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General Discussion

Posted by Kevin Esther
Kevin Esther
8,551 Points

What are you doing in 2013 to improve you design skills

After @Allison Grayce post on the blog.

Am interested to hear from everyone how they are going to improve their design skills in 2013 and become a better designer.

This is what am doing.

  1. Copy for practice only.
  2. let practice fuel original work
  3. Diversify not just look at web design. package design etc....find out where my web design heros get their inspiration and read about their experiences, thoughts and use them as inspiration.
  4. Learn more about the history of design and learn
  5. Keep training my eye and think why a designer made their design decisions about type face, color, pattern or layout style.

I got these ideas from Jessica Hische [Inspiration vs. Imitation]http://jessicahische.is/thinkingthoughtsoninspiration)

Allison also mentioned about time management. For me I keep it simple. I choose 3 MITs and work on them. If procrastination sets in. I just sit back and say to myself just make a start. It works for me.

When your a new designer it is tough. The periods of creating work that does not meet up to your taste is frustrating and could lead you to quit. Am not giving up. Sticking with it. If do get frustrated I normal watch inspiring videos.

short video on creativitiy

I do find that Photoshop tutorials do not help.I stay away. Studying other designs and code makes more sense to me and practice, practice and even more practice.

What are you going to do in 2013?

1 Answer

Jeffrey Vierra
Jeffrey Vierra
25,404 Points
Jeffrey Vierra
Jeffrey Vierra
25,404 Points

I personally am moving from the Programing world into front end Web Development. Although I feel I have the creative eye for design, I lack the skills to carry my mental images into fruition. One approach I am taking on design is -

Create Mock Projects from start to finish. Meaning I actually go through the Scope Of Work process as if I was with a customer. Filling out a scope of work and creating a short time frame to complete the project.

To quote one of my favorite books on design: 37 Signals - Getting Things Done

"Constraints force creativity

Run on limited resources and you’ll be forced to reckon with constraints earlier and more intensely, And that’s a good thing. Constraints drive innovation. Constraints also force you to get your idea out in the wild sooner rather than later – another good thing. . "

By defining my mock project and creating a short time frame. I design and implement the site. I've found that this practice seems to work for me and drive creativity in my work.

I tend to learn and find the most creative ideas by actually working on projects and not cloud-gazing .

One final Note

"The Real Thing Leads to Agreement When a group of different people set out to try and find out what is harmonious...their opinions about it will tend to converge if they are mocking up full-scale, real stuff. Of course, if they’re making sketches or throwing out ideas, they won’t agree. But, if you start making the real thing, one tends to reach agreement. "

Christopher Alexander, Emeritus Professor of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley ( from Contrasting Concepts of Harmony in Architecture)