The ArtSmart Toolkit

At business school, we learned about the "iron triangle." It goes like this: if you’re making something, ideally you want it to be done fast, cheap and good. But you can’t have all three. Any given project is a balancing act of time, cost, and quality.

For example, if you want something that is good quality quickly, it’s going to cost money. You gain quality and speed, but it’s expensive: Fast + Good = Expensive. e.g. rush fees charged to say push your print job ahead of others.

The iron triangle of cheap, fast, and good doesn’t directly translate to the world of the artist, but its thinking does. Once you start looking at your projects strategically and making decisions based on potential losses and gains, you’ll start to see your priorities, your potential, and your power to persuade in a different light.

Support + Money + Exposure

I’ve come to understand that an artist needs three things to thrive. First, they need support—to be upheld by allies, peers, and mentors who provide new ideas, materials, environments, safe spaces, love, and a sense of self-worth. Second, they need to earn money making art. Like anyone else, artists want to get paid for what they do—they want opportunity and financial stability. Third, they need exposure to make an impact and find audiences. Artists want their work to be recognized.