Hengstenberg J. Spooky Hooks ????;☠;️; White Bọ;́;lá;jí; Ayọ;̀;dejì; Pieces ????; hack.js????; je-jo Chris Glass Brian Monstermeyer Ashwin M Jessica Lyschik Pascal Küsgen Jens Oliver Meiert Faris Ansari christian Connor Speers mike yavorsky ????;????;????; Paul Thompson Matt Secoske Zach Leatherman Erik Vorhes Ajit ✧; Fernando Carrettoni 박;제;권; Kristian Heruc Ari Palo Bellycan Florian Ziegler Sebastian Schöndorfer Alexander Lehner Marco Heine Kitty Giraudel J✷;N PK ????; ????;????;????; Johannes Schröder Nim Bernard Nijenhuis Manuel Matuzović Björn Ganslandt Tristan Lucia Conti lucraak Matt Hill Rach Smith Benjamin Gries Daniel Barros Abbas roholamin Thiago Seus Florian Geierstanger Scott McCracken Mariana Beldi Mike Aparicio a new horror Sam Selikoff Imad Aldoj megabyte yuanchuan Frank Rausch Max Böck Chris Price michel Nicolas CHEVOBBE Kilian Valkhof Luis Nell Amit Merchant Egor Kloos Rizaldi Harald Atteneder Martouta william Florens Verschelde Leo Matt Biilmann Cristian Díaz Anne Bovelett Saptak S sKoes Christoph Dubach ????;????;????; Flo Guillaume Deblock Jim Nielsen ⓘ Webmentions are a way to notify other websites when you link to them, and to receive notifications when others link to you. Learn more about Webmentions. Have you published a response to this? Send me a webmention by letting me know the URL. Ping! More Notes Ad Infinitum Lazy and Prompt Buckle Up At Machine Speed
sonikmatter An important read for creators that are as critical of their work as I am. via @swissmiss matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-…
lark ⚔;️; お;前;が;知;っ;て;る; “The drawing is already here. It’s none of your business whether you like it or not.“ matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-…
berkes ????; ????; ????; ????; RT @matthiasott@mastodon.social I recently wrote about eye-opening advice from comic artist Lynda Barry for anyone creating anything: ✍;️; None of Your Business matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… mastodon.social/@matthiasott/1…
Tanner Smith "You don’t have to like your work for it to work. Liking or not liking it isn’t the essential part of making something. As long as you are the only judge and as long as it is unpublished, even, what’s the difference whether you like it or not?" matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-…
Carl Lister ????; This is a great perspective realignment. Be it a piece of design, art, code or video - ultimately it’s not for us the creator but for some other person or persons. When it’s done, “It’s none of your business”. @m_ott matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-…
Dana Ciocan I like this way of reframing - "You don’t have to like your work for it to work" matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-…
Gabin Aureche In 2014 when starting out I was reluctant to share my work because of a lack of self confidence. This article sums up pretty well one of the best advice I was ever given by @nathanjpowellUX back then: matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… by @m_ott
Prototypr ????;️;✨; You’ve created something and after you’re more or less done, you pause and you look at it. And you don’t like it 😑 matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-… by @m_ott
Stefangnie Waltergeist This: "if you did your best when you created a piece of work, but your perfectionism or fear of judgement or lack of confidence makes you not like it, ask yourself: who is this piece for and will it work? " matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-…
Faizal Ardiansyah "You don’t have to like your work for it to work. Liking or not liking it isn’t the essential part of making something." matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-…
Chiyana Simões ; None of Your Business · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-…
Kerry Clark Excellent thoughts on #creativity: None of Your Business, by @m_ott matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-…
IB Sobayo “The drawing is already here. It’s none of your business whether you like it or not.” matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-…?
Deborah Edwards-Oñoro "Every piece of art that is supposed to have a value and impact in our culture is meaningless unless it is seen by someone. Only by the interplay between your work and the people who interact with it, its real value will reveal itself." matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-…
JW ????; “Every piece of art that is supposed to have a value and impact in our culture is meaningless unless it is seen by someone. ‘ matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-…
Christophe Porteneuve ????; ZOMG, so much this. I fall prey to this myself. Sort of "MVP" mindset but for every content you produce. matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-…
David Bisset In context, a great thought to start off my week: "You don’t have to like your work for it to work."
Roy Tang Shared: None of Your Business · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-…. > So, if you did your best when you created a piece of work, but your perfectionism or fear of judgement or lack of confidence makes you not like it,
Luis Orduz I must say, this is the best way I've seen this advice framed. matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-…
Hosam Sultan "You don’t have to like your work for it to work. Liking or not liking it isn’t the essential part of making something." matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-…
Egor Kloos This is one of the things I learned very early on doing design and illustration work. This understanding applies to all creative work, including development. It’s painful watching someone attach their entire being to their work.
Sebastian Lasse | @sl007@digitalcourage.social [teacher] “The drawing is already here. It’s none of your business whether you like it or not.” /me shortly thinking about the "Scheisse"-stamp of Prof. Otto Steinert :)
Matthias Ott Glad it is helpful! I saw your tweet the other day and thought that a blog post might be a better answer than just another tweet. Enjoy creating more videos!
Sara Soueidan "None of Your Business" — "[..] ask yourself: who is this piece for and will it work? And then, allow it to exist [..]" ;—@m_ott; If u're a perfectionist like me, read this. This is probably one of the most helpful paradigm shifts I've had. matthiasott.com/notes/none-of-…
Sara Soueidan "who is this piece for and will it work?" This is literally one of the most helpful articles ever. Thinking about whether "it works for someone" as opposed to "do I like it" is fantastic. Perfect timing as I record more videos for the course, too. Thank you for writing this 🥹
