I’m coming up on a year of working on the web. I’ve explored a few different areas of web work; blogging, front-end development, programming, and design. After dipping my toes in each pool, I decided to dive completely into the design world — UI and UX particularly pique my interest. I spend a lot of time on the looking at other people’s work. I study their layouts, color palettes, typography choices, etc. and I try to come up with reasons why their designs work or don’t work. There’s tons of talent out there. It seems like everyone is better than me! But I’ve learned to be okay with that for now. I’m new. But even though I’m new, I’ve already learned a valuable lesson on how to ensure I get better at this stuff. Hopefully what I’ve learned will help out another rookie.

Show your work

I’ve learned, maybe literally, a ton during my first year as a designer. But the lesson I’ll keep with me forever is that you cannot be afraid to show your work — even when you know it’s not great. You cannot wait until you think you’re good enough. The longer you wait to show your work, the harder it will be for you to finally do it. I promise that you will always find something wrong or less-than-ideal about something you’ve created. Certainly, even industry leaders and veterans do the same.

Here’s an idea, put your work in front of the snarkiest crowd or online community you know. Develop a thick skin concerning your work. It seems intuitive for a designer-person to be somewhat sensitive about their work. This doesn’t necessarily mean they’re weak or overly emotional. It just means they’re pretty invested in what they do. Evoking emotion is a part of what makes good design. So yeah, the work is inherently more personal. But this sensitivity is a trait that needs to be encouraged, not rebuked. At the same time though, designers should be tough enough to defend their decisions when necessary and humble enough to know when to concede.

You can’t let critics dictate your universe. You’re in the wrong field if a negative critique hurts that bad. But don’t ignore them either. It’s unwise and arrogant to completely write off a reasoned and fair critique.

Try

When you do decide to start showing your work (which should be now), make sure you’re showing work that you actually tried your best on. The primary reason I don’t have much work in my own portfolio is because my first few projects were half-assed efforts. As soon as the projects started, I was only concerned with them being finished so I could post links to them on Twitter and Facebook. The results were awful of course. This is no way to approach creative work. So now, I have 3 projects that my convictions won’t allow to be featured in my current portfolio because I didn’t give them a full effort. What could have been projects to show a potential employer are now dusty Dropbox folders and files that will never see the light of day again.

The lesson here is to NEVER put something out that you slacked on. Be honest with yourself and your intentions. Even if the work isn’t immaculate, at least you can say with confidence that it’s best you’ve got at this particular moment in time. Then you’ll get better, and the better work will replace the inferior work. It’s the “design circle of life” (good grief that’s lame).

No Shame

Don’t ever be ashamed of a body of work that you tried your best on. Conversely, always be ashamed of work that you half-assed. Everyone in this field wants to get better. From the newbies (me) to the veterans, everyone worth their salt knows there’s something they can do better.