I once made a post about [u]how to get recognition for your work[/u], (how to be famous), and most responses was that either “If I enjoy what I do then I don’t care” or “fame/recognition is not a noble pursuit”. I always contend that the first value is to love what you do but I also believe that the desire to be recognized is not only noble but it is your right. It is ambition. Am I alone on this?
If you want to be recognized do good work, and submit it to award competitions.
If the work is good, then it will get recognized – maybe not every time, but eventually something you do will most likely strike a chord with someone and you’ll get some kind of award.
I sat in on a lecture given to students about submitting competition entries for the IDEA awards, and the basic overview was “most submissions are awful, if you do a good submission you’ll probably get an award” – particularly since the 2007 IDEA Best of Show winner was a student.
If you put your work out there, through competition entries, websites like this, putting together your own website, the recognition will come to you. It takes time, but once your stuff gets out there, it speaks for itself.
Some people like what comes with recognition and some do not. No doubt that there is room for both types in ID. Gaining recognition with the masses takes time, luck and knowing when to focus on design and when to start promoting what you’ve done. Either in PR or in your work having something new to say is the biggest challenge and in most cases this takes time.