Message to my Creative Directors : 10x Your Game In 2017

So you want to become a better design leader in 2017! Because I know you are open to growing, I will give you ten suggestions for ways to improve your design game and take it to a whole new level. 

Why? Because if you do this, you will be the best designer that ever lived. At least in Brooklyn.

1. Who are the 5 people or companies who's work you admire most? How often do you look at their work and what do you love about their work?

2. What are the top 5 websites you spend at least an hour a day getting inspiration from? Are they websites with templates? Stock images? Graphic design websites that feature portfolios?

3. If you had a mood board that would describe your personal taste as a designer, which included your own stuff as well as things that you absolutely love, what would that look like?

4. What are the top ten most popular fonts that you use and why do you use them the most? What is your philosophy for typography? 

5. What courses have you taken in the past year and what courses will you be taking in the coming year? Lynda.com? Others?

6. What are the top five videos on on YouTube that you watch once every few months that inspire you the most to help you in your graphic and creative position? Think TED Talks?

7. What are the top 5 books about designing that you read in the past 3 years? What is on your must read and must reread list for the coming list for books that relate to being a better designer?

8. Who do you consider a mentor to you that you WILL call on each month to discuss your challenges and ask for assistance from? Someone that is where you want to be?

9. What are the 3 online forums that you participate in where designers share their work and get feedback, where you share your work and get feedback to improve you game?

10. What do you love about yourself as a designer and what you most want to fix? What is your plan for fixing those things in the coming year? 

If you take some time over the new few weekends to think about these 10 questions and answer any or all of them, you will take your skills, talents and abilities to a whole new level. 

Thank you for being amazing, 

Remember these three things for anything you actually want to get done with consistency.

1. What gets scheduled gets done. Put it in your calendar.
2. For a project, set a "by when" you will get done, get an accountability partner to ask you if you got it done, add to your calendar.
3. Be proud of what you accomplished by sharing your strategies and the way you met your goals with your peers. They will be inspired and you will be motivated to get more of them done! If you really care, you learn how important it is to share.

Happy New Year!

-- 

Joe Apfelbaum, CEO of Ajax Union

B2B Digital Marketing Agency based in Brooklyn, NY.

Website: https://www.ajaxunion.com

PS: If you found this article useful, send it to every creative graphic designer you know or just share it with your network.