Who is Andy Rutledge

Name Andy Rutledge
Location Plano, Texas
Web http://andyrutled...
Bio Designer, cyclist, composer, curmudgeon. Owner of Unit Interactive.



My early experience in the design profession was unlike that of most of my peers and colleagues. I did not attend design school and did not enter the profession with the academic design training most receive. Instead of starting a design career in my early to mid twenties, I started when I was almost forty years old, after more than two decades in retail and corporate management while at the same time being an intermittent artist and craftsman. As a result, I was never offered design advice from mentors or professors. My training as a designer has been mostly derived from 30 years as a musician-composer and bonsai artist. Additionally, my design understanding has been greatly augmented by an ongoing study of human behavior, psychology, and sociology.
I did, however, receive lots of formal training in music and artistry. Much of that training was and is as a private student of highly skilled professional artists and I continue that training to this day, for I believe that someone with no teacher is lost. As a result, I am a student and I will always be a student. I expect I’ll be a student when I’m 90.
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Love the Business as much as the Practice
So while I have certainly received instruction, have pondered lessons offered in books and in articles, and have learned lessons through practice, I have not really ever received advice the way that Tony had in mind when he wrote to commission articles for this series in his weblog. Even so, he asked that I contribute to describe my story and offer something that I’ve learned through experience.
Perhaps the most profound and impactful lesson I’ve learned was not something that came only through my own experience. It is something that was informed by my experience, but made clear to me again and again by observing other designers over time. Loving design and being an excellent designer is not enough to succeed as an independent; nowhere near enough. If a great affinity for business is not part of what motivates you, go to work for an agency or in-house for a company, but don’t go the freelance route or you will fail (and be very unhappy until that time). I have never seen an exception to this fact. The lesson is that if you want to be a successful independent design professional you have to love the business of design.
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Guest Author Bio
Andy Rutledge is Principal and chief design strategist at Unit Interactive. When not designing or hanging with the family, he is usually found banging on the piano or putting in a few miles on his bike.