The rules of design, reaching a new level and design thinking

The best ideas of recent weeks from the Telegram channel "The Design Times".

There are no rules in design

Apart from the task, all the rules in design are useless. They are either too broad and talk about commonplace things, or too narrow and depend on the industry.

To ignore the experience gained by industry is foolish, but even dumber - to use it without thinking.

Therefore, the best strategy is to study successful services, comprehend their design solutions and think which of them can help in your project.

“So does Google!” - not an argument.

“Google does it because it thus solves a similar problem” is a completely different matter.

Exit to a new level

The main problem of the designer’s growth is the tasks of the same type, which prevent them from making a breakthrough in their careers. Besides the fact that the designer is wasting his time, he is still incredibly bored, which is why even the simplest tasks are poorly solved.

The most logical way out of this situation is a job change. But how to find a better place if at your current job you solved only the same type of problems and you even have nothing to show?

Only one way out of this suggests itself - to set yourself ambitious tasks on your own.

I know about five people of different ages who, through a personal project, were able to reach a new professional and financial level.

A well-made personal project allows you to find customers, get job offers, or use it as a demonstration of your level when looking for a new place.

Of course, the first time an excellent project will not work, so patience is a key role in building a career.

If you see five excellent works in the designer’s portfolio, do not forget that once there were other works of a much worse level.

New works were added, old ones were deleted. It is not a matter of talent or inspiration. The success of any specialist always determines the willingness to invest effort and time in this matter.

Art Director

Many domestic designers call themselves art directors, despite the fact that in fact they are not. Wanting to appear more authoritative, they hang on themselves regalia, not understanding their essence.

The main task of the creative leader is to use his experience to adjust the direction of designers. Thanks to this, novice specialists grow, and an experienced designer does not waste time on a routine and can lead several projects in parallel. And when the art director picks the layouts, its potential benefit to the company decreases significantly.

The main tool of the designer is the brain and the graphic editor, and the main weapon of the art director is experience. And in order to use it for the benefit of the company, the hands of his inexperienced colleagues should become the main tool of an art director.

Design thinking

In all of our beautiful professions, I am most perplexed by the occasional hype surrounding the term “design thinking”.

And while the resume of design thinkers has not filled HeadHunter, I will tell you a couple of stories from personal experience related to this term.

Once I visited a meeting dedicated to design thinking. Designers from large companies were invited there and a lot of people came to listen to them. When answering the question of what design thinking is, the speakers were noticeably hiding, because their explanations too reminded me of a story about the usual design for all of us (after all, everyone can’t get together just to discuss the design).

The second case is participation in “sessions of design thinking” for large banks. During them, I did not leave the thought that without special terms this event would not have taken place. The chairman of the bank’s board cannot say that on Monday he is going to be engaged in design. And the “session of design thinking” sounds much more convincing.

Quote: “Design thinking is a method of developing user-oriented products, services, and services.”

Isn't that what we call design?

Do not fall under the beautiful term and attractive poster, but rather study the subject in more depth and everything will become clear.

A designer should not have design thinking skills. The designer just has to think.

(Not) designer confidence

I was surprised when I learned that many designers are insecure while working. Like, design is not for everyone and they should do something else. And I guess where such an opinion comes from.

Seeing the honed works of the best specialists, it is hard to believe that these ruffles once had bad work.

I’ll tell you a secret.

Many successful designers consciously create the appearance of their uniqueness, thereby reducing their potential competition. Because of this, young designers give up, their faith and confidence in their abilities decline.

For every successful designer now, the starting work was terrible. Everyone started small and, project by project, improved their skills.

In our profession (like any other)patience and regular practice means a lot more than talent .

Where does the vision come from

In most cases, the designer from the very beginning has a vision of the project and he can only demonstrate it to the world. The only question is where this vision comes from.

Vision is a synthesis of experience and acquired knowledge.

The vision of the project will allow rejecting some ideas in favor of those that correspond to this vision. As a result, the formed product reflects the vision of its creators, as was the case with Steve Jobs and Joni Ive, who created the Apple philosophy.

It is hard to say how to get the “right” vision. It's a good idea to be inspired by a stranger: by reading books from innovators and learning about successful products.

For starters, this may be enough, and then everything will depend on your ability to analyze experience and make more competent decisions based on it .

How to make a boring task interesting

Each designer periodically has to solve boring tasks. For example, make a contact page, design a footer or create a modal window design. All this has already been invented many times and the best way would be to take a working solution and apply it to your task.

But there are times when it is necessary to create something new for an extraordinary project or so that the work does not turn into a routine.

The only way to make a boring task interesting is to treat it like a challenge.

Well, you were given the task to design the “About the Company” page. This task will seem boring to many, but why not try to make this page unique, the best in the world?

Many experienced professionals use this installation in their work. In the hands of the designer there is typography, mesh, images, composition, colors and logic. Think about which of these tools you can use to make a boring task breakthrough.

Writing skill

Thanks to the work of our colleagues, instant messengers become more convenient and most of the business communication goes into chat rooms. In this situation, voice and appearance fade into the background, giving way to the ability to correctly express your thoughts in correspondence.

Many underestimate the skill of writing, despite the fact that competent speech helps to convey and defend their ideas, thereby increasing credibility in the company.

To correctly express your thoughts you need to:
1. Formulate a specific question or thought before typing a message.
2. Write a full message, not a few small ones.
3. Rereada message before sending, to make sure that the thought is transmitted correctly, the tone corresponds to the topic and the interlocutor will understand everything.

You will look more professional than most colleagues using only these three simple rules.

How to relax designer

Some believe that before moving away from the monitor, you need to finish all things, although a break can significantly increase the creativity and efficiency of the brain. It is difficult to create a unique solution in a routine, so the designer needs to pause in his work.

Below are a few ways to distract from work for the good of the cause.

To search for ideas: reading, walking (without headphones, to let the brain wander).
For inspiration: films, music and any quality work.
For health: live communication, sports.
For consciousness: meditation.
For everything: travel.

In addition, you need to be able to turn off the phone. The Internet has turned into a whole world, so try less often to switch between online and offline, otherwise you can stay between the living and virtual world without proving yourself anywhere.