6 Things Every Designer Must Remember

The other day I saw someone post in an online design group that they charge $50 for a logo. I also saw another designer say that they offered unlimited revisions. Of course, the responses to these statements were the most entertaining. A lot of people were quick to criticize, judge and stand on their soapbox proclaiming why their way was better. I admit, sometimes even my fingers can’t type fast enough to offer a plea of sanity to some of the crazy design “ideas” I come across.

But then I remember that we’ve all got different experiences and perspectives. We’re all doing it differently, and hopefully doing the best we can with the information we have. There’s no cookie-cutter, step-by-step rule book that we should all follow to the tee to create a successful design career. Because of that, there’s a few things I think we should all remember:

Everyone is on a different part of their design journey

Some of us have been designing professionally for 15+ years. Some of us are just starting out in school. Some of us are making lots of money and some of us are struggling. Some of us aren’t even good yet. We only have the experience that’s under our belt. Instead of only looking through the lens of our own passion, aspirations and skills, we must remember that we’re all on different paths and varying stages of discovering our abilities, self-worth and goals. You may aspire to be a creative director while another designer may just be trying to pay the light bill (hence the $50 logo). Some designers haven’t realized yet that their work and their time is worth more. Either way, let’s be willing to support each other in whatever stage we’re in by humbling ourselves, showing empathy and admitting that we don’t (nor did we) know everything.

You don’t know what you don’t know

I don’t know what I was doing with my life before I discovered the pen tool. I cringe at some of the old, extremely lowed-balled invoices sent to clients from my earlier freelance years. I remember my humble beginnings when I made all of my logos in Photoshop but then later realized I should be creating them as vector. There are many things we didn’t know then and still don’t know now. That’s the beauty of discovery along the design journey.

It’s okay to go through phases

I’ve gone through this cycle of phases (and not necessarily in this order):

· “I have no idea what I’m doing” phase

· “get as many projects as I can to gain experience” phase

· “scared to charge clients a higher amount because I might not be good enough” phase

· “yes I’ll do that club flyer” phase

· “I’m so over club flyers” phase

· “let-me-move-up-the-corporate-ladder” phase

· “eff this, I’m working for myself” phase

· “I need to go back to school” phase

· “Why would I pay all that money when there’s YouTube?” phase

· “I’m only doing this project for the money” phase

· “I just a want a few big clients/accounts” phase

· “I’m tired of having no life and being on the computer all day, every day” phase

· “I’m just going to make cool things that inspire me” phase

Don’t sweat the phases. When you get to a point where your work and your time is grounded in purpose and value, you’ll understand that those principles will outlast any phase.

We didn’t get here alone

You might be the most driven, intelligent, business-savvy, creative designer you know?—?but you didn’t get there by yourself. There were teachers, peers, family members, crazy clients, great clients, bosses, business partners, books and videos that got you there. Someone taught you how to force quit, write a creative brief, run a script, deploy a website or preflight a print file. Someone else is going to help open a door for you in the future. Remember that.

You create your own path

There’s more than one way to get to where you want to go. Some get design degrees while others are self-taught. Some strive to become creative directors while others yearn to be their own boss. Some of us swear by the Mac and others live and die by the PC. Either way, every designer must be willing to learn, practice, fail, practice some more and create new experiences in order to grow in their design career. The key is to know what you want and then keep pounding away at your craft until you get it. If you don’t know what you want, then you have to work through discovering what that is; try new software, new industries, new clients and new techniques. Cross off the list what you don’t like and keep moving in the directions that build you up.

There’s a lot more to learn

Don’t get comfortable and set in your ways. Don’t think that you have “arrived”. With today’s ever-changing technology, software updates and design trends, there’s always something more to learn. Be confident in your unique abilities but keep striving to improve in some way. I’m often inspired by the many awesome designers I know and all the great work I see online and out there in the world. Whenever I catch myself saying, “I wish I could do that”, it sparks a desire to challenge myself and create.

Remember that this is YOUR design journey. Ultimately, you create the rules and you determine how you will use your design skills to change yourself and the world around you.

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Also check out “25 Things You Should Know Before Becoming a Graphic Designer”