A lot of people are becoming aware and are interested in creative design lately due to its lucrative nature, especially print media but that’s a story for another day. People come up to me saying stuff like “I want to learn creative design and make money with it”, some even say things like “This looks like fun, I can do it”. I admire the ‘can do’ spirit, but here are some things one should consider before you start creative design.
1) It isn’t easy: Creative design is fun but it isn’t easy, the fun is in seeing the finish of your creation, a lot of people see this but don’t know the processes it had to go through to become the work of art that it is.
2) Passion: You have to enjoy what you do. Every artist must be passionate about his work else it’ll just be work to him/her. When one has passion for their work then it’ll be fun and a good learning process as well.
3) Make sure you learn new things all the time: one can never assume to know all there is about creative design because it is a vast discipline that requires constant practice in a specialized area. So if you want to do branding, publications, advertising, and art etc; then focus on that area and be awesome at it.
4) Be open to criticism: art and creativity will always be criticized so don’t feel bad when someone says “I don’t get it” or “I don’t like it”. Remember that it was inspired from within and it is a part of you. Besides everyone can’t like your work so focus on those who get you.
5) Don’t be afraid to charge people for your work: If they don’t want to pay you for your work then they are not the right client for you. There are many clients out there that love your work and want to add value to their business, the idea of creative design is to add value to business.
6) People value things that cost something: Whatever we buy for a huge cost, we tend to put value on them. I’m not saying you should overcharge like $2000 for a line or a dot; that is not cool. Just as one would place more value on a phone you got for $800 than one you got for $50.
7) Stop doing free work all the time: There are some misconceptions about doing free work like:
i. Helps you gain experience
ii. Promotes your work
Well that’s what we want to believe but the truth is that it destroys the creative community; it cheapens the value of our work. So next time you are tempted to help a friend out try to charge them a little, they’ll appreciate your work and it adds value to creativity. By doing so you are helping another creative designer and earn some money as well. Everybody wants to earn.
8) Always listen to the client and understand what they really want: As designers our work is personal to us so we don’t like being told that our designs are not desirable because we’ve put in a little bit of ourselves in that. Don’t get offended.
9) Learn to accept constructive criticism: We get criticized everywhere these days especially on the internet. This is a great way to grow and a necessary process.
I don’t expect people to always tell me “oh that’s nice” because they are friends or family who are trying to be supportive. I want people to advise me about my work and add value to it.
Do not listen to offensive people though; they only end up discouraging you and sowing a seed of bitterness and self esteem issues. Use the criticisms to build a better you.
10) Don’t give up: our generation seems to have too many opportunities that we tend to give up on a lot of things whenever we experience any difficulty. We have the internet which provides us with a lot of free information that we could use to better ourselves. One can learn anything on the internet e.g. by using YouTube, Coursera, Lynda and any other online resources. There should be no excuses for failure, rather we should see opportunities. Believe in yourself and work hard to make a point. Block out the excuses and focus on the opportunities.
11) Avoid comparison: people compare themselves more now than ever before because the world is now like a global community where everyone is accessible online, so we see other designers’ works and compare with what we’ve done. We are surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses, of designers, and critics and so on.
E.g. we see others getting more followers or likes and we don’t measure up, or other designers getting more money for their work and we probably think we can do better than they.
When we compare ourselves to that it makes give up or want to give up because we are not there yet.
The process of growth is continuous; we never stop growing till we die. It also applies to our careers, there is no peak we just keep climbing, and there is always room to grow.
It’s like a game of golf; you don’t try to beat others, you try to beat your last score. Strive to be better than you were yesterday, be a better you by practising and being consistent; learn to motivate yourself.
On a closing note never stop learning, the day you stop learning is the day you stop living. Starve your distractions and feed your focus.
Issues to take note of in carrying out design jobs
· Payment for services
· Terms and conditions
· Disagreement with clients
· Knowing your strengths and limitations
· Originality
· Distractions
These issues will be addressed in details in my next post. Thank you for reading, will appreciate your feedback.
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