Generic

We have more than enough generic art. And by art, I don’t just mean pictures: generic service experiences, generic food, generic branding, and generic marketing campaigns telling generic stories.

I have a bad habit of trying to get so far away from generic that what I create is uncategorizable. While uncategorizable is fine for a hobby, it’s problematic for a business. How can people connect with what we do if they have no way to categorize it?

One of the things Seth Godin talks about that has shaped my perspective on how people can connect with our work is this idea of “genre, not generic.”

Genre as in rhyming with something people are familiar with, or knowing the established norms of an industry or culture. This reminds me of my love for focusing on the fundamentals. In the barista world, tamping level isn’t generic, it’s just what professionals do. Are you familiar with Track Changes in Word? If you’re an editor you are.

So the challenge is to create something that people can sink their teeth into without making it so generic that it simply blends in with everything else.

The formula might be something like this: Mastery of the Fundamentals + Your Quirkiness = Art I’d like to engage with. (A book I’d like to read, a film I’d like to watch, a coffee shop I’d like to visit, a picture I’d like to hang on my wall, etc.)

We’re waiting for you.