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There ain’t no shortcuts, you gotta do the work.

 

James Victore telling the utmost truth. Because you cannot take any shortcuts to being a good designer. The path to being a good designer is to design daily. Design daily even when you do not feel like it. Because living according to how you feel is going to really limit your growth as a professional.

The way of living according to you how you feel will limit your growth is because while you don’t feel like doing something, there is someone else who is doing the work. They are working harder then you and they want it more then you.

Stop making excuses and do the work whether its turning out crappy or not.  Because eventually it will be better over time.

All Hustle No Luck

This should be the mentality you have with whatever it is that you want to do. Whether its finding a Job in the design industry or launching a product. The results may not be turning out how you expected but you cannot give up. Think of all of the time you have invested to get where you are currently.

If many of the well known people in any industry gave up we would not be talking about them. There are a variety of things you could to be keeping track of your process. Really you should be keeping a journal anyhow. The whole aspect of keeping a journal will let you know what is working and not working.

One major thing that helps me keep going is to set goals for the week. Then on sunday I go back and check my goals. The ones that I did meet I check them off. For the ones that I did not meet I make sure that I set them for the coming week and achieve them.

Steps to keep going

  1. Keep a Journal
  2. Set a schedule so you will not waste time
  3. Set weekly/daily goals
  4. Continually strive to improve.

Be Your favorite designer

Being your favorite designer is what you should strive to be. When you have a favorite designer you try to emulate them. In that way you tend to copy their style and various other things. I will be the first to admit that I used to have favorite designers. Instead of saying they are my favorite they are more so people whom I look to for inspiration.

When I look to them for inspiration I learn how they think and approach design. Then I apply those tactics to my own work. More so instead of looking at a piece of work and saying wow that is beautiful I wonder how they did it. I learned that you have to go to the core.

Being your favorite designer takes some time to get used to. Being a copycat is not going to help you win any award or get a freelance gig. Copying someone may last for a while and then it will eventually die out. A good example is when I heard Paula Scher talk about how the typographic poster designs for the public theater was copied and killed by New York it shocked me.

So inclusion do you best to apply what you’ve learned from other designers to your work. Don’t try to original just try to be good. Also believe that the work you do is good. Because whether you feel your work is of top quality or not always strive to continue to improve and be positively influenced.

Learning what not to do from crappy design

Whenever I feel as if I am not progressing like I would I go look at crappy design. You can see plenty of bad design in a subreddit called crappy design. There are many times when I get so frustrated looking at the subreddit. Because if you see any of the work that is posted it will blow your mind how such a thing is out there in the world.

Then you will learn how many people think they will save money by doing it themselves. Not saying its impossible for a business owner to design something themselves. But the main thing is that the quality and skills would be very miniscule. For example you would not try to perform a heart transplant without having the knowledge and skills and or try to build a house without knowing how to lay a foundation, how to read a ruler and etc.

Another good thing about looking at crappy design is learning what not to do. For example if you see a design that is poorly designed you would say to yourself they must have done this in a couple of minutes. Also you may say to yourself I could’ve done this better. Then looking at bad design will allow you to develop a better taste of design.

Developing a better taste is what will help you develop better quality. Style is what the result of having a better taste in design. Just take a look at design agency/studio that has a beautifully designed website that will result in them having a good taste of how their office looks and flow into other parts of their workplace.

Don’t be afraid of rejection

You may be wondering ok what is the point of the picture. We’ll this was some concepts for a client that was rejected. I felt as if why would they reject this. Just look at how beautiful the New York is and how the flourishes are. Yes I know it looks a bit rough saying to myself

Getting rejected can be utmost pain to have happen to someone. Do not look at rejection as a bad thing.  I learned quickly to not get offended. Because if you get offended as a graphic design professional that shows how unprofessional you are.

When in the situation ask what it is that you could’ve done better/different to meet the expectations of the project. All of designing is a learning experience to constantly improve and get better. Making mistakes and getting rejected is the only way you’ll get somewhere.

But don’t be a fool to keep working for a client who rejects your work and is in control of the process. What I mean is they should be letting you do your part. You’ll save yourself a headache, energy and time wasted dealing with worthless and unappreciative people. Remember that if you are not failing your not getting anywhere.

Why I enjoy calligraphy so much

My first calligraphy piece I posted to instagram ^

My latest piece I posted ^

If you look at the first picture you can clearly see the progression that is made. One I have gain a better control over my letters. Also various other parts of the process. I have also slowed down when I do a project. Calligraphy has helped me slow down a tack things even more seriously.

Calligraphy is a skill that can get frustrating. By frustrating you can sit and wonder why are my letters not how they should be. Why is the ink not flowing well, why is the nib dry and etc etc. Knowing that if you rush through a letter you will not be able to produce a good quality piece.

Flourishes are something that comes naturally. At first my flourishes were horrible and they are a bit better now. But they can improve even more. Flourishes are as if they are dancing on your page.Flourishes have helped me in my design process even more to always have a place for something.

Calligraphy is a great skill/hobby if you have the patience for it. I personally chose calligraphy because everyone else is mostly doing hand lettering. But not to say there’s not many calligraphers I just prefer calligraphy over lettering.

Embrace your crazy ideas

We all have ideas that can seem a bit far fetched and out there. Which therefore may seem useless to act upon. Because we immediately think oh that will be too much work and or it would not work. A good thing that I learned from skateboarding is a quote that I used to write on my griptape “Risk It”.

While risking it may seem as if a fairytale thing to do.  Do it any ways and then you can be happy that you did not settle for less like everyone else does. You have the capability of designing a product that people will want and or creating that website you’ve been sketching and have yet to start wireframing in photoshop or whatever the project/idea may be act on it.

Embrace your crazy ideas and let them drive you. Let them drive you to dream and fulfill your creative spirit’s desire. You only get one shot at life so make it count and the same goes for presenting work to a client/group.