If there's anything you'd like to say that I didn't cover, ask your own question and answer it. People ask me all the time how to break into design. It's about making informed course corrections based on obstacles and limitations. It's about recognizing what works and what doesn't. It's about effectively communicating ideas, priorities, and reasoning.
Experience is the best tutor.
Exposure to the process is key. Traditionally, designers are grown inside the company in testing or production because these people have become intimately familiar with how games are made, specifically at that particular studio. Without understanding the technical, financial, schedule, and resource limitations of the development house, you might as well be burning money. They're quite the stress reliever. Legend isn't in the business of speculating in goat commodities-but personally, I've cornered the market in llamas.