I have been reading ‘What They Didn’t Teach You In Design School’ written by Phil Cleaver, who is a multi-award winning designer. It guides design graduates to step their first foot into design industry from several perspectives. I wish I could have found a book like this sort and read it all when starting my career in design industry seven years ago.
During my time working on considerable projects in a design company, I have developed my technical skills and cultivated my aesthetic sensibility to a certain extent that a professional designer should possess. I was so focusing on ‘design’ things and became a ‘technically-skilled designer’. Then I realised it no longer worked for me, which motivated me to pursue higher education abroad and broaden my horizon.
Even an experienced designer like me would have been in a quite long period of confusion about the career. I doubted my abilities and found difficulty in positioning myself, let along projecting myself as an attractive personal brand that could be sold to the creative industry. I lost all my confidence that has been built by the accomplishments working as a highly-praised senior designer before. While studying my master, I was fascinated by exploration in unknown but haunted by the uncertainty of future at the same time. I drew a conclusion - the more you see, the less you know.
"One thing only I know, and that is that I know nothing." — Socrates, a classical Greek philosopher
It recalls me a scenario in the second term of my master where my team members and I wanted to choose a brief aiming to promote a hostel portal site to the young people, which we were very keen on as three enthusiastic travellers ourselves - we believed that we could do a great job as we were the target audience. However, our tutor Mike told us not to choose a brief just because we thought we knew it. What he was suggesting is that you think you know it but actually you don’t, whereas you don’t know the thing that later you probably find more challenging and interesting. Thanks to this wise advice given by our mentor.
As a young designer, we generally open to any opportunity and possibility to learn and grow, or follow the paths taken by our predecessors to secure a stability; some may be ambitious to run their own business but don’t know where or how to start or what to leverage, while some others do what they have been told to. It is bluntly said that designers are experts in visual but usually not a professional in marketing, which is however a key to differentiate. A designer makes beautiful things, a great designer communicates using strategically and beautifully-designed graphics.
You have to be a designer first to become a good one. In the first year of my career as an assistant designer, I was grateful for being taken in as a freshman with no academic design background and luckily had a bunch of opportunities to learn from daily works. I was passionate about everything that I have participated in, and excited and curious about the projects that my colleagues were working on. I was constantly asking the senior designers sitting next to me to check on my design and enlighten me with a better art direction. Three-month period is long enough to see if you are good to go. Apart from learning, I noticed there was some flaws in our workflow that ought to be addressed but haven’t been yet because of everyday hustle-bustle. At the last day where I excelled my probation, my supervisors were impressed by me standing out among others as a science graduate who is organised, logical and analytical and different from general design students. They even invited me to deliver a lecture to the whole company to demonstrate how I worked so efficiently. It is an exemplar that a weakness has turned into a strength. Observe, think, ask, reflect, learn, and repeat. Ordinary people only ask how, extraordinary people ask why first and sort out how themselves. Bravely suggest on improvements with humbleness if you find something wrong. It is blessing to have someone to guide you, but always remember that it is your duty to learn yourself, not the obligation of others to teach you.
A good designer is an essential component leading to solutions to the problem in a creative team, like a product is designed and produced to tackle the inconvenience and improve our lives. It is definitely not in a rush to build your personal brand, whereas the most important thing to do first is to dig as deep as possible for the base while starting your design career. There are always multiple routes to approach, and I am convinced that the choices are all on yourselves. If you are concentrate and even nerdy like me, start from a single skill and perfection it; if you have an adventurous and curious mind, go ahead to see as much as you can. Never sit tight while you are young and energetic. Don’t be deterred by how the world could be so broad. Always embrace the changes even it means to start over - celebrate it because you are lifting to a new level! If you aim to become an expert, you will have a chance to pitch on your idea, share your vision with others and meanwhile discover new passions; If you enjoy in being an explorer, you will experience the diversity and eventually find your true passion to dedicate in. Either way, you are going to be a versatile person.
Hence, try to ask yourself how to define your unique selling point and promote it loudly to the agencies. If you are really not so sure about what in the future you are going to do at the moment, which is certainly normal because you are new to the design world, just be patient and start with the best thing you have seen when being a design student. You will learn new techniques and knowledges even have a chance to explore new disciplines during the work, gradually forming your own preference, then you will know what to pursue further. There will be a good timing to properly ask yourself this question. It took me ages to find my own strong points that have potential to make me stellar.
I am still on my way shifting to higher position where I can see more things. Good luck, all the graduates.
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