Designer and Enduring Brand Qualities
This month I’m focusing on a slightly different topic than what I typically write about. The idea for this article came from the fact that I’m on Linkedin’s Career Advice product, but also because I get asked quite frequently that same topic on interviews or from young professionals coming into the design arena: what are the qualities that Designers should exhibit to build a successful career in the Design world. I’ve written before about the traits of Designers in the article “How to start a career in Design, Portfolios and Interviewing”. However, and for the sake of this article, I’m going to use as a reference, a great article written by Thomas Walker for The Fast Company, that has the title “5 Key Insights from the World’s Most Enduring Brands”. The article is a great read, and I recommend it wholeheartedly, however the main analogy I want to draw from that article is in essence this: a strategic Designer, knows that what he is building throughout his career, is in essence his own brand. The hopes are always that there is longevity to what is being created (another principle of design, “Long Lasting”). That article summarizes qualities that have revealed themselves to be crucial for the success of long lasting brands, and that can easily be transposed to the career and path of a Designer, though I’ll be sure to add a few more to further contextualize the profession itself.
Key Qualities
Self Awareness — One very important trait about brands, and designers, is of course the capacity to be self aware. Every designer should thrive to create a distinct point of view, one that is shaped by education, experience, continuous learning, humbleness, team collaboration, reading voraciously, being inquisitive, all good qualities in a much lengthier list, that ultimately help the professional understand one thing: know who you are, what your role is, and do so with confidence. Being self aware, also means be secure in who you are, but also reach out to those who surround you. A designer is never an island, and particularly now, the designer is a hub that connects multiple points of view, to build a coherent thread.
Principled — The dictionary defines “Principle” as “a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning”. The more solid brands have clearly defined philosophies and cultures, where their associates are valued, treasured, and where teams work in unison with the purpose to further their careers, but also first and foremost, to push the brand and products they’re building forward. A strategic designer should be principled, in the sense of nurturing his career through his interpersonal skills, but also by exhibiting traits that highlight such values as humbleness, respect, honesty, integrity, dignity, service. These are traits that, as many articles have alluded to, are the basis of product design: Designers are helping create products for users and consumers. These products are an extension of the principles one lives by. Now that the topic of Ethics in Design is so vastly discussed, it’s important for designers to remember their principles, and what they live by.
Deliberate — This quality is tied with strategy, longevity and honing on a path. Designers should, as part of their path, keep learning new skills, educating themselves (well, in all fairness, these are traits that should really apply to any professional in the active life), and be aware of trends, both of aesthetic and technology, tools, behaviors, statistics, economic, political and legal evolutions. Being deliberate means continuously paying attention, honing your skills, understand what surrounds you. This is a formula one race, where one has to be very deliberately planning out on how the race is going to play out, preparing for the unexpected, but continuously improving by learning from previous experiences, including failures and successes.
Adaptive — If the impact of Design Thinking has taught designers and organizations something, is how crucial it is to learn from the voice of the users and consumers. For designers, being able to be adaptive, is and always has been, a staple quality. It’s crucial to continuously evolve, as the demands change, as technology alters continuously, and as the thirst for innovation and for the next great product or feature is always around the corner. Being adaptive means above all, being able to incorporate the lessons we learn from previous experiences, from different teams and partners, and how that all impacts how our processes are devised, built and implemented. Having the capacity to be adaptive and flexible is crucial. Designers are after all, the facilitators for discussions, they are simultaneously a team player and at times an orchestra conductor.
Focused — Much like any design project or product released into market, there are KPIs that measure the success (or failure) of that initiative. For designers it’s equally important to understand where they want to be. The Design discipline is quite diverse, filled with different challenges. Having the focus to understand where one wants to be and what path to take is at times challenging. With time, exposure to projects and different teams, and hopefully with enough collaboration with (and from) other professionals, a Designer starts understanding where they see their career marching towards. Either being in research, interaction, visual, information architecture, or any other discipline, it’s important that Designers focus and become demonstrable experts on what they choose to pursue. It’s crucial that there’s substance and focus to what Designers articulate. The antithesis of this are basically hollow statements, that merely showcase jargon awareness, trend references and superficial remarks.
Inquisitive — This is an additional quality that I’ve alluded to before, but that should be added to this list. For designers in particular, this quality is of core importance. An inquisitive spirit prompts the Design professional to continuously want to learn, across all the layers of that shape our professional careers. I specifically refer to being inquisitive on aspects such as users and consumers, organizations and their culture, team dynamics, peer paths, trajectories and insights, design trends, tools, technology evolution, socio-economical alterations, ecology, politics, everything that makes life ultimately worth living and absorbing. Designers help create solutions that are sent into the world, that shape behaviors, generate reactions, transform lives. It’s important that we’re curious, that we ask the questions, that we procure understanding from our peers, from our potential clients and users, in a continuous attempt to provide better solutions, but also and by extension, become a better version of ourselves.
Are Designers a Renaissance Man/Woman — A Renaissance man/woman is defined by “a person with many talents or areas of knowledge”. A Designer doesn’t need to be a Renaissance Man or Woman to be successful in his/hers endeavors. The goal is not to accumulate skills as if one is playing a game to showcase badges or an accumulation of rewards. The goal is first and foremost, to build a sustainable career, one where there’s a continuous momentum, where designers feel participant, connected, collaborative, included and ultimately part of the genesis of something that is relevant and hopefully indelible for a group of users/consumers. Having the foresight to keep in mind these qualities, hopefully comes as reminder that as we build our careers, we are shaping the brand of who we are and want to be, both as designers, but ultimately as individuals.
I’ll summarize this article with a quote from Confucius:
“He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.”
The key insights listed above, hopefully make for a good discussion, and help perspective what designers should look for and focus on as they build their career, and go about making their choices as they present themselves. Hopefully as careers and professionals evolve, these are traits and qualities that become instantly transparent and recognizable.
