Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash
I’ve been a designer for five years and I’ve learned a lot in that time frame so today I want to talk to you about the lessons I’ve learned in that time.
Don’t Just Say You Did Something Because It Looks Cool
As designers, it’s easy to say I did this or that because I think it looks cool, but honestly, that’s the wrong approach. Designer John Maeda once tweeted “Design is a solution to a problem. Art is a question to a problem.” As Designers we are not artists, we’re problem solvers and we need to act accordingly. When you’re designing something always ask yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing, is it the best solution for the problem at hand, and if not, what is?
Listen To Feedback And Be Open To Change
This one is especially important when working in a team. It’s important to be open to feedback from your peers and be willing to change your approach. If you want to be a designer, it’s important to have thick skin. The world does not revolve around you. There is no I in team. It’s not uncommon for your teammates to be able to see things that you don’t see. If you’re open to feedback it will be easier for people to work with you.
Understand Business
There are things that every designer understands such as the rule of thirds, the golden ratio, color theory, typography, leading, kerning, how to use grids, but what designers should learn that isn’t always taught in school is business and how it relates to design. Understand how businesses work and what types of things businesses are looking for in a design. This will help you better understand why designs are chosen or rejected. Understand things like sales and negotiation. If you charge a certain price for website layout, logo, or whatever you design, be able to show your client why you charge the prices that you are charging, because your clients may not always understand why you charge what you charge.
You Are What You Read
If you want to be like every other designer out there read what every other designer out there is reading. If you want to be a step above other designers, Read the books every designer reads plus the books that are more overlooked. You can never stop learning as a designer. As you read through those design books ask yourself what you can take from those books and apply them to your life.
Design Is Everywhere
One thing I’ve learned as a designer is that design is everywhere. It’s not just the stuff we see on the web or in print, it’s everything. We’re surrounded by it and as such, we should take inspiration from it. Even though our work is done on computers we shouldn’t be hermits. Go outside every once in a while and see what is out there.
Show People The Process
You’re not just being paid to design things. You’re also being paid to show people how you got from point A to point b. You’re not just designing for yourself, you’re also designing for other people. Showing your process is a great way to help people understand what you’re doing and how you got there. The way to do this is to document your work as you doing it as opposed to waiting until you finish and then trying to remember all the things that you did.
When In Doubt, Use Command + S/Ctrl + S
If you like losing your content after your computer crashes go ahead and disregard this advice. Otherwise, take heed and save your work as much as possible. It’s easy to lose your work when you’re not paying attention, but it’s harder to get the work back. Saving your work to a cloud is also a good option as you can then work on it from any computer.
You Need A Mentor
Mentors keep you from making the mistakes that they’ve made. They help you grow in your career and can open up opportunities that you may not have otherwise. If you don’t have a mentor, find one.
Perfect Is The Enemy Of Done
When tight deadlines are on the rise, you have to realize that you can’t always add all the bells and whistles that you want to. Sometimes you have to know what you can give up. Learn to let go of the things that don’t matter and focus on the things that do. This will help you get your work done faster.
That’s all for now. I hope you’ve found these tips helpful. Remember, there’s always something new to learn. Keep on learning and keep on designing.
Comments