A month in nudenotes: Dec 2018
A monthly round-up of Dean O’Callaghan’s #nudenotes
Over at Night Sky Creative, I post a weekly roundup of all things nudenotes.
If you’re wondering what the nudenotes are, get your eyes on this article:
In this series of Medium articles, I compile a selection of all things nudenotes for that month, alongside my insights and some key takeaways.
Every Monday on my Instagram feed, I start the week by sharing some sketchquotes, to help us get over that bad case of the Mondays:
My Favourite quote from this month was:
“Your value does not decrease based on someone’s inability to see your worth”
As a designer, it’s super important to understand value in its many forms — especially your own value and how you can use it to help others.
For more on value in design check out my other article:
10 Ways To Be Sensationally Successful At Your Job
Inspired by Dharmesh Shah article of the same name which you can check out here.
I try to do as many of these as I can, at times it can be a struggle.
As Dharmesh says in his article, “It can seem like an endless Groundhog Day experience”, but I remember that in the end, it will all be worth it…
Just trust the process.
Key takeaway: Trust the Process.
This is my creative mantra!
I believe every task is much easier if you follow a process of thought, especially in design.
No project is too big intimidating if you have a solid process to follow and truly believe in it.
The Five Practices & The Ten Commandments of Exemplary Leadership
From the book The Leadership Challenge by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner, which I discovered through an article from Thought Leadership.
I love learning about leadership — I find the whole topic fascinating.
Since making these nudenotes, I’ve tried where ever possible to weave these into my daily work as a designer.
It is amazing how much leadership skills are needed to navigate even the smallest of design projects.
Leadership skills are like building muscles — you need to be constantly and consistently training to keep them in good working condition.
Expect to see more leadership nudenotes in the future.
Key takeaway: Be inclusive, improve always, raise others and live passionately…
Not sure I can say it any better than that, really!
What is More Valuable, Questions or Answers?
Inspired by The Futur’s Youtube Video
I managed to escape the festive preparations for an hour on a rainy Saturday morning to level-up with more content from Chris Do (The Futur).
This technique empowers you to respond to any questions your clients may have, by asking questions until the solution or problem becomes clear.
It’s value-adding magic and will turn you into a real problem-solving wizard.
Key takeaway: Always get clarity!
Chris Do hits the mark again with a super insightful piece of wisdom.
Clarity is the secret ingredient in a smooth design process.
It empowers you to be focused, efficient and, more importantly, effective in your design solutions.
Never stop asking questions — never stop searching for clarity in work.
8 Tips to Improve Your Listening Skills
Inspired by a Pinterest post
Listening is a massively underrated skill in the business of design.
Everyone has the best intentions, but actively listening and being present in the conversation is a tricky skill to master.
These eight tips should act as a guide to point us all in the right direction.
Key takeaway: Listen to understand, not to just reply.
As Simon Sinek says: “Hearing is listening to what is being said. Listening is hearing what isn’t said”
In the design process, it is essential to listen to feedback, interpret and take action on it.
That was a month in nudenotes — stay tuned for more articles like this in the future.
Feel free to DM me on Instagram or post a response with any new topics you’d like me to create nudenotes for, and look into.
Until next time… In case I don’t see you, good afternoon, good morning and good night.
Can’t wait until next time?
Then head over to Instagram and follow me @deanoj312.
Or head over to nightskycreative.org for weekly updates on everything in the world of nudenotes!
