What I Wish I Learned at University as a Designer
Intro
My University Life
At uni, I was a pretty standard student. Went to the lectures and tutorials that I loved, skipped the ones that I hated that weren’t mandatory. I was studying a double degree in IT and Multimedia. I didn’t live on campus but at the same time I pretty much lived in the computer lab on a healthy dieat of 2-minute noodles and energy drinks. Four years later, I completed my two bachelor degrees with majors in It marketing and management and graphic design.
What I did learn
I learned the tools (Adobe suite), I learned how to interact with other designers, I learned how to be on time and I learned how to pull all-nighters to get shit done.
What I wish I learned how to:
Empathise
Understand problems outside of your comfort zone. Unfortunately, uni never taught me how to deal with stakeholders, clients, developers and other people outside of the design world. When I left uni, I didn’t know why people just didn’t understand my lingo and I couldn’t understand theirs. Understanding people’s reasoning behind their decisions is a real important skill. Don’t take everything at face value, dig a little deeper and try to see it from the other person’s point of view.
Criticise
This is a big one. When showing work at uni, I often felt like all the designers I learned alongside were being soft on me. I don’t know if they didn’t care about giving critique or they didn’t know how to, but I wish they did. I came up through uni in the belief that everything I did was awesome. I quickly learned that I wasn’t once I had left. When I do ask for a critique on my work I often find myself saying, “Be harsh. Don’t worry, I can take it”. It sucks, but it seems sometimes the only way to get someone’s real opinion of work. Again, I always ask why they had that opinion so I know if it was an informed comment or it was just them having a shitty day and taking it out on me. When someone tells me to critique their work I find myself saying, “I’m going to be blunt”. It’s usually followed by a sheepish, “OK” or an enthusiastic, “Go for it!”. I prefer talking to people who say the latter, I then often go back to them for critique on my projects. I try to be as honest as possible and offer reasoning and possible solutions to the problem as well. If you truly want to improve yourself and your work you will let people criticise your work, don’t be Roy.
Learn
I know, it sounds weird that I wish I learned how to learn. What I mean is, you should always be learning, never be comfortable with your current knowledge. When I graduated I thought that, that’s it I’m done. I sufficiently know enough about graphic design to get a job and live happily ever after.
I now consume a lot of information on design, development, tech and other cool shit on a daily basis. Getting ready for work I flick through my Twitter feed. On my commute I listen to podcasts. When I’m walking to lunch I’m reading articles on Designer News. Before I go to bed I turn on F.lux and watch a few videos.
Iterate
Always be creating and refining everything you do and design. I sort of learned how to do this at uni through logo creation and other assignments but iterating my workflow, how I approach certain briefs, etc was left out. Not only that, iterate and improve yourself everyday. Now, I’m constantly on the lookout for ways to make everything in my life more efficient.
Be Mentored
Get advice from someone close to you you can learn a lot quicker. The person doesn’t necessarily have to have the same skill set as you, they just need to know something you want to learn. This kind of learning helps you skip over the mistakes they had to go through and time is money.
Be Stress-free
Learn what makes you feel stressed and learn how to get over it. It may be a deadline, it may be a money, whatever it is find what the source is and what aggravates it. That’s the hardest part, diagnosing the problem. For me, I often find going for a walk/exercise or watching a TV show works in calming me down. But then I make plans to defeat it. Divide and conquer.
Like what you see? Get in touch!
Kieran Black
D&K
