Three Big Mistakes that Can Make or Break Your Design Career
The name says it all. If you’ve come here, we mean no offense – there’s just a few career killers that we probably all have been guilty of at one point or another. These concepts definitely apply to interface designers, but if you’ve arrived at this post and you aren’t an interface designer, don’t check out yet – there’s probably a few things here you can apply to whatever field you are working in. Also, realize that these are not the only mistakes you can make. So, with that said, let’s get started.
Mistake #1: Waiting
You’ve done countless hours of studying. You’ve visited hundreds of tutorials and spent hours in classes and conferences. You’ve heard, read, and practiced the best practices, and you know Photoshop shortcuts like the back of your hand. You can quote every line of jQuery, and you could reproduce every Flash site on the FWA. You can type 90 words per minute. You know a lot. So, you’ve made a few interfaces, and you’ve posted your stuff online on Behance, Flickr, or even your own online portfolio. This is the important part, ladies and gentlemen: now what?
The mistake most people make is simply sitting back and waiting. Even if your work is top-notch, and you eventually are hired, there is no positive motion that happens as a result of waiting. So, what do you do? Now what? This happens often with freelancers at the beginning of their careers. They get a little bit of work under their belts, and then sit back and wait on customers or employers to come their way; this is one of the worst steps for your career for many reasons. First of all, you are not guaranteed that anything will happen. Secondly, most clients and employers would much rather see someone who is active in their field and informed about the latest aspects of that field than someone who is, essentially, a “has-been.” In most other occupations, a “has-been” is one that is from years past; however, in professional media, a “has-been” can be someone who is just a few months out of the loop. So what are a few ways to stay active in interface design?
- Do mock jobs
- Involve yourself in a community of other designers and developers, and offer advice or help.Note: A good way to do this is through Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks. Also, by leaving comments here on the Fuel Network sites! Be sure to follow FYI on Twitter @fuelinterface, and feel free to follow me personally as well @jcutrell
- Take old designs and improve on them.
- Work for free (for non-profit companies, friends, etc.)Note: Be sure that working for free will not affect the quality of the product you release!
- Explore new facets of your occupation, or cross over into another practice to supplement your interface design skills. For instance, try out typeface design or art illustration.
Mistake #2: Ignoring The Garmon Principle
Don’t worry if you haven’t heard of The Garmon Principle. Considering it was invented about 30 seconds ago, you’re probably not the only one. Chris Garmon is a good friend of mine that recently sat me down and changed my thinking about all of my professional media work. Garmon isn’t necessarily a design professional, nor could he write more than a line of HTML.
I showed him an interface idea I was working with at the time. I was very excited; it used some jQuery effects and Ajax loading that I had just learned, and the CSS and HTML were both on-spot. It was designed with intentional design theory, and it was ready to have content infused. As I showed him the product, his face disfigured a little bit, and he said, “it’s not really that great.” In the back of my mind, I thought, “Oh yes it is. You have no clue what it took to make this do that, and that do this. And the jQuery is cool, and the black and white theme is really in…” But then I realized, you know… it really isn’t that great. In fact, it’s nothing but a waste of time. Then, Garmon went on to tell me what I have come to know as The Garmon Principle.
The first thing you should do is close your laptop, put away your cool bag of tricks, and think. Think, “What would be the perfect site for this? What would it look like? If there were no boundaries, what is the coolest thing, or the most functional way, to make this happen?” Also think, “What will make this worth existing as much or more than the next guy’s interface?” Once you have decided what the best possible solution would be, figure out how to do it. If there is something in your original idea that just simply isn’t possible, then amend it. “Re-idea,” if you will. But never, ever, EVER sit down and start doing things simply because you know how to do them. Because the truth is, no one really cares how much you know about coding or development. The people who are looking at this site aren’t thinking about what it took to make it, or how many advanced lines of code you wrote. They’re thinking about how it is now, as a whole.
All Garmon was telling me was that the concept is far more important than the method. The function trumps form. It is easy for us, as designers and developers, to get caught up with our practical coding knowledge; but the truth is, it’s not a bunch of little things that make a site good. It is, almost infallibly, one thing. Now, what that one thing is, you have to figure out before you ever type a single line of code or push a single pixel.
