Everybody makes mistakes. Especially if you come to the field, all fresh and new, and ready to dive into the great work. After some years of working as a designer, I must say that as a junior I used to make some mistakes that have affected my working process greatly. If not for these mishaps from my side, most of the unpleasant situations could be avoided.
I had to learn everything the hard way, but you won’t have to. Call me grandpa, since today I will be teaching you some of the life lessons I gathered in my career as a designer.
Mistake One: Inability to accept criticism
This lesson was hard to learn. Every time I heard any criticism towards my works, my ego was hurting. When designing a visual, you bring yourself into the creative process. Later, when being criticized you effectively feel that YOU are being criticized.
Over the years I understood an important truth that YOU are not “Your Creation”. Call it a cliche, yet it is the truth you need to learn.
The design, any idea or thought for that matter that you express, actually becomes a separate entity. Only when you can look at it from the outside, objectively and assess it almost as if it’s someone else’s idea, you can develop true critical thinking that is so important for us designers.
Mistake Two: Over-designing
Personally, I used to clutter my designs with too many elements believing that it will bring something better to the composition. Of course, this was a junior mistake of mine that originated out of the lack of understanding of what design is all about.
I learned to tone down the dosage and by that focusing on the message that needs to be gotten across.
Mistake Three: Inability to communicate with my clients
I always thought that great design can be recognized by everyone. But my experience taught me that if you don’t communicate verbally with your clients and explain in detail what you did, how you did it, and most importantly why you did it, your great design will be left unnoticed.
Mistake Four: Not knowing where to depend on the best practices and where to blow their minds with bursting creativity
This issue can be solved only by reading and being exposed to all the trends and creative work that can be found online. You will always need to monitor what is going on in the industry: only this way you can be called a professional.
2 years ago a client came to me with a project and didn’t even want me to do any research about his field in order not to taint the pure creative process he thought I needed. This, of course, was a mistake.
There are lots of cases, especially today, proving that we have to do research and understand what the audience is used to in order to create a new user experience or captivating branding that will stand out among the competitors.
Mistake Five: Not creating a proper brief
Related to the previous issue, I found out that the starting point of any cooperation is a brief. Preferably a good, extensive one. I used to ask a few questions, or even were satisfied with a tiny bit of information the company provided. Now, that is not an especially smart move from a designer’s side.
A brief should contain everything — from the brand’s personality to their target audience or tone of voice. From the references to hand-drawn examples. Whatever you think will help you provide the client with the best solution, you should include.
A comprehensive, detailed brief becomes the guiding document for the entire design process, and spells out exactly what you, as the designer, need to do, and the constraints within which you need to do it. Without them, you are bound to get into all kinds of funny situations, them being not especially fun though.
I recently came across interesting tips for writing briefs and they kind of made me think for a bit. I found them through the Gingersauce.co website (they send their document about making briefs if you subscribe to their newsletter, or follow them on Instagram, I don’t quite remember already).
The point is, in their PDF they state some facts that I didn’t even consider before. Like, really, the way we name our files and send them to the client is the first impression of our work or how the professional jargon can confuse and scare away the client. Anyway, I suggest you look through the file — maybe it’ll make you rethink something too?
Mistake Six: Inappropriate design
Not being able to adapt and be flexible is a huge disadvantage. I used to be like that. At all times there are one or two particular styles that are prevalent — you will see them being used everywhere you go. I used to think that if I use the one style that is trending currently — that’s a win.
Nope, nu-uh. The important thing to consider is if the trendiest style is appropriate for the brand you’re working with?
Imagine a situation. Today we see those cutesy flat icons everywhere, with cartoonish characters. Cool stuff, gonna use it. For the law firm, I am working with. The audience of the business majorly consists of 90% middle age to senior investors. Something is telling me they won’t respond to a design like that.
Mistake Seven: Not admitting to the mistake
Admitting that you made a mistake won’t make you less professional. It’s the opposite really. Designers are humans, after all, we all make mistakes. But being able to learn from them is priceless — this is how professionalism grows.
I won’t be embarrassed to admit that a few years ago I was a coward. I used to hide the mistakes instead of analyzing them, doing proper research, and learning from the experience. But that practice is not helpful — not in making you a better professional, nor in establishing trustful relationships with your clients.
Those are the mistakes I used to make as a junior designer — what are yours?
