As a graphic designer I’m literally always learning new things, getting new insights and gaining knowledge, I have long term goals, strong, focused targets that I will meet, for example, I will work in branding & marketing then after a few years set up a practice in the south west region. I have strong ties to the sea and my local environment and I noticed that the area is not design conscious, many businesses masquerade as design companies but none deliver good ideas and impactful, meaningful design. I’m going to help educate local businesses and communities with the help of like-minded designers and creatives. Firstly though I need to get a wealth of experience in all areas my work mainly focuses on print, illustration and some film but I need to get to grips with a whole range of skills like digital design and use technical knowledge to improve my typographical and editorial design. I have created an A-Z of points that I use every single day. The list tracks my thought process and attitude toward a spectrum of aspects, situations and problems I face everyday in the Graphic Design field.
ADV OCA TE.
Advocate good use of design, it doesn’t have to be expensive, design doesn’t have to be big and bold and huge and in your face, everything is designed, teach people. Make them aware.
BIG YOU UP.
Big yourself up. No one else is going to do it for you, publicise and promote, don’t u n d e r s e l l yo u r s e l f. People will constantly be trying to undervalue your time and benefit from your generosity. Don’t include yourself in this bunch.
COM PET E!
Compete. Don’t be a keyboard warrior slagging off other designs, get your work out there compliments are good but criticism is even better.
DO MORE. Do more with less. Th i n k l a te ra l l y. A l o t can be done with a printer and scanner or a camera and paint, pencil and paper etc tweak process and experiment, this is the most enjoyable part of being a designer.
EXPER IENCE. Experience. Every project is a unique experience and b ro a d e n s yo u r u n d e r s t a n d i n g . Tw o branding projects for a similar health product will never be the exact same, However if it looks like a shit project and will stop you
f r o m t a k i n g o n other more creative projects, double or triple the price to make it worth your while. If they decline who cares, if they accept you’ll be laughing.
FIN AN CE.
F i n a n c e . Ta k e c a r e of this. Design is about satisfaction a n d p e r s o n a l reward, but you cant eat those.
GUT. Advice on what direction you want to go in with a project can be great, insightful and really useful but also can be confusing, even if everybody else is telling you choice B, if your gut says choice A, go with i t .
HELP. Yo u r i n s t i n c t t e l l s you to keep your cards close to your chest. Design isn’t always a competition, it’s a com m u n i t y and I can’t stress that enough.
INDI VIDU AL.
Our design styles a r e all outcomes of our li f e ex p e r i e n c e s , so what use is it stealing someone else’s style when you have no connection to their initial influence?
JOKE. Design isn’t always do or die you are occasionally allowed to have fun w ith it. This doesn’t include t y p o g ra p h i c p u n s .
KILL. Kill bad design. It’s your responsibility as a designer to s l ow l y e ra d i c a t e b a d design, by m e a n s o f teaching, critiq ue and tea r i ng down the occasional poster.
LIFE. It sounds clichÊ but it really is a lifestyle, it’s a way of thinking and a way of visualising that should never leave your head when you see a nice piece of design in your head visualise h ow yo u wo u l d replicate it? This is a practice I use eve r y s i n g l e d a y.
MAS TER.
M a s te r o f a l l t ra d e s j a c k o f n o n e. I t w i l l b e to u g h o u t t h e re, b e co m e a S w i s s a r my k n i fe…o f c re a t i v i t y.
NAFF TYPE.
F re e t y p e fa ce s l i ke Lo st Ty p e m ay s e e m like a good idea but it undermines your work. Choose one of the many highly reputable fonts like Futura or H e l ve t i c a , d o n ’ t ove r complicate things, they are popular for a reason.
ORG ANI SE.
L e av i n g t h i n g s to t h e last minute seems t h e o n l y w a y, u n t i l yo u a c t u a l l y p re p a re for something using time boundaries and feel the relief w a s h ove r yo u i n a n awesome wave.
PRE SENT.
Everything should be designed and considered. Fact.
QUE STI ON.
Its good to question and research designer’s rationale behind yo u r f avo u r i t e projects. It isn’t just about looking good there needs to be a concept behind it.
RES TRA IN.
Being outspoken can be a good thing, but restrain yourself from completely tearing apart someone’s work no matter how bad, I’m sure you wouldn’t like it. But do let them know if there are any improvements that can be made and focus on the positives.
SAUL BASS. Ta k e inspiration from people that are renowned as the best designers ever. Not from flavours of the m o n t h . W h e n you see a trend forming influenced by a time period, certain designer or technique use your next project to do something the complete opposite of that.
TRY. T R Y. Tr y hard, don’t write ideas off because you think it will take too long or be mo re ef fo rt, if it fails you’ve learnt and if it works you’ll look r e a l l y c o o l a n d s t u f f.
UTIL ISE.
Utilise your uniqueness. Use your characteristics and interests from outside design to f e e d y o u r c r e a t i v i t y.
VEX ED?
Vexed? Don’t be afraid to have a rest and take a break.
WEB. Get your mug all over the web as much as possible, anyw here yo u c an, no publicity is bad publicity.
XYLO PHO NE. Xylophone?
YOU TH.
Youth and inexperience. Paula Scher talks about serious play and solemn play, she could only do her serious most exciting work, when she was yo u n g , i n ex p e r i e n ce d and naive, breaking the rules of correct practice in design, use this to your advantage. Your allowed to make mistakes and sometimes that leads to the best ideas.
ZERO TOL ERA NCE.
Lastly Its ok to know what you want, most of the points you have already read are sugar coated versions of what I follow for best practice. I want to be nice to people, I want to help, I want to teach, I want to let everyone in on my little secret tricks and fixes for things. I want to do all that stuff and more, but I know along the way I will take an attitude and principles towards design and my contemporaries sometimes that will be selfish. I will be seen as arrogant, rude, and egotistical but I hope this shows an insight into my psyche, because I know exactly what I want to do and I wont let anything stop me…and neither should you.