Company Of One by Paul Jarvis

(I’ve made this illustration as a remake of Paul’s book cover. I used illustrations from my Nautical Elements Pack)

Something’s wrong but feels totally right!

Did you ever have the feeling that your view on something is massively different from anyone else yet it feels totally right? I had this feeling a few times during my life. Mostly just right after I finished university and started a new job. It was a time when my idealistic views on life met the reality of adulthood. In case you forgot, it’s the time when all your dreams are crushed into pieces really fast (har har) ;).

I had my perfect idea of how design should look like, how to work with clients, etc. For example, I always thought that making a few designs and presenting them to a client to choose from was a fundamentally wrong idea. After all, who has more experience and knowledge in the design field? This however ended fairly quickly, just after I started my first job at the advertising agency, where presenting just one design was viewed as not trying hard enough.

All those feelings of what’s right and logical are often buried when people with more experience and authority force their views on young flexible minds, and it takes a lifetime to dig it back up.

Catching the wind again

I had the same exact feeling when I started listening to this book, suddenly I realized I was right all along, and the deep urge to stay small and even sabotage every opportunity to grow bigger made sense. Of course, nothing is that simple, and you need to choose your own adventure. Staying small will not work for everyone, but if you are like me, you want to work doing what you love, be profitable and still have the time to live your life, you should read it. I really enjoyed it. This book is optimistic, logical and well written. I say you give it a try and let me know what’s your take on it 🙂

Here you’ll find it: Company Of One