An open letter to design students
Suggestions on talking about you and your work.
I was recently invited to attend Portfolio Night for design students at a local college. There were about 24 designers presenting their work on laptops, tablets and printed materials at tables set up like a trade show. The affair was informal — guests wandered through talking with students about their illustration, graphic design, web and mobile projects. The room was abuzz with energized conversations and activity.
Since there was limited time to meet everyone, here’s a short follow-up to the students that I met and those that I did not get a chance to speak with.
Dear Design Students,
Thank you for sharing your work and taking the time to speak with me.
In the 5–7 minutes that we had to chat, I had the upper-hand. I learned a lot about you and you gained only a little from me. Ask questions! Be genuinely interested in people and what they do — more than what they think. Always be networking and look to learn something from every conversation. Plus, it will demonstrate your empathy and curiosity — two traits extremely important for a designer.
Loosen up. Everyone you talk to is just another person! 😀
Be confident. But, strike a balance between ego and humility and learn to gauge which way to lean — you never know what will resonate positively with someone you’re speaking with.
Express how hungry you are to learn more. While you may think you are an expert, you will need to learn so much more on the job.
When asked “What’s your favorite part of the design process?”, don’t respond with your favorite tool. Tools and craft are what you use to make things.
If you asked a construction worker what they like about their job, you might hear how they take pride in building houses that will become peoples’ homes — not about their favorite hammer.
It’s actually a tough question that you should answer authentically. 🤔
If you’re still finding your way as a designer, it’s OK to say that you’re still figuring it out. But take the cue to redirect to your best portfolio piece for the conversation and highlight aspects that challenged you, things you learned, bold choices you made or non-obvious influences.
You must learn the language of design process. Design is more than creative inspiration, craft and final “art”. It’s more why than how. Ability to convey your understanding and practice of this is what you are learning by creating case studies of your work. This is what will get you hired.
Even the most stellar portfolio is just a conversation starter. Build up a bank of memorable anecdotes to draw upon that are unique to you. Don’t waste precious time explaining that a particular project was done in Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign or Sketch. It doesn’t matter.
Use every opportunity to tell the story of you.
What experiences have you had that influence your work? What are you insanely curious about? What do you still want to learn? Ultimately, what do you want to accomplish?
I have it on good authority that these are all things your instructor talks about.
While I did see standout portfolio pieces, here is WHO I remember the most:
- The storyboarder who will instinctually get customer journeys because he understands storytelling
- The tattoo artist aspiring to expand his work into new mediums
- The creative whose dream job is to work for Nike due to his passion for “urban lifestyle”
- The designer who humbly shared that he has been a youth counselor and talked genuinely about doing work that helps people
- The hustler who hits up his photographer friend for photos to use in his graphic projects
Notice the pattern? each memorable thing is more about the person, not a specific project.
I’d love to hear more of your stories, just reach out.
And welcome to the design community.
Sincerely,
Kevin Flores
