How to Be a Better Designer

April 16, 2021 - Reading time: 8 minutes

Mindful tips for a creative job journey.

How to be a good designer? It's hard to say.

Probably one should be able to code, know Photoshop, be a good architect or manager + designer + unicorn, or smth. But this is not an article about that.

Here I collected tips/perks I discovered through my journey into calling myself a designer.

Consider these tips to represent summarized concepts rather than serious ass advice.

Have fun. Subscribe if you like the tips!

Tip 1 — Work a lot

Work a lot, do design consistently.

Practice makes perfect, so learn to have fun in the process.

Instead of dreaming about the outcome, enjoy the small details of your daily routine and learn to be happy while you are in these waters.

Tip 2 — Take a break

learn to take a break.

Learn to distract yourself from cluttered thoughts and calm your mind. 💭

Instead of staring at the screen, relaxing and conducting inner research can bring the best ideas when stuck.

Consider trying meditation as one of the tools you apply to progress from time to time.

Tip 3—Master your tool

focus on one thing

Any tool. Just focus on one at a time and achieve results with it.

Once you master one, you will be able to do crazy shit, even if it is photoshop or Excel. And the next tool will be much easier to get into.

With time you will notice that the learning process is — also an interface you can actually master.

Tip 4 — Steal like an artist

Steal like an artist

It’s hard to come up with original ideas at the start.

So no need to shame. Find someone else’s design you really like, and copy it while constantly making it better.

Think about this process being rethinking a problem solution rather than stealing the idea.

Tip 5 — Learn to listen

Use listening as a tool to establish trust with people you work with.

Use listening to learn others' viewpoints, collect valuable intel, and make your design bulletproof.

Tip 6 — Articulate your design

Articulate your design

Know how to present your work and articulate your decisions.

Put ego far away when reviewing and getting feedback also.

Tip 7 — Learn to lose

Learn to lose

Sometimes your design won't work, and it's okay.

Please do yourself a favor and don't focus on the loss, considering it as a defeat.

Use lose as a valuable experience to get ready for the next battle.

Tip 8 — Optimize your process

Optimize your process

Plan your way smartly - use best practices and guides to shorten the distance.

Skip designing everything from scratch and pre-made assets to speed up the process.

Always strive to re-use and power up your toolkit.