Mistake #3: Spreading Too Thin
This is the most often committed mistake in every professional field. Without going into too much detail, we can understand this concept fairly easily. In international trade, different countries trade a limited number of goods that they have the comparative advantage creating. For instance, the United States isn’t nearly as good at producing bananas than a tropical island would be, and the tropical island isn’t at good at producing commercial aircraft as the United States is. Therefore, for a certain number of airplanes, the United States can trade the tropical island for a certain number of bananas. The reason this works well is because each country is doing what it does best, thus being as productive as possible.
The same concept can be applied to people! If you are really great at designing ecommerce or photo gallery sites, then don’t be afraid to focus solely on ecommerce or photo gallery sites. By doing any other kind of interface design, you will be taking away time from the thing you are best at, and therefore you are not being nearly as productive as you could be. This can be detrimental to your career; If you were free to focus on what you do best, you would produce your best possible product.
Note that this doesn’t mean, however, that you completely ignore every other practice surrounding your field. Sometimes, other practices supplement your practice. An example of this, for many designers, is photography. Practicing some in photography will increase your knowledge and understanding of color, 3D space, composition, and many other important concepts that cross over into your practical knowledge of design. The important thing is that you focus mostly or completely on what you are best at.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we can be a lot more successful if we avoid these three things. What are some other mistakes you’ve learned from? Comment here, or tell us through Twitter!
Grab the Feed
Nice post. Cant agree more on the first one.
The points are just in place.
I would like to add one here; if you are a freelancer try and appreciate your competitor if he/she did a better job and try to learn from it. Do not be envious and do not take things for granted just because somebody else has done a better job than you. It will negatively impact your performance. You know what you are best at, do it the best but keep learning from the others about the things you are falling behind at.
nice input man!
Very true Saumya,
I catch myself getting green with envy when I see something amazing that I didn’t think of. It is important to celebrate other’s creative breakthroughs. If not, I think it inhibits one’s own ability to move forward.
You can’t make art in a vacuum. Seeing what others are doing is very inspiring.
Spreading too thin is something I’ve done a few times. I finally learned from my mistakes and am taking things a bit slower and focusing energy on a smaller amount of projects. It definitely helps a LOT with keeping your head clear and being able to rock the entire time you’re working.
Nice post.
An interesting read, but I really can’t get on board with #3 (plus: ‘to’ => ‘too’).
As a creative, shouldn’t I focus on what I have the strongest interest and passion about rather than what I happen to already be good at? And what happens when the bottom falls out of the airplane market in your analogy?
I really like points 1 and 2 but, unless we’re talking about manufacturing, I respectfully think diversification is more important than productivity.
“Because the truth is, no one really cares how much you know about coding or development.”
Amen. I’ve experienced this first hand and I can relate to its truth. Thanks for the great article.
Great post. I just wish I knew what I do best as a designer. And the second point is good too, one that I have always totally ignored, but will remember it in the future.
Well i will add to the first one Waiting should be converted to Acting — meaning once you have created a product ie your portfolio posted and you are happy with the way you have posted everywhere . Now let the others know about your Creation ie your portfolio how i have done this part is through sharing my knowledge and it worked!
agreed! this is delightful and very insightful. thanks for sharing
Guilty on number 3, nice read! Thanks.
1-correct
2-correct (strategic thinking)
3-not so sure as being multi skill is good, with some many changes happening and perhaps later in your career you could swaps combine and sharpen old skills.
Great article. Thanks for sharing the Garmon principle.
I am with you on #1, don’t wait! If you have a great idea and are passionate about creating a business (or freelancing, or whatever) out of it, then do it and do it now! I waited 5 years and I wish I hadn’t. Now I’m doing what I love to do and missed out on those 5 years.
guilty of three charges. now i’m gonna kill myself.
thank’s for the illumination
In a full time job, if you’re hired to be a designer, they don’t want you to code. If you offered that to them they would scratch their heads in wonder. After all, they have coders with 20 years experience to do that. As a freelancer, you have to wear more hats and see a project through all the stages. -dp
PS- Eventually, you will have to specialize. As you get older, you will need to get off the computer completely and start managing, directing others and consulting.
