Post-Grad Pointers for Young Designers
Statistics say that the average career-span for a Graphic Designer is five years. After seeing many of my peers with art degrees abandon their creative careers early on, it makes me wonder — is it the career, or is it something else? In my first few years as a Graphic Designer, I’ve found that it really takes a certain kind of person to succeed in the industry — a person with passion, perseverance and endless creativity. I’ve also learned (the hard way) what doesn’t work. Here, I’ve compiled some of my favorite lessons learned as a young designer, in hopes to make getting started in Graphic Design a bit less of a whirlwind and more of a breeze.
1. Develop a Process
Creatively and otherwise. Cultivating a routine for your day and your workflow will set you up for success. If you don’t have one, you should try to create one…and change it along the way too. Explore the creative process of designers, directors, and business leaders you admire. Make a daily schedule for yourself so you stay on track and establish healthy lifestyle habits. I find the best inspiration in order and structure, and a well-designed routine gives me room to explore and solve creative problems.
2. Fail More
Give yourself permission to fail. You don’t have to know everything and it’s okay. Try and fail, and you’ll improve along the way. Be a question asker — you didn’t learn everything in school. Wherever you’re at, look for a mentor more experienced than you and learn from them. You’re bound to go through a phase where you’re a little burnt out and can’t design anything good to save your life. Keep creating and keep falling down, but always get back up — you’re developing grit! During my first post-grad design job I almost abandoned Pantone swatches and Photoshop to become a flight attendant. Create through the obstacles (and your 20s life freakout moment)…you go glen coco!
3. Check Yo’self Before You Wreck Yourself
In the business of design, the margin for error is pretty slim. You think you caught all the client’s edits, but there’s always a color, sentence or widow lurking…and creative minds work overtime processing details so things can be easily missed. Critique and proofing is invaluable and helps you grow too — learn how to accept both graciously. Ask a coworker to look things over. Three is a magic number — proof your work once before saving, a second time when exporting, and a third time when attaching it to send/post. And for the time(s) you do miss something, be kind to yourself and take three deep breaths!
4. Rise & Grind
In third grade I learned the phrase “early to bed, early to rise makes a (wo)man healthy, wealthy and wise”. Truthfully, my night owl self finds it difficult to go to bed early, but I’ve learned the importance of a good night’s sleep (a later start at Moncur helps too!). As creatives, it’s common to do our best work after the sun goes down, but you will pay for it if you don’t get adequate rest. Your mental health is closely linked to your sleep habits and good ones set you up for success — work on getting that recommended 8 hours.
5. Let Design Lead the Way
So you graduated and you’re not a Creative Director…shocker! It may be disjointing when you graduate and land your first job only to find yourself back at the “bottom”. Titles mean something, but not everything…and you can still lead without a fancy one. Ideas move people, especially when they are creative. In your time as a young designer, use your time wisely to explore and learn all that you can. This is a great time to develop your soft skills and gain experience through repetition. Focus on being a team player instead of team captain. Try new things, look for ways to consistently generate solutions that will help your team, impact your peers, and contribute to the business of design. Keep up the hustle and people will want to keep up with you!
6. Be a Reader Rabbit & Patron of the Arts
Subscribe to your favorite design magazines, blogs and podcasts. To be an effective designer, being aware of the industry, and contributing to it will help you go far. My favorite escape is poring over fashion and design books at Barnes & Noble and exploring design movements throughout history. Currently, I’m reading Creative Strategy & the Business of Design. Inspiration is all around, get beyond your computer screen, initiate your senses and explore. Be a patron of the arts, whether it’s volunteering at your regional art museum or getting involved in professional groups such as AIGA. Concerts, special exhibitions, films, and talks give you something to look forward to and gain inspo — a lot of them are free too! Psst, fellow Detroiters — check out the Ray & Charles Eames exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum this summer!
7. Design Responsibly
With good design, comes great responsibility. It’s important to see it as your ethical duty to create things that will enhance the world around you. Collaborate with others when a design challenge is outside your scope of expertise, poke holes in it and test it to make sure the solution is sound before it is released in the wild. Design — of all kinds — plays an important role in society, and the message you send should too.
8. Be a People Person
Good design employs empathy. People are fascinating…especially those who are different from you. Talk to them! Intentional questions are a great way to learn, do research and test if your hypotheses about things are accurate. I’ve found this not only enhances my design work, but my network as well. Perspective is invaluable in research — think how others think to do what you do (design) effectively. Fun example: This fall, on a flight I sat next to a lady and asked how her day was going. It turns out, she was a notable Creative Director in my area and we talked the entire flight about the industry and her experience (I’m glad I had my elevator speech handy too!).
9. Ideas Should Move
Be a thinker and a doer. Research, brainstorm and constantly create. The ideation phase is vital to any good concept, but don’t get stuck there. Sometimes you just need to start. Concepting and throwing stuff together often leads to solutions. My favorite thing to do when I am stuck or have a million ideas is throw on a good playlist and sketch out the first thing that pops into my head — even if it is bad. Design is a process and through the rigorous play of ideas you will create something that sticks.
10. Drum to Your Own Beat
Be unapologetically you. Your 20s are a great time to explore and develop stylistically, career-wise and otherwise. Always look to learn from others, don’t trip on your own pride, and stay true to yourself. Set goals and identify the steps you need to take to achieve them. Work hard, stay humble and you’ll go far!
Your career is a big portion of your life, and arguably more so if you are creative. Stay passionate, work hard, remember why you started and keep it up!
Moncur is a branding + digital agency. Leveraging our specialized expertise in strategic messaging, branding, advanced technology website development, and integrated digital marketing, we help large B2B companies brand, market, and sell what they do online. Learn more at www.thinkmoncur.com.
