The untold story of Design Buddies
The initiative has facilitated my growth as a junior designer and made me feel more alive.
When the idea spark
As I worked on transitioning my career in 2021, I experimented with different learning strategies and identified exciting opportunities for growth in the design field. These are my two main observations:
1. Junior Perspective
Finding a mentor is tricky because there is no suitable platform, and mentees may feel intimidated or unsure of how to approach potential mentors.
2. Practicioner Perspective
Practitioners struggle to hire talented candidates who meet the high standards for thinking and crafting. A common issue is that new hires may need to gain the required experience or skills.
This observation leads me to fill the gap that allows me to simultaneously improve myself and contribute to the community.
Finding the purpose
One night, I took some time to think about how I could contribute to the community. As I brainstormed ways to “learn by sharing,” a particular hadith kept popping into my mind and speaking to my heart.
“The best of people are those who are most beneficial to people.”
Prophet Muhammad S.A.W
I have found my purpose and the core principles supporting my initiative. However, while I have the intangible elements in place, I need to address the tangible aspects, which I plan to do through a series of one-on-one sessions with my classmates.
I had my baby steps
Before taking action, I had to remind myself that my goal was to “help people, for free, without anything in return and just do it.” With this in mind, I initiated a series of one-on-one sessions with a few classmates at Purwadhika Bootcamp to discuss daily tasks and the final project. To my surprise, this is what they said:
“It was a pleasure to know Gilang at Purwadhika Digital Technology School. He was so well thought than any other students I know, even other students in class called him a “mentor” because he has excellent knowledge about mostly anything that have been discussed in class.”
“A real collaborative team leader, Gilang initiated various online meetups with other classmates to start discussions, exchange opinions, and share ideas. There were meetups where we complained about school too, but Gilang’s motivation and positive attitude is rather contagious — thus he became an inspiration for the class.”
The supportive comments from my classmates gave me the confidence to keep going with this initiative. However, as we have graduated and moved on, it is time to bring this initiative to the public.
Facing my old enemy, me
Coping with uncertainty can bring about many adverse reactions to me, including anxiety, overthinking, and a lack of confidence. However, during reflection, a few questions popped up, such as:
- Do I have the skills and ability to complete this task?
- Will I fulfil the expectations of others for this task?
- How can I approach this task as a junior in the field?
- Have other juniors in this industry been successful in taking on similar initiatives?
- Finally, how can I use my knowledge to assist others in this new industry?
I turned to Tobie, my design lead at Wunderman Thompson, to help me answer the question. Tobie only asked me one question in return, which enabled me to come up with the answers to all the other questions.
“What kind of mentor do you want to be? The person who facilitates someone's thinking, connecting the dots and filling the gap they have or someone more technical and teaches about design crafting stuff?”
Tobie’s question helped me identify the most critical factor that underlies thinking for this initiative:
Determine your strengths, assess your skills, and set expectations for your deliverables.
I excel at having casual conversations with people and linking their ideas, enabling me to solve problems regularly. However, due to my limited knowledge of practical design applications, I prefer to target my sessions at fresh graduates, career-changers, or junior designers in similar circumstances.
The rest is history
I continued my initiative with the name Design Buddies, which signifies my desire to be a supportive early-designer friend and buddy in their self-improvement process.
I want to convey the underlying meaning of breaking down the “intimidation wall” so that people with diverse backgrounds and levels of knowledge can have casual conversations and equal opportunities to learn and develop.
That is my first 6-month journey running this initiative. I compiled it on my Twitter Thread to close 2021.
I had yet to learn that this initiative would be as successful as it has been, and now, after 1.5 years, it will end. Fortunately, I can take the initiative in a new direction and continue it under a different banner.
What’s next?
I have been accepted into a mentor role in the ADPList Platform!! This is an excellent milestone to bring more impact to a broader audience and give you guys an ideal platform to keep in touch with me more appropriately.
You can start to book my calendar from January week two at https://adplist.org/mentors/gilang-maulana-iwanusa. (While you guys visit my profile, please leave a review about me. If you want to) hehehe.
Fin.
Your contributions and trust have been invaluable on this beautiful journey. I also want to express my gratitude for your bravery in facing fear or intimidation to grow and better yourself.
See you when I see you.
Your friend,
Gilang