Agree on the 3 points. It’s hard to choose just one or two methods, but i think that if you focus on what you do best you’re gonna get the best results. And yeah, photography has helped me a lot to understand color, forms, perspective and shapes.
Great Blog. Honestly I am trying to put myself out there. But I am still in school but i am a bit scare. I think this blog has really hit the hammer on the nail but I really need to put my portfolio out there and get some REAL feedback. thanks again!
#2 really spoke to me, it’s a classic mistake in youthful web design/development. The stuff we do is really cool, and it’s easy to just focus on making cool stuff. I don’t know about you guys, but whenever I make a nifty ajax call, I get a rush of dopamine in my brain. Weird, right?
But when it comes to our clients, and furthermore our end-users, it’s not about the cool stuff – it’s about an entire product they can recognize as a whole. And the only way to make a whole project is to treat it as a whole from the start to the finish.
To all those complaining about #3 from the freelance perspective – I understand, as a freelancer, you’re often forced to wear multiple hats to keep clients happy. But if you’re swamped with work, look to the community and find capable outsourcing! You’ll only help yourself out by focusing on what you do best, and if things work out well, you may have found a partner in profit to share work with and help each other out! Embrace the community.
“The concept is far more important than the method.”
Excellent! Not only designers, but all communication professionals should know that.
Some things are interesting
Can’t agree more with the first point (and the rest, but especially the first :P
I just like to add that doing for for yourself is invaluable. As hard as I work at my day job, it’s the work I do outside of the office that’s gotten me where I am today. I’ve done freelance, off-site, in-house, you name it. I prefer agency/in-house work for now. But I’ve never stopped freelancing for myself.
The hardest part is finding work that motivates you beyond a paycheck. But when you do, these projects will do more for your career than any 9-5 gig. Whether your see them as successes or failures, personal work will give you the edge and confidence to rock your day job – or any job, and stand out from the crowd. Thanks for this post.
Particularity intrigued by the “Garmon Principle” #2.
Its so true that you can get rapped up in what you think is “right” for the customer.
I always come away from the Workstation, into another room with just pen and notepad and think about what the customer “really needs” out of the website project etc.
Nice post :-)
Hi, This is very much useful for us means the starters in this field.. me with my friends we just started a freelance webdesigning, its not a company but we like to call or make its a big company..
Here u done a great job and it give me more ideas..
Once more thanks a lot…
Wonderful Insights! So true!
The important thing is that you focus mostly or completely on what you are best at.
Gimme edge now :P ;)
Thank you very much for this advices. You helped me a lot! Keep going.
Love the Garmon Principle. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the technically challenging aspects of design. (i.e. More Difficult=Better) so it’s nice to see a non-techie perspective on it. Good piece.
Thanks for posting this topic.
cheers!
Oops.. I almost break my design career.. :]
Inspiring article.. Thanks for helping me.
“Design is a behavior, not a department”
The Garmon Principle is brilliant and aligns with my Studio’s philosophies,it’s a priceless piece of advice that all web designers need to be told at some stage. I can see this principal going big places – now that it has a really cool name, time to brand it, and send it out to serve it’s purpose….I’ll leave that up to Chris Garmon guru – very well said!
Keep up the great posts!
Really a nice one…
Unlike i others….I do agree with you on the 3rd point…
Love what to you do…then.it will be fun..
Great article, really agree with all three points. Thanks!
I am loving that Garmon Principal =)
I’m in line with your buddy Garmon. In all the years I’ve been designing, I’ve noticed a few things and one of them is clients often don’t care what code is behind something. They want the look and the functionality, and the ones that know the benefits of what those two elements combined can do, care not about bells and whistles or the latest hot form of code.
