My_Design_Journey_v2_Final.sketch: How an unexpected car ride jumpstarted my career as a designer.
A breakdown on my design journey and a guide for those who are interested in starting a career as a designer with 0 experience.
Prologue
I’m sure everyone is familiar with the saying “do what you love and you will never have to work a day in your life”. I’m also sure everyone is familiar with how people seldom practice what they preach.
So sit back, relax and listen to a story about how I went from Excel Sheets and Powerpoints to Sketch Artboards and Invision Prototypes. 🙃
September 2, 2017
I had just completed a summer internship and (like everyone who didn’t get a return offer), blasted job applications and coffee chats in an effort to land some interviews.
For some context, I had a basic understanding of what UI and UX was from my internship, but was geared towards landing a traditional “business job” before I graduated.
Sept 2, 2017 — December 28, 2017
“ Dear Mackenzie,
Thank you for your application. After careful consideration, we regret to inform you we will be moving forward other candidates who more closely match the requirements of the position.”
“Dear Mackenzie,
Thank you for your application. After careful consideration, we regret to inform you we will be mov-”
“Dear Mackenzie,
Thank you for your application. After careful consideration, we reg-”
Again and again and again.
We’ve all been there, hours of coffee chats, interview prep and crafting job apps in an attempt to land a full-time job, only to receive a rejection e-mail weeks later. (and in most cases, no response at all)
I did end up getting a couple interviews and final rounds, but at the end of each interview, I always asked myself “do I really want this job in the first place?”
January 12, 2018
I still remember this day quite vividly. I was in the living room with my mom and brother, casually chatting about my future after graduation. It’s hard to tell your family that even after spending thousands on school, that you weren’t sure what you would do. However, it was at this time that my brother told me that I should consider design as a career.
Design? That’s a random trajectory.
I’ve always played around with Adobe Photoshop, but it wasn’t used for anything serious. I still remember only taking COMPSCI 1033 to improve my meme-making abilities.
But when you have exhausted all your options, there’s nothing to lose.
Act 1: Growing Pains
“Okay, so I guess designers just make really pretty UI’s and put them in a portfolio. Once I do that, I’m sure recruiters will find me”
… haha.
I will admit, this probably wasn’t the best approach, but in hindsight, it made me realise this:
Failures are just plants of success, waiting to blossom.
I’m so glad I kept a lot of my old work and sketches from when I started instead of deleting them due to embaressment.
Although I was still no where close to creating a portfolio nor finding a job with design, I was having such a great time with creating these mockups. Unlike other job preparation work, I was in a state of Flow.
State of Flow: also known colloquially as being in the zone, is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity.
I was getting more confident with my design abilities and wanted to see if anyone would hire me to do design work.
LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, Hitmarker Jobs, Glassdoor.
After constantly checking and exhausting these avenues, there was still no bite.
Opportunities can come from any avenue
I browsed reddit for a bit and unexpectly found an opporunity … sort of.
Act 2: Internships
March 3, 2018 — June 3, 2018
High school esports? I mean it said “get involved” so I figured why not.
After sending an intro email, I received this response:
Over the next couple of months, I was brought on to Youth Esports of America to redesign their website. Through this process, I learned a couple things that you would not learn doing concept projects that I would like to emphasize:
- Managing expectations from various stakeholders
- Working within constraints (financial or technical)
- Playing well with others
I just want to preface that concept projects are still a great way to showcase your design capability, but it does have its weaknesses. And as always, if it’s a redesign of a company that you DON’T work for, explicitly state this.
After my term with YEA was over, I was back on the hunt for another job. Although I learned alot from this experience, one thing I was searching for was working with a dedicated design team.
LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, Hitmarker Jobs, Glassdoor.
After constantly checking and exhausting these avenues, no results.
Opportunities can come from any avenue
One thing I found myself quite good at was embracing failure. As a joke, I started to compile all my rejection emails into a folder called “rekt”, just to see how many I would accumulate.
I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.
— Michael Jordan
July 19, 2018
After sending out waves of job applications, a Toronto-based blockchain company called Bitcoin Bay actually replied!
After chatting with the Design Lead, completing the Design Challenge and going through a series of interviews with the team, I was able to land a design gig at Bitcoin Bay and more importantly, work with a dedicated design team on live projects.
