I love surfing through Behance and Dribbble to look at different designs, they’re a great source of inspiration and at other times they’re just amazing to look at (Especially if the designer is one who also shows their; I always find this more amazing than the actual finished product many times). I also follow quite a few people on Facebook just to see what they’re creating and whipping up. Among these sites, I notice that quite a few number of designers when asked what inspired them to do X they rebuttal with they “because it looks cool”.

I won’t sit here and say I know all there is to know about design and the design process (on the contrary I firmly consider myself a budding designer who will make tons of mistakes in the pursuit of amazing design). But if I may, I’d like to inject something my creative writing instructor taught me that has stuck with me since then and I believe is appicable to the design world as well. She simply stated to me that you should never design something because it’s cool, everything you write about a character should have its own story. As an example if that character has a scar then there should be a reason why and how that character got that scar, even if you don’t even go into detail about that scar.

I believe the same principle applies to Graphic Design and design in general. Everything you create should serve a purpose and have a reason for being in the design. I believe this is especially important for freelance designers who are trying to educate their client on why they did what they did. There should be a reasoning behind every design decision you made and you should be able to readily recall and recite that decision (or story if you will) to your client. This helps educate the client and builds trust that you are making design decisions that will better them as a company and brand.

Every facet of your design should serve a purpose, don’t design because it’s cool.