Some lessons learned so far....

Apologies for the lack of posts recently, I'm finding time for blogging particularly hard to come by and so shall use twitter more regularly to post interesting links of work i find etc. As I've been a 'professional' designer for nearly a year now, in this post i thought I would share some lessons i've learned about the industry since leaving uni which will hopefully be helpful students about to enter the big wide world. I'm sure you've heard some of these before, and if so, trust, its good advice!

1. Never be afraid to ask for help. But don't ask too much, a lot you can find out
for yourself.

2. Trust your intuition.

3. Meet as many different agencies as you can. They're not all the same or right 
for you. 

4. Learn as much software as possible.

5. Working life is fun, being paid for something you enjoy is incredible.

6. Take a limited number of projects to interviews. 5-6 strong projects is 
about right.

7. Realise that the work really starts once you leave uni and start job hunting.
You will most likely need to tweak and tighten your folio after you've left.

8. Persevere and realise that it is not going to be easy to get a job, but if you really want it you'll get it.

9. Dont be afraid of web design. 

10.  Strive to always create good design, but understand not all professional design is good design, you sometimes have to swallow your pride if the client is awkward.

11 Treat your brain like a sponge. Never stop looking, collecting, photographing, reading, blogging , bookmarking or screen grabbing. Inspiration is one of the most important things to a designer.

12. Try and always put your twist on something, a lot of respect is gained 
for originality.

13. Be a nice person.

Lessons for young designers

These are some insightful and thought-provoking lessons from Wieden+Kennedy’s Executive Creative Director, John C Jay.

Steve Jobs

This is just a fantastic talk and great advice for any graduate from Steve Jobs.

John Wooden

I recently saw a great TED talk from John Wooden, a very successful basketball coach i'd actually never heard of before. This is probably the last thing you'd expect to hear from someone in sport, but the more you think about it the more sense it makes. Anyway check it out, you really dont have to be interested in basketball to watch it.