August 8 — November 8 2018
User Flows, User Research, Wireframing, Persona Mapping, User Testing, Mockup creation, Hi-Fidelity, Prototyping.
Although these were all done at Bitcoin Bay (and I learned alot from doing so), I found having a manager/mentor really helpful in growing as a designer. The ability to point out mistakes and look over the shoulder of a designer, pixel by pixel on figma or sketch is invaluable.
During my time at Bitcoin Bay, I was able to:
- Build out a blockchain educational platform from start to finish
- Design an advertising campaign for Bitcoin Bay’s semi-annual blockchain hackathon
- Work with a group of intelligent and creative individuals from all walks of life
“Okay, I’ve finally built up a portfolio and improved on my design skillset. There’s no way an employer will deny my application.”
… If only it worked that way.
I think today’s youth is too fixated on the idea of “receiving a job simply because you finished school”. This concept is both untrue and (more importantly) a sense of entitlement.
Just because you did “X” “Y” and “Z” from the medium article that you read, it doesn’t mean you will land a design gig immediately. (The same premise goes for this article)
When I asked my friends how they landed their jobs, they were able to roughly highlight the steps they took, but in no way could they ever say one specific step directly correlated to their job offer.
However, the common thread between all of these conversations was this:
“Honestly, I think I was just really lucky.”
People don’t like to hear that luck attributed to their success. Does one work hard to create luck? Or is it really something given by building good karma? The randomness of luck just doesn’t sit well with people. (especially if they are not lucky)
Throughout your journey, you will always have thoughts of giving up. For those who are reading this and are currently in a similar situation, I found this helpful:
It’s really important to celebrate the smaller victories along the journey. As important as it is to look forward and climb new heights, never forget to look back and see your progress. It will reignite the desire that made you start in the first place.
Act 3: The Car Ride
November 12, 2018
The way the final round was set up, it gave designers a chance to collaborate with other interviewees. I just happened to sit next to another designer that was browsing their Facebook at the time before this event happened:
*I casually glance at designer’s laptop
“ Oh hey, how do you know ___?”
“We went to the same school together.”
“No way, that person’s a very close family friend!”
“Damn, what a small world. So do you know___?”
“Yeah! he’s actually my brothers friend!”
After the interviews, we all made our way to the lobby. Since the company wasn’t very accessable by bus, I decided to drive. As I clutched my keys and went for the doors, I noticed the designer that I previously talked to calling an uber home.
“Taking an uber eh?”
“Yeah, the signals terrible here though 😞”
“.. where do you live?”
“I live at __ and __.”
“Oh, thats nearby my house.”
“Oh cool.”
“Cool.”
…
“Do you… need a ride?”
I was the guy in highschool who rushed for his licence at 16 and as a result of this, I was always the designated driver and would often offer rides for my friends. Maybe it was because the office was near my highschool and my instincts kicked in, or maybe I just wanted to talk to another designer. All I know is I offered the designer a ride without even thinking twice.
And I’m so glad I did.
In the car ride, we shared our backgrounds and how we both got into design. (fun fact, both of us didn’t go to design school) I also found out our worlds were even smaller than ever and before I knew it, he told me about his design studio that he started with his collegue called TomYum Design.
Opportunities can come from any avenue
Finale: TomYum Design
Throughout the next month, I began having multiple conversations with the TomYum team and eventually, the co-founders told me that they wanted to bring me on as a full-time designer. When I asked why they chose me, the team said that they were not only impressed by my work, but were very curious to see how someone would tackle design problems with a business background.
“B-B-But I didn’t study design in school. How can I be a designer?” It is true that you may not have the core design fundamentals in your arsenal, but often times, designers are just another breed of problem solvers. In fact, coming from a different background gives you a unique perspective that other designers don’t see.
Formal education can create problem solvers but that doesn’t mean that problem solvers are created through formal education.
After helping TomYum with a few projects, I managed to find myself staffed at RBC Ventures as Product Designer on a short contract (1 month to be specific). Usually, when a company puts you on a short contract, they aren’t looking at you as a long-term designer, which was daunting because I really wanted to work there full-time.
