How to become a popular designer without special education and talent

Many people think that design is talent. I will not deny that talent is a factor that positively affects the designer’s professionalism. But, at the same time, I am sure that practically everyone can become a good designer. I will tell you by my example how I managed to achieve quite good results in less than two years.


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Who am i

Now I am 20. Two years ago, I realized that the institute would not give me everything I needed and began to develop independently. The results came quickly. Six months later, I started a website for a startup, working two days a week. At first, I constantly had to correct the wrong indents and sizes, since I practically knew nothing about the design and did not consider it important. But less than a year, as I began to design systems, costing several hundred thousand rubles.

Why am I writing this?

Peers began to notice my results, and throughout the year they often asked the same question: “How to become a designer?”. At first I didn’t know how to answer it and thought that the main thing was the feeling of taste (Haha. I remembered my old works). It all really began, but to go to the next level required something else. Since then, more than six months have passed and now I understand what things have helped me to develop faster.

How to become a designer

I note immediately that I am not a cool designer. I have room to grow, but even today's results allow me to write this article. At 19 years old, I could already afford to fly to Barcelona for a couple of weeks, earning the necessary amount for this for a month of part-time work. I agree that in every success there is a bit of luck, but the lucky one is lucky :). So, turn to the point.

Looking back at my experience, I highlighted three things that helped me develop in the field of design.

Copying

Austin Cleon wrote an excellent book, “Steal as an artist,” which was loved by many designers. Her main advice - do not hesitate to copy the work of other designers. Someone might think that in this case their own style is lost. But it is not. Hundreds of viewed works will only be the foundation for your imagination. Having studied them, you will understand the basic principles of building an interface. Then it all depends on your imagination.

Here are the sites that I view almost daily:

awwwards.com
dribbble.com
pinterest.com
land-book.com

Even in my short career in design, I often have to deal with similar tasks. In order to narrow the search, I (and almost all) use the service Pinterest, which allows you to collect collections of works organized by thematic boards. This will help when you need to view the work on one topic, for example, "profile page" or "news sites."

Practice

Practice is more important than theory. I think you and yourself will want to copy your favorite concept of the site and applications. Feel free to do this. Only with experience will you be able to create something worthwhile.

To practice you need a tool. I, like many designers, work on a Mac. Since I switched to Apple, my efficiency has increased. If this is not possible - do not despair. Most designers started with Windows.

Popular applications for design:

Sketch I like it, and since I switched to Mac, I only work in it.
Photoshop
Illustrator
...

It is important to immediately collect the best work in the portfolio. Most clients find me in my work at Behance, despite the fact that I'm lazy to keep it up to date.

Taste

Taste is really important. He is difficult to teach. It seemed to me that it is innate, but over the past month I have changed my point of view.

I believe that taste can be “trained”. For this it is important to be inspired by good examples from the sites that I cited above. And not only in IT. While reading magazines, watch the layout of the text. Walking, look around. If you like something, think about why. Be inspired. It is important.

What else

Good design is expensive. But do not focus on money or beautiful offices of design studios. Design can be boring if it's not your business. But if you, like me, can sit for minutes and look at a well-laid out text, then only discipline separates you from the result.

Successes!

Design will save the world!

a photo