The Nonsensical Sense — Becoming a Designer

Before I started graduate school to be a UX designer, I opened up an account on Wix. I made a website and thought, “Hey, this is easy,” and was absurdly proud.

I didn’t know anything about typography, overlay, Photoshop, Illustrator, or code.

Then, I learned about typography,

Then, I learned how to use Illustrator and Photoshop, and I went way too overboard with the tools.

Nothing had a purpose expect make shit look cool. Making cool shit meant more often than not, my copy didn’t match the image. It was like I was pairing a white wine with skirt steak because they both tasted nice but paired together, they didn’t make sense. I was on a path to fail. I would have said to a client: “Hey this didn’t have anything to do with your brand or brand identity but it looks cool,” and I would not have a job after that meeting. I’m so glad my mentors chewed me out for it.

And after getting chewed out enough, I learned how to implement my ideas purposefully. I no longer arbitrarily grabbed a tool from my toolbox because it was available, I grabbed it to serve a purpose for a specific project.

After that, I learned about these magical things called Sketch Resources and symbols and my work flow went from

This great gift came with great responsibilities. I have to continue to iterate on every design because three months and taking feedback make an enormous difference.

But for now, I will remain an evolving designer in a great design school.

Now, here’s a video of a t-rex doing ballet.