Soft Advice for Young Designers

What follows is a very disordered and incomplete collection of thoughts for aspiring designers. I wrote most of these a couple of years ago, but the advice hasn’t really changed. I’ve updated where applicable with whatever new insights I might’ve found along the way.

Don’t try to articulate your ideas, show them

If you spend enough time presenting work you’ll quickly realize people either can’t visualize your ideas or they are simply unwilling. At every possible chance, show the idea. It’s much easier for an idea to die in your head than it is for it to die on the screen.

The rise of LLMs essentially make this the default position for every thought and idea you might imagine is worth exploring. Build an MVP, polish it, present it, defend it accordingly.

Pick up a camera

Frame the world around you. Once you start seeing life as ‘compositions’ you’ll realize how intuitive design can be. We’re all just organizing information at the end of the day. I’ve always held the position that any good designer should be able to intuitively translate their talents to a camera (and vice versa).

Consume Thoughtfully™

The simplest difference between a good designer and a bad designer is just exposure. You need thoughtful exposure to years of visual work to develop and curate your eye. Composition was very intuitive for me, but the areas around the edges take time, and I’m still learning. Consume Thoughtfully, take in as much as you can, across all facets of life. Art, film, literature. You’ll not only become a better designer but you’ll also just become a better person.

Remain curious

Your talents have a lot of reach across the visual landscape: UI/UX, frontend, product, brand, web, motion. The more you expand your reach the more doors will open for you. My work and responsibilities today are entirely different than they were even a year ago because I keep expanding my reach.

Build your own portfolio site. Learn basic HTML/CSS. Build some something terrible in javascript. I started 25+ years ago designing and building my highschools website with Photoshop and Notepad (yes, Notepad makes a great code editor).

The less blindspots you have, the less you need to rely on others to put your ideas together for you. In the age of AI, it’s easier for a designer to learn how to code than it is for an engineer to learn how to design. And yes, if you want to ultimately make a lot of money, you will need to ascend beyond just “Graphic Designer”.

Do not design for the vocal minority

That’s it, that’s the advice.

Embrace the arts

The ‘design is functional’ crowd would have you believe that there’s no place for art in design, but they’re unequivocally wrong. Art inspires us, and more importantly it allows for an abstraction of thought that fosters genuine innovation.

Focus on the larger picture

Good brand designers think about the product, good product designers think about the brand. Great designers look beyond the work and consider the impact, timing, and rationalizations for their work across the entire landscape. Cohesion should be a recurring thought across all of your work.

Intern a lot

Design is a universal need, so your talents can have you working for literally any company in the world. Explore those opportunities and broaden your base. Go full time at a design agency at least once if possible. As mentioned earlier, thoughtful exposure is what you’re looking for.

That’s it.