So I put in extra hours and took it upon myself to contribute more for the team in an attempt to impress my employer. This effort did not go in vain as it led to another extension in my contract and eventually (after hashing out the details with the TomYum team) a full-time offer as a Product Designer at RBC Ventures.
Present
“Ahh, the coveted stamp of approval. That a company is willing to pay for the work that I produce. This feels… nice.”
I know that isn’t all there is to design, but for many designers (and young professionals), this really is a huge milestone in your career.
Multi-million dollar ventures, products that reach millions of users and a plethora of resources to pull from. Quite a change in environment from just a year ago.
Since then, I had the privilage to work on fascinating projects within various industries with an amazing group of designers, developers and strategiests. Being able to give valuable insights from my prior experiences but also watch how other talented individuals tackle problems was amazing.
And then it hit me…
It’s probably just a little over a year since I started my journey into design. And it was at that time that I knew absolutely nothing about design.
The most satisfying moment was the realization that I took a goal, developed an obsession towards the goal and (through repetition and a bit of luck) managed to actually achieve it.
Closing Remarks
To those who really helped me throughout this rollercoaster, (I won’t drop names but you know who you are) Thank you. I owe everything to you.
I wrote this article to share my design journey, but also inspire others out there who are on the fence on making a jump into design or feel like their prior experience/education is restricting them to try something new.
I’m not a genius. I barely scraped past every test since high school and if you asked any of my friends, they would tell you that I can’t even draw a circle (or write legibly) to save my own life.
That being said, I do believe that hard work will surpass talent when talent stops working hard. As long as you constantly improve your craft and actively scout for potential opportunities, you will be successful.
Although I probably would have done better in school if I didn’t spend all my time making memes to share with my classmates/friends, the time I did spend making memes created a path for me to become a designer.
Design Resources
As mentioned before, I am not a firm believer in exact steps to improve as a designer. The beauty of this industry is that the status quo changes every day! Embrace your creativity and pave your own path.
That being said, for those who like structure, I’ve sectioned it off into a few categories:
UI
Refactoring UI (Great concepts by Adam Wathan and Steve Schoger. Their Twitter/Youtube videos are really good if you don’t want to buy the book)
Dribbble (Great place to grab inspirations. Also a great place to showcase your work!)
UI Kits (It’s important to learn how designs merge together harmoniously as opposed to one-off elements. UI Kits embrace this.) A UI Kit that i’ve recently used comes from OrigamiUI. Highly recommend you check out some of the resources available here.
UX
Whimsical (Offers users the ability to create flows and wireframes very quickly)
Don’t make me think by Steve Krug (Easy to read and a good baseline for conducting user testing)
Design Tools
Sketch. Still a staple in any designers toolkit, but it’s Mac only. If you don’t have a Mac, you should use…
Figma. Still my favourite design tool out of them all. Imagine if Sketch and google docs had an offspring. Oh, it also has very impressive prototyping capabilities.
Photoshop. Would stay away from it. There are uses for photoshop but 9/10, the intended goal can be achieved on the other two platforms.
Interview Prep/Interviewing
Create a Networking Tracking Excel Sheet. Not that you should manufacture your conversations like an assembly line, but sometimes you might forget what the previous touchpoint was with an individual. Wouldn’t it be embaressing to ask a person the same thing twice? Never hurts to stay organized.
Designercize. Generates prompts so you can drill whiteboarding challenges.
Whiteboard Design Challenge Framework. Frameworks helps you organize your thoughts and speak coherently. Just don’t overdo it and become a robot.
Run through the case studies in your portfolio over and over again. Like a resume, if an employer points out anything in your case study, you have to a) know what they are referring to and b) answer their question to the best of your ability.
General tips
- Take in everything in moderation. Be grounded during the highs and optomistic during the lows. Life may be a rollercoaster but ultimately, you have the control on how the ride affects you.
- Reframe failure to your advantage. Failure is inevitable, but it is your choice on what the outcome means to you. No one ever did anything great staying in their comfort zone.
- Be a nice person, really. Your career is a pivotal time in your life so I recognize the importance in landing a job. But be careful not to take your frustrations on others. Being nice won’t exactly land you a job but does it really hurt to be a nice person? Interactions shouldn’t always be transactional. More importantly the gestures or favours you do may seem small and unmeaningful to you, but it might make someone elses day or be someones lucky break.
