20 Years in design: notes for those starting out

Brief advice for surviving and thriving

I’ve been designing professionally now for — ahem — quite a while. OK, two decades, to be specific. And while, for some, that fact might feel like old age creeping in, I’m of a different school of thought. Over the course of these years I’ve had the opportunity to design interiors, packaging, environmental graphics, services, and software. While tricky at the time to navigate, the twists of that career have given me a breadth of perspective that I can only now look back and appreciate. So for those just beginning the path, or looking to study it, I’d like to offer this brief selection of nuggets that I have found incredibly useful in dealing with challenges along the way.

#1 About aesthetics….

Aesthetics change perhaps once a year in certain industries, for certain age groups, and once a day for others. But the thing is, people themselves change at an infinitely slower pace. It’s a bit of a sacrilege to assert this in the tech community, but it is important to remember that, at the most fundamental level, people’s needs remain the same, and most needs are emotional at the root. So whether you’re designing a new chair, a new app, or a new VR experience, recognize that universal principles like comfort, visual affordances, and ergonomics will likely underline your design decisions for all three. The differences are only superficial in the way that these concepts are applied to by designers to the myriad of different products we buy and use daily.

Why is this important? As a designer, young or old, the skill rapidly becoming the most important in today’s economy is adaptability. With each passing year, and with every technological advance, the ability to quickly master new skills becomes more valuable. To put it another way: Photoshop, Sketch, Figma, Rhino… none of them are what makes you a designer. It’s your very human ability to adopt new tools or concepts, and use them to create value for others. The raw materials — whether paper or pixels — change from year to year, while aesthetic styles for what you create with them will change from day to day. Hopefully, the value that you generate for others will not.

#2 Criticism

It’s been said (by people evidently smarter than myself, since it took me years to learn) that great creatives act with more courage than those who remain mediocre. Paradoxically, they seem to care less about what others think of them and ALSO regularly invite others’ critique. (See “It’s not how good you are, it’s how good you want to be” by Paul Rand, for more on this topic.) Of course, as any art school student knows, it’s never too early to begin working on building a thick skin; teachers, professors, and even peers are notoriously critical of each others’ work in high-pressure academic settings. But critique weeks provide more than just the opportunity to learn how to pull up your “big boy pants” like a professional. They allow you to practice the critical observation of your work that becomes so necessary later on: If, indeed, your professional contributions hinge on your ability to create things of value for other people, it’s going to be nearly impossible to do that unless you get in the habit of soliciting their honest opinions about your work. It also takes years of practice to fully understand that the most valuable thing about criticism is, in fact, what it reveals about the person giving the critique — and how you can use that information to improve. For best results, start now.

Naturally, with the advice to welcome criticism, also comes the advice to welcome failure. Building this resilience isn’t easy; lots of designers and other professionals simply give it lip service. But beware: without the true ability to sustain the pain of failure, it will always be difficult for you to move on to your next success.

#3 Self-care for creativity

This third piece of wisdom, seemingly a bit of woo-woo fluff, is just as important as the first two in today’s professional climate. The last few decades have seen the growth of both the in-house design movement and the gig economy, in tandem, of course, with macroeconomic trends of wage stagnation, increased costs of living, and job instability. So, who values your creativity today? If have an enlightened team or boss, who will advocate for your creative development, consider yourself very, very lucky. Most people you encounter in your career will only be interested in what you can offer them now — but fostering creative health is a long term game. Will you be able to offer up value, if year after year, you keep churning out work at increasing speed? No. Your contribution doesn’t increase simply but “putting in the time”. Instead it requires an ongoing investment, a “staying in shape” if you will, which bears a lot of resemblance to actually staying in shape. Including, but not limited to:

• Regularly challenging yourself to your limit
• Changing things up often, to chase away boredom
• Learning new fun things regularly
• Hanging out with other motivated peers who provide encouragement
• And practice, practice, practice to gain mastery

Furthermore, in today’s work culture, it is shockingly easy to burn out before you’ve even had a chance to thrive. Constant pressure over deadlines, and unrelenting interruptions via slack, email, or open office noise can set you on a permanent career track toward poor, unfulfilling work. While it’s clear that this benefits neither you nor your employer, in most professional settings you will still need to actively take steps to avoid this trajectory.

So what will you do to make sure you’re in top creative shape? I hope after reading this you’ll consider taking your criticism vitamins regularly, focusing on meeting true human needs, and constantly learning new skills that keep you ahead of the curve. It’s up to us to design the future, so that hopefully what we look back on in 20 years from now won’t just be more technology, but more valuable contributions.