12 week sketch marathon, do or die

Surely you have seen many colorful and meaningless interfaces in my Dribbble or Behance tape over the past 4 months :) If not, this was a 12 week sketch marathon in which I did 1 shot every day for 12 weeks (including weekends). Below I will talk about what came of it.

This article will be useful for those who are planning to commit a similar desperate action, but only thinks to start.
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4th Week (Friday) - Date App Info

1. Why “12 week marathon” and not “Daily UI”

This is a question that I was asked more than 2 dozen times :) The answer is both simple and complex - the Daily UI is very simple and this is not what I needed.

I had several criteria for which daily ui did not fit

• Time had to fit into the 12 week stage, as there were more tasks for this period of time.

• I wanted to pump a skill in a sketch, since 95% of all my work is done in it.

• I wanted to pump the mobile UI, because there was not a lot of work in the portfolio and this fact was very frustrating.

Actually, the name was born “12 weekly sketch marathon”. Primitive, maybe, but very clear.

2. What useful can be learned from the marathon?

Work speed

At the very beginning shots were given very hard, because I wanted to make a new product every day. After a week of work, it became clear that making a product was not a one-day business and there appeared an understanding that it should be a conceptual UI.


2nd Week (Sunday) - Dating App

Innings

I finally became convinced that users appreciate the shot as a whole, that is, not only the product itself, but also the environment, including colors, shadows, etc. Often the work went into the TOP simply because of the well-chosen colors.


6th Week (Sunday) - Your Mood

Mobile UI Skills

For me, mobile has never seemed to be something difficult, probably because I have been involved in interfaces in which more data and their organization. During the marathon, thanks to feedback from subscribers, I discovered several details that I had not previously considered.

• A smartphone is a more interactive device for interacting with the user, in the interface of which you can not only tap, but also pin and zoom :) The most important thing is to make these actions obvious in design.

• Basic controls should be at the bottom and in the center of the screen, because when using a smartphone with one hand, control often takes place with one thumb.

• Users are more ready for non-standard elements in mobile than in web.

6th Week (Thursday) - Search Area

3. What will the marathon be useful for?

I recently read an article by Tobias Schneider about meaningless shots at dribbble and totally agree with him. I think that marathons are great for beginners or designers who need to quickly fill the cones, fill out a portfolio and pump skills.

4. What will help you before starting?

First of all, I want to warn those who want to start a marathon just to raise the number of subscribers or pick up orders, it will not work. 10 successful shots will be much more efficient than the whole marathon.

For those who still decided to start, for you I have prepared a list of recommendations below.

Better have a plan

Somewhere in the middle of the marathon, I ran out of ideas for shots. Next, the lion's share of time had to spend it on finding ideas. In the end, everything became so bad that the time to invent an idea took 2 times longer than creating shots. Therefore, I advise you not to rush into an adventure, but have a clear plan.

Post shots at the same time

Before I understand this simple thing, it took me 2 weeks. Thank God there are caring people who explained that they like to follow the marathon, but they do not have time to put a like that day if the shot was posted in the evening.

Use more contrast

It would also seem an obvious rule that many designers rarely use.


2nd Week (Thursday) - Product Card

The concepts are good

Concepts allow for a good implementation of ideas in other projects. The level of elaboration of course suffers greatly, but the idea can be immediately tested.


2nd Week (Friday) - Smart Termostat

5. What not to do

Do not start a marathon during trips or other events

During the marathon, my studio moved, I was on several business trips, as well as on winter rest. Frankly, it is very difficult to combine a marathon with other events. Therefore, choose a period of calm in matters that do not have much work.

Stop Marathon

Everything is simple, you can not give up their words :) He said - did.

Spamming

It is not worth sharing every day your new shot on facebook or behance. People do not like when they tape the tape with one and the same. It will be enough to post the most successful shots that everyone can appreciate.


3rd Week (Saturday) - Select Date

Put the marathon in last place

The marathon takes a lot of energy, so it’s advisable to create a shot at the beginning of the day until your head is full of other things. If you leave the creation of a shot in the evening, you risk quickly burn out and quit the case.

Expect everyone to like this idea.

I’ll say so, everyone is frankly fed up with these UI challenges, so many people can make your decision skeptical, and also ignore your undertakings altogether. I advise you to prepare for this.

6.Conclusion

It was a busy 4 months in my life. After 3 weeks, I still find myself thinking that I forgot to post a shot on Dribbble.

Anyone who wants to start a marathon, but has not yet decided, I hope that my article will help, because in my case it was an adventure for which, as it turned out, I was not ready.

All the shots you can see on Dribbble and the most popular shot at Behance , I will be grateful if you like the ones that you like.

PS The article turned out to be quite popular on Medium , I decided to publish it in the Russian translation in Habré. Therefore, I create a survey to know how interesting this material will be for you.