Becoming a better designer
By: I.Black
Tags: Practice, Design Process, Design Journey, Self Improvement, Designer

Becoming a better designer

My mentor once told me I shouldn’t be a designer.

Told that designers “see the world in a different way”. Implied I didn’t see the world that way. Told me I didn’t have the talent.

I’m here to tell you…Forget talent.

As humans, we tend to attribute other people’s skills to natural ability, and our own lack of skills to a lack of it. Here are a few examples of things people have assumed I had a natural ability for.

Photography.

Some of my earliest memories are playing with my mum’s camera on holiday. Shooting awful blurry close-ups of ants on the walls of our holiday villa. I’ve been shooting hundreds to thousands of terrible photos a year since then. That add’s up to a lot of time spent shooting, deleting, editing, printing, framing. Nobody cared much before camera phones and Instagram.

Now everyone keeps a camera in their pocket, they notice more.

I’m not naturally better, I’ve just put in more work.

Drawing.

People constantly tell me they can’t draw. They aren’t “Artistic”.

Of course they can’t.

They don’t practice.

There were plenty of people more “gifted” at art than me at school. But I chose to keep drawing. I took courses. I spent my spare time in classes. Then I took a degree where it was a requirement to put pen to paper. I kept drawing. And the more I drew, the better I got, and the more I wanted to draw because I was happier with the results.

You won’t find my work in the National Gallery. But I’m better than all those people who gave up on drawing because I’ve put in the work.

Being Slim.

I hated being chubby at secondary school. My fit friends would poke fun at me in the changing rooms. I was a straight-A student and sport was the only subject I got a “D” in. So I started putting in the work. I went to the gym. Did cardio. Lifted weights. Swam. Every week. I never stopped. I ran half marathons and invested time learning about the food I was fueling my body with.

I got leaner, stronger, and now I spend every weekend climbing mountains. I love it!

I know how hard it is to lose even a small amount of weight, and I know it’s much easier to keep it off than lose it once it’s there. So I keep putting in the work

It makes me mad when people say I’m so lucky to be “naturally thin”. But it’s a good reminder that I’m where I want to be.

Dancing

Rhythm.

You’re either born with it or you’re not. Right?

Wrong.

I didn’t have any skills on the dance floor until I decided to take up breakdancing at University. I also took up Streetdance. Trying, and failing, to pick up routines on the spot in a room of talented girls was embarrassing.

I sucked. For a long time. In fact, I still suck! But it was awesome fun anyway.

There’s no way I’m ever going to enter a breakdance competition.

But 99% of the time when I’m dancing with my friends, I’m the most confident one there.

Singing

Ok, this one’s not about me. Entrepreneur Derek Sivers writes a better piece about singing than I ever could.

At the age of 14, everybody told him he wasn’t a singer. By the age of 25, when he recorded his first album, a record producer told him

“Derek, you’re just not a singer. You really need to stop trying. Admit you’re a songwriter, and find a real singer.”

He kept singing. Kept touring. Kept practicing. By the age of 29, after 15 years of practice, he finally believed he was a good singer. Someone who heard him for the first time even said,

“Singing is a gift that either you’re born with or you’re not. You’re lucky. You were born with it!”

You can read the full version here. — https://sive.rs/15-years

In fact, read all his blog posts. Or his book. It’s inspiring stuff.

Design

I still vividly remember being told by a mentor that I wasn’t cut out to be a designer. Because it hurt.

Dreams…

…Crushed.

If I’m honest, they weren’t wrong. At that time, I really sucked.

But I kept learning. Kept practicing. A lot. Spent weekends and evenings after work trying to get better for years.

That extra work paid off.

Now, I get to work with awesome teams and much-loved brands around the world. I’m feel lucky!

Maths

Do you know what I actually think I had a natural talent for? Maths and Physics. I cruised through those at school. I came top in regional tests without a second thought. And not a single person has noticed that about me in the last 10 years. I wasn’t passionate about either of them and now they don’t show up in my life.

A missed opportunity?

I don’t think so.

I find the best things in life are the ones you have to work for.

The Practice.

Seth Godin calls this The Practice. So if you don’t believe anything I have to say (and why should you) he recently released a book about this whole topic. Here’s what he has to say:

Everything that matters is something we’ve chosen to do.

Everything that matters is a skill and an attitude.

Everything that matters is something we can learn.

And here’s what I have to add:

It won’t be quick.

It won’t be easy.

You won’t get there just cruising at your 9 to 5.

But focus on your practice. Work harder than the people who don’t care enough. Pay attention to your weak spots, and figure out ways to improve.

Show up every day and deliver something.

But It’ll be worth it to prove everyone wrong.

It’ll be worth it to prove yourself right.

It’ll be worth it when you’re a better designer.