From designer to cool designer

At the moment, the labor market in the field of design is quite a large selection. There are many designers, not so good, freelancers like uncut dogs. Almost everyone who owns a profile program, for example, photoshop or even an illustrator, considers himself a designer. But the problem is that this is not enough. I want to find out who the designer is and how to become a cool designer.

There are different types of design: web, printing, interiors, industrial, landscape and many others. I do web design and branding, so I’ll talk mostly about people like me, but it’s possible that the material is applicable to other areas.
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First, let's deal with the term "design". What does it mean? There is an opinion that design is creativity, art, that without art education in any way. In part, of course, this is true, but I believe that, first and foremost, design is the solution to the problem. Especially when it comes to commercial design, where the main thing is to sell the product, to make money. Decoration, ryushechki and other nonsense, no doubt, help to achieve the desired, but they are secondary. No one needs a beautiful microwave, the power button of which is located on the back wall.

Good design: reliable, logical, functional, beautiful, pleasurable (strictly in that order).

Now about the person who calls himself a designer:
• 2 legs that bring it to work.
• 2 hands, which he presses the keys, leads the mouse or the pen.
• The head, which he thinks, looks at the monitor and in which he puts food at lunch.
• Dribble accounts, behans and elsewhere for inspiration.
• Some hobbies outside of work, for a change.

In principle, he is a normal " SPECIALIST " (key word) in his field, to become such quite real. How to pump specific skills a lot, I will not describe them. To do this, you can enroll in some educational institution, and you can learn yourself, with the help of books, the Internet, practice, practice and practice again. I am interested in much more, I am interested in the cult of the personality of a cool designer: why it is needed, what interests him, how to become one.

Why do you need it?

I want to be the best, I want to leave something behind me. Let me not write about me in textbooks or poems, I don’t need it, but I have to be sure that I am not in vain living this life. My work should benefit not only me, but also the people around me: my clients, my clients 'clients and even the children of my clients' clients.

What is interesting cool designer?

So, he is also a cool designer “MANAGER” (again the key word), in some respects and the art director (the difference between the designer and art director ) realizes:
• Design is a sales tool. In the era of market relations and a wealth of goods, everyone buys beautiful pictures and beautiful things. Aesthetics and a sense of beauty will help the designer to do things sold.
• Beauty is secondary, of course, it does not deal with deformity, but in the foreground there are working mechanisms that bring results to the project (the fashionable term is usability).
• Design is not art, it is measured, for example, by conversion. Sometimes elementary changes in design can lead to a better result.
• Design - a compromise between the requirements, objectives and ways to achieve them.
• Communication skills must be honed to perfection. Communication with colleagues, clients and in general with other people helps and not only on work topics.
• Design trends need to be known, even if they are not always worth using.
• Knowledge or understanding of the work of related industries: layout, programming, seo-optimization, marketing and so on.
• Interaction with designer colleagues (if any). It is necessary to help, ask for help, advise, train, listen, correct.
• Delegation of authority. Not everyone has this opportunity. Thanks to this, one can concentrate on the main goal, and supervise other things.
• A global approach to solving problems: an analysis of competitors, market leaders and related industries.
• Healthy perfectionism.
• Responsibility for the result. How could it be otherwise if the stakes are high?

How to become a cool designer?

The question is good and every designer should answer it for himself, because everyone has different opportunities, everyone has different resources. You can make a clear plan and follow it . Analyzing yourself helps you achieve your goal. In this case, it is important not to sit with folded hands, but to do, do and do, because the path is thorny and long