Another point you might consider that comes shortly after #3, Spreading too thin, is Burn Out. When burn out happens, you’re not producing your best work – you’re forcing yourself to go well past the point where you would have been doing good work. Designers and developers often brag about pulling all nighters and working 12 hour days, but every hour you work past “optimum” your work is going to suffer. Freelancers often have a tendency to take every job that comes along. You might also need to learn how to say, “no”. Clients are not paying you for burn out work, they want your best. So how not to get burnt out? It may take some time to fine tune your schedule and develop a work flow (that includes a good group of individuals you can call on when you get overwhelmed but want to keep projects flowing). But it’s always important to include down time daily. Be it hobbies, going out, reading a book, whatever, but it should be time away from the computer where you recharge your creative batteries.
hi all. the Garmon Principle isn’t new or trendy. in fact it’s a discipline with years of study, rigor and experience behind it.
it’s called User Centered Design. google it and internalize it. as designers, there’s little more important than understanding who you’re designing for beyond a gut feeling.
I have to admit that I’ve been guilty from time-to-time of just waiting and being more proactive can be applied to all areas of my life for sure. I also like rule number three about not spreading yourself too thin however, I’ve always been a firm believer of also working on your weaknesses to make them better.
nice post!!
Cory,
Thanks for the grammar heads up. To expound on what I was saying, I think that more than likely, you will be best at whatever you are passionate about (if not, it will eventually, more than likely, become your best talent). If this isn’t true, then no matter how passionate you are about a subject, if you aren’t any good at it then it’s not profitable from a career standpoint to continue to pursue that interest.
Think of it this way: We’ve all met the guy (We’ll call him Don) who plays guitar and sings, and absolutely LOVES playing music. In fact, you could say that it’s his passion. Unfortunately, Don doesn’t really have a good range, and his fingers are a bit stiff. He puts in the hours, but he just doesn’t have what it takes. I think you and I both agree, Don probably shouldn’t pursue that interest as a career choice.
But you’re absolutely right; sometimes the bottom falls out of the airplane market. However, there is a big difference in the production quality and the production quantity; If you pursue one thing strongly, you will be much better at that one thing than if you were to pursue three, completely different, other things, even if you do less work overall. While diversification has its place, those who are considered “greats” usually have one field of greatness. Productivity, in this field, is measured more accurately in my opinion by the quality of the work done, and the best quality work is possible most accurately when your energy is focused on that work.
In all honesty, you can be productive at multiple things and still put out a quality product. It all truly depends on the methods that you use. Not all clients want to get a design from one place and the back end from another. They want it all in one stop so they only have one person to pay. Totally understandable, as its why telephone and cable companies offer the bundles that they do. First, being honest and forthcoming with them in the beginning on the length of time goes a long way in establishing a productive service. Then you can focus on one aspect of the project, and then the second, and so forth to have a complete product.
Now granted, the third tip is a great idea for people just starting out, but for those who’ve been spending their time into learning more than just design, say php for example, then they can still be productive in both of those areas just as well, with quality work. Especially those who live and work in what justify as rural areas where there is often times no recourse but to seek people or firms outside of the area that they live.
It took me several years of freelancing to figure out it needed to be done, but I finally added a section to my website entitled “Things I Don’t Do.” As a one-person shop with all the work I can handle, I found that I needed to decide which technologies I needed to master (or at least become competent at) and which ones I needed to leave to someone else. I simply can’t learn it all and do it all, physically or mentally.
This is actually a liberating concept, albeit a little scary (because it inevitably results in passing up work). For example, deciding up front that I will not do Flash websites frees up all the time I’d need to learn the intricacies of Flash, and I can focus on other technologies and skills. It also makes discussions with potential clients go more smoothly. If they come to me set on the idea of having a Flash site, I simply tell them I don’t do ‘em and they should find another designer. (As an aside, it’s amazing how many people at that point suddenly decide that Flash isn’t that important after all.)
This is not to say that learning new skills and technologies isn’t important; it’s critical to your professional survival. For example, I’m excited about the design possibilities that jQuery has opened up and I’m doing my best to incorporate that into what I can offer clients. But, for me anyway, letting go of the mastery of certain technologies has been a smart move.
[That said, keep in mind that I'm referring to "mastery" vs. "working knowledge." Big difference. Freelancers still should know something about everything, if only in order to decide what they can and cannot do.]