DESIGNING is not a profession, it’s a part of life.
These are rules to follow about designing in order to guarantee your personal and professional success.
– Work for yourself instead of for others. Designing a happy birthday to both of you gif doesn’t work if you don’t understand the meaning of true fulfillment and love. It’s more meaningful when you have complete control over the design process from start to finish. This means being able to say no, take shortcuts, and make changes as often as needed without worrying about who pays the bill or how good your designs will be perceived by others.- Create something unique every time.- Don’t worry about that little voice inside that tells you to stop creating because “you’re not good enough.
1. HAVE FUN !
I know it sounds cliche, but it’s true: if you don’t have fun while working, you’ll be miserable when you look at what you’ve created.
2. RESEARCH YOUR COMPETITION
What are people doing to grab attention? What do they say about their designs? How can I position myself in the new and exciting design world? What does my competition do that I can learn from?- As a designer, I think that as soon as we start thinking in this way, we will stop competing with other designers and actually start HELPING each other. It’s called co-creation.
3. PUSH THE BOUNDARIES
It’s a pretty well known fact that the key to staying relevant and successful as a designer is pushing the boundaries. It can be hard when everything around you seems to be moving in a certain way, but eventually everybody gets on board.
4. BE ORIGINAL
Originality is one of the most important things in today’s design field. It’s so easy to get caught up in looking like everybody else, but it doesn’t look like you’re doing your own thing if you really are trying to look like others! There are plenty of ways to stay original with your designs: use different colors, play with shapes and fonts, think out of the box, etc!
5. BE YOURSELF!
It’s important to stand out from the pack when you’re designing, but remember: don’t stray too far from what makes you truly happy and excited to create. Find a balance between standing out and being yourself.
6. BE ORIGINAL (again)
Don’t be afraid of “failure”. It’s how we learn and grow as designers…and humans!
7. DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR HELP!
There are people out there that want to help, so let them! I know it can be scary to show your work in progress or asking for advice on something, but nobody will laugh at you if you do it right.
8. GET TO KNOW YOURSELF
Learn who you are as a person, and make sure to incorporate those characteristics in your designs. You’ll be surprised how much designing with that voice inside of you can bring to the table when combined with the right inspiration and advice!- I wish I had known this sooner!
9. BE FAIR WITH OTHERS AND HONEST WITH YOURSELF
*Denial of talent* … Having a fear of looking like everybody else because everyone else is looking like other people? Or maybe not…(Complicated)
10. BECOME A DESIGNER!
You can’t make a living if you hate it. Design isn’t a profession, it’s a part of life. It’s similar to writing, cooking, or being a doctor. You have to love what you do in order to love what you are doing. If you don’t love what you do, why do it?
– Try for at least a year before giving up on things that just aren’t working for you.
– Be ready for the hard times and take advantage of the easy ones.
– Set yourself apart from your competition everywhere: style, ideas, marketing… .Be sure that when people come to your work
– they will see something different about you and who you are.
11. BE WILLING TO LEARN FROM MISTAKES
Not all designs are winners, but that’s okay. It’s what you learn from them that counts.
12- DESIGN/CREATE FOR YOURSELF FIRST
Make things that you enjoy and would want to look at, not things that you think other people will like. (We’re all different, we shouldn’t have to like the same thing.)
13 – FOCUS ON YOUR PASSION!
You must fall in love with the process of designing: The act of creating itself is your true passion. Don’t let the value adder (money) be your priority or you’ll eventually stop creating altogether. Also, don’t let the act of creating get lost in all of your external obligations, like school or working.
14 – BE PREPARED TO WORK HARD
This goes with having fun: If you’re not willing to work hard, you should probably find another hobby. If that’s the case, get into something else if you can’t stick with this. I have been very impressed by the students at SCAD that put in 110% and then some more. I believe in instilling that kind of mentality into my own life.
