10 Other Valuable Advice for Newbie Designers

This post is a continuation of our previous article: 10 Great Advice from Designer to Designer. I think by learning the designer experience and follow their advice like – “Be careful, Trends come and go”; “never stop practicing, learning, evolving and experiencing new things”; “Avoid the vacuum, be humble, laugh and more advice” – you’ll avoid and learn from their mistakes.

Here are the other 10 valuable advice for newbie designers that will help you to become a good and successful designer.

1. Jan Martin

One of my best learnings is to be careful with trends. Trends come and go. Some are good and will return, and some will leave you feeling embarrassed in the future. I’m trying to focus on the fundamentals, which will always work, allowing me to interpret current trends but not rely on them.

For instance, I’ve stopped using Dribbble. If you design for yourself or your own company, you should always strive for unique design and visual communication. But if you look like anyone else, you will lose an important advantage. Don’t implement anything you see on Dribbble into your work. It might work for that designer, but maybe not for your product. In the end, it will help you more if you find your own solutions. If you need inspiration, go to a museum; there is a reason why those works are in a museum.

About the designer:
Jan grew up in the small city of Brandenburg, about 70 kilometers south of Berlin. After graduating from the Berlin Design Academy with a degree in Communication Design, he cofounded 6Wunderkinder (literally, “6 wonder kids”) back in 2010. Since then, he has been the company’s lead designer, responsible for the visual design of the popular Wunderlist and the company’s website, blog, social-network sites and branding.

Source: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2013/12/13/interview-with-designer-jan-martin/

2. Liran Szeiman

Pursuing what you love is one of the best choices anyone could make, but this implies to never stop practicing, learning, evolving and experiencing new things. When you feel comfortable with what you do, find new challenges and goals because you can always improve. Just follow your dreams!

About the designer:
Liran Szeiman is a talented digital artist from Spain with a unique style that fuses dark and cute elements into her illustrations. She has contributed her work to incredible art collectives like Hysterical Minds.

Source: http://psd.tutsplus.com/articles/inspiration/interview-with-illustrator-liran-szeiman/

3. Thomas Tibitanzl a.k.a. deZane

It is a long and hard learning process until you feel comfortable at what you are doing, but the results will speak for yourself and your inner voice will guide you onto the right path. Nobody was born as a prodigy, everyone went through the same procedure, even professionals learn everyday, it is a never ending cycle that’s why it is so thrilling.

There is no formula or secret, it is just hard work, passion, dedication and how much effort you put into your work…

About the designer:
Thomas Tibitanzl, or deZane, his artist name, is a self-taught Digital Artist and Designer who currently lives in Munich. Thomas grew up in the golden city of Prague and at an early age he established with his family in Germany. His works have been featured in magazines such as Advanced Photoshop UK, GER, NL, artzMania, Blanket Magazine, Digital Arts, Initiativa Colectiva, NewWebPick, Photoshop Creative UK, PixelArts, Semi-Permanent, Territory Magazine and more…

Source: http://www.pixel77.com/interview-digital-artist-thomas-tibitanzl-aka-dezane/

4. Mike Busby

The only advice I can really give is keep working as hard as you can, never give up, believe in yourself and constantly try to make each design better than the last. If you don’t code I would encourage you to start, if you’re a web designer of course, I believe front end coding is design, a PSD mock is nothing if it’s not coded properly. It will make you a better designer.

About the designer:
Mike Busby is a designer, front end developer and PHP developer currently living and working in Toronto, Canada. Born and raised in London, England.

Source: http://jourrrnal.com/mikebusby/

5. Benjamin Dauer

Here are some lessons for you, in no particular order:

• Be an active listener.
  When asking qs, try to thoughtfully engage your audience. Don’t just listen for what you want to hear.
• Remove yourself from the equation.
  More often than not, the work you are doing is not about you. It is about your audience.
• Avoid the vacuum.
  Whenever possible, don’t work alone. Talk with people, whether they are your teammates or guerrilla testers in a cafe. Solicit input and feedback as often as possible, and remember your audience.
• Be humble.
  Know when you’re right, and know when you’re wrong.
• Be honest.
  Be honest with yourself, with your team and with your time.
• Pay respect.
  We’re all in this together, and we all have people to thank.
• Don’t be afraid to fail.
  Challenge yourself at all times, and learn from every experience — good and bad.
• Learn to say no.
  This can be the hardest lesson to learn, but also one of the most important.
• Laugh.
  We all want to live longer, right? Enjoy what you do.

About the designer:
Unlike many designers, Benjamin never formally trained at a design school. Instead, he learned his skills through observation, self-directed study and work experience. He currently is senior product designer at National Public Radio (NPR). Prior to that, he was lead product designer at SoundCloud, a position that took him and his wife to Berlin, where he helped to shape the audio service across multiple platforms. Away from his desk, he is an experimental musician and composer.

Source: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2013/12/06/berlin-designer-interview-benjamin-dauer-npr/

6. Yu Cheng Hong

Keep working with passion and practice makes it perfect.

About the designer:
Yu Cheng Hong is a very talented artist from Taiwan. Yu Cheng is a well known skilled digital artist, creating some of the most beautiful characters and illustrations. Take a look at the concepts, the level of detail, the colors and and shapes, his artwork is simply amazing!

Source: http://www.pixel77.com/interview-talented-artist-yu-cheng-hong/

7. Gil Huybrecht

I would say, do what you wanna do! And don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it. Also when you make something and you don’t like it… Don’t be like pff i’m quitting.. See it as a motivation to try harder and get beter at it!

About the designer:
Gil Huybrecht is a great Web & UI designer from Antwerp, Belgium. He has been designing for 3 years now. And mostly design for websites and user interfaces for mobile.

Source: http://jourrrnal.com/gil-huybrecht/

8. Raphael Vicenzi

Work a lot, get inspired by your own personal life, be curious of everything, don’t listen to peer pressure, trust your vision but learn to be able to change your mind about what you think is right because sometimes you won’t be.

About the designer:
Raphael Vicenzi a.k.a. Mydeadpony is a very talented sefl-taught artist from Brussels, Belgium. He is represented by the illustrator agency Colagene, so you can find most of his works there, among some of the most gifted artists. Raphael’s influence in his artwork comes from fashion, street art and graffiti.

Source: http://www.pixel77.com/interview-artist-raphael-vicenzi/

9. Cory Say

Be yourself, get rid of the ego attitude, love what you do and find what you are good at it and do it. Learn all you can, be teachable and teach.

About the designer:
Cory Say is a great designer and art director from Garland, USA. He makes really cool hand letterings and illustrations.

Source: http://jourrrnal.com/cory-say/

10. Jessica Harllee

Ask a lot of questions. Look at a lot of work, both product design and otherwise. Paper can be just as powerful of a tool as a computer. Never stop learning.

About the designer:
Jessica Harllee is a designer in Brooklyn, New York. She work at Kickstarter and spend her days surrounded by incredible projects. Previously she was worked as a designer at Modea, a digital ad agency in the mountains of Virginia.

Source: http://www.designworklife.com/2013/12/11/interview-with-product-designer-jessica-harllee/