You might be thinking about whether you should choose design as your major. You might be thinking about switching your career to becoming a designer.
Well, think twice. Maybe thrice.
Why? Ask yourself these questions:
1. Do I have patience?
You will be surrounded by people who don’t have a design background.
Your colleagues, your boss, and your clients will constantly be telling you to change your design exactly as they want – simply because they didn’t like it. In the upcoming articles, I will be tackling these issues and teaching you how to handle them. So are you patient enough to do numerous changes without losing your temper?
2. Do I like messing around with all kinds of software?
JD: Have expert knowledge of Adobe Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom, After Effects, XD), C4D, CAD, 3Ds Max Figma, WordPress…You name it.
I hate to admit it but the truth is, the more software you can use, the more advantage you have. On top of that, there are all kinds of shortcuts for different software to memorize.
3. Do I enjoy telling stories or simply just talking in front of people?
Why?
We all underestimate how often designers need to talk. Present your ideas to your colleagues, boss and maybe clients, explain the reason behind everything. The concept, the inspiration, the use of color, fonts, the treatment…etc. And not surprisingly, we don’t talk enough about how the design matches the goal that we are trying to achieve. This is our golden ticket to get out of all kinds of revision. Stick around for more upcoming articles.
4. Do I like to learn?
Design isn’t just about design. To be a great designer, you’d have to know the business, marketing, communication, psychology, technology/craft…
To start, you have to learn the essentials: design principles like balance, white space, hierarchy, alignment, repetition, contrast and more… and more. This is not a job where you can use the knowledge you have for every project. When you encounter a project that’s in an industry that you haven’t done before. You’d have to learn everything you can in that industry to be able to design something that meets the business needs.
5. Am I a stubborn person who dislikes receiving feedback?
Yes, there might be feedback like “The logo is not big enough” or “It’s not pop enough”.
We have to admit, sometimes we are stuck in our little bubbles without realizing the design could be better. We have our designer egos and pride. All kinds of useful feedback could be coming from people who know nothing about design – and for this precise reason, an outsider sometimes does have unique insights, our designs are for non-designers to see after all. So are you prepared to listen and take the suggestions that are appropriate?
If you answered “YES” to all of the questions above. Then go for it. Continue or start your journey with us. We’ll make it less miserable and all the more fun together. Suffice it to say this is a career that could potentially make you an even more interesting person. Wink wink.
Thanks for your blog, nice to read. Do not stop.
Thank you so much for your kind words. Uploading a new blog just now!