What’s standing between you and the designer you’d like to be a year from now? It’s not a faster computer, larger monitor, orfancy new drawing tablet (as much as we do love them). It’s time and practice.
However, long hours alone won’t suffice if you aim to become the absolute best designer you’re capable of becoming in 2015. To achieve that, you’ll need to work smarter, not harder.
“If you don’t know what type of designer you are, clients won’t know either.”
The first step to becoming a better designer in 2015 is replacing the word “better” with something far more specific. The looser your goals, the more difficulty you’re going to have reaching them, so take the time for some deep reflection before finalizing any design-related resolutions this year.
What were your best designs over the last twelve months? If you can’t answer immediately, take some time to decide. Which earned the most positive feedback? Which received the most views? Next, figure out why these designs were your best—and why your other designs weren’t. Have you always had a gift for color theory? Do you lean too much on one family of fonts? Do you simply enjoy one genre of work more than another?
These answers will bring you to a bigger, more essential question: what type of designer are you? If your goal is to be great at everything, you’re really on track to be good at everything, yet great at nothing.
Becoming the best at something means specializing. That doesn’t mean pigeonholing yourself to one genre or turning away work (yet). But it does mean deciding to focus on the strengths that make you unique—and competitive.
The more specific you can get, the better. Is your focus web design? That’s a start, but still fairly vague. Ask yourself what your ideal clients will look like in 2015. Will they be boutique yoga studios? Or corporate law firms?
If your focus is mainly illustration, are you better matched with the tech company needing digital characters for a sleek new mobile app? Or the indie brewery that needs hand-drawn elements for their craft beer labels?
If you don’t know what type of designer you are, clients won’t know either.
“The day you stop observing is the day you stop designing.”
Once you know what type of designer you are—or what type you wish to become—the next step is coming up with a strategy to get there.
Perhaps the best way to do this is to learn from those who made the same decision last year—or last century. Examine the work of your favorite artists and figure out the reasons it’s so successful. What do you love about it? What don’t you love? How does their art differ from yours? How might they have done projects X and Y differently?
Spend your time observing and reflecting—then acting on these observations and reflections. Does so-and-so artist have better composition than you? Fix that this year. Does web designer Z pay more attention to the user experience? So should you.
The day you stop observing is the day you stop designing.
“Everyone you meet should know what type of designer you are.”
If six months from now (mark your calendars for June), no one has seen the progress you’ve made, you’re missing out—and so are potential clients. The time you put into honing your specialty is intended to make you a better designer—but also a more competitive designer.
If a client is looking for someone to design a book cover, are they going to hire the designer who specializes in this? Or the designer who takes on one book a year?
All the work (and strategy) you’ve put into becoming a better designer should be visible in your portfolio. If you decide to grow as a designer by focusing on ________, make sure people can see the results of this strategy.
Everyone you meet should know what type of designer you are. If you’re not on Twitter or Facebook, now might be the time to change that. If you are on Twitter and Facebook, now might be the time to ensure you’re branding yourself as the focused designer you are. The same goes for your own website and portfolio.
Source: blog.graphicstock.com