10 reasons why designers throw design

Based on the observations of Kelvin Cox, I will try to formulate 10 main reasons that prevent designers from developing their potential and becoming professionals. Working as a designer, our overseas colleague for a long time tried to understand what prevents him from developing. And after long reflections a list of the main reasons for the “designer stupor” was compiled.

Market glut

The design market has become global. Now, for example, a designer from Minsk can easily make a project for a customer from Los Angeles. This is the cause of serious competition, because now almost any freelancer can work with no particular effort remotely from anywhere in the world. At the same time, this is a huge plus, because it is thanks to the Internet that the entire huge market of design with its needs is available to everyone, even a novice designer.

Become professionals in your field. If you clearly define your niche in the market, you will be more visible and competitive. For example, it will be only information design sites or only online shopping. Due to the global market, any chosen niche will not be narrowly focused, because almost always there will be demand for it.
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Bad start

Career designer can begin with a weighty and meaningful project for you. In this case, you risk being disappointed in the next project and give up, losing any interest in it.

Do not forget that very few people become rich and successful in a short time. Start by creating a good portfolio, develop professional skills, communicate with more experienced colleagues in the workshop, learn from their experience. Among the many friends in LJ, on freelance sites, blogs, or on Habré, try to find experts in their field and potential customers.

Wrong Costs

It's no secret that the money invested in your business can return a hundredfold. Another thing is that they need to invest wisely. We can spend a thousand dollars on renting advertising space on a freelance website to draw attention to ourselves. But the result may not be as impressive as we would like, and money can be wasted.

Calm, only calm. It would be wiser to make the first investment in the future. For example, undergo design training, buy a powerful computer, a professional monitor, or make yourself a stunning portfolio site. Or buy, in the end, a license for Photoshop. Better yet do it all together. And only then strive for new heights.

Money up front

Before you start work, the designer usually wants to receive an advance payment. It is important for the potential client to know how professional the chosen freelancer is in the field he needs. For this you need to have a good portfolio, then you can count on prepayment and trust. If you still cannot boast of such, then at first you will have to work without a deposit. On the one hand, it is less reliable, but there is a good opportunity to collect work in the portfolio and make useful contacts with employers.

The unknown

As in any business, you need to pay attention to the design market. Post your work in public blogs, do not skimp on business cards for friends and acquaintances. Surprise with an interesting design so that the images from your site can be crossed by other bloggers with a link to you.

Ask for advice and ask experts to criticize your work on the forums. Remember that just one of your site is not enough for a successful freelancer. Most business acquaintances I make on designer communities and freelance sites. So join the community of like-minded people, but do not forget about your portfolio.

You will not please everyone

Remember that it is impossible to please everyone at once. In the words of one of my friends (a bearded boy of 40 years), "I'm not a sweet girl to please everyone." At the same time, he correctly chose his target audience: he was loved precisely by cute and beautiful girls. The opinion of the others was of little interest to him. So you can work in pleasure - to make a design that will please you. In this case, your like-minded people will love your work. And they can become your market niche as customers.

Fear of criticism

This problem is faced by almost every designer at the beginning of his career. If you do not understand that criticism for design is useful, it can lead to the fact that you will show your work only to those people who are guaranteed not to say anything bad about them. It must be remembered that criticism is necessary for professional development.

Lack of individuality

Any designer should have his own vision of the world. Do not try to be like everyone else, you need to look for your individuality. Novice designers have a lot of time to work on developing their own style . This can be either an approach to the choice of colors for the layout, or branded "chips": lines, folds, gradients, or the lack thereof. As Gosha Kutsenko shaved his head and made it his business card, so you are different from the crowd of faceless "creatives" in a unique style.

Have a plan? No plan

To succeed, it’s not enough just to be a good designer. You need to define a goal for yourself (open a studio, conquer the Romanian market, enslave the world, etc.), divide it into tasks and gradually solve them. Try each next project to bring yourself closer to achieving your goal.

Lack of motivation

Many talented designers do not succeed due to lack of motivation . The path to success usually requires a lot of time and effort. And while you reach some heights, you will find a lot of disappointments and difficulties. Usually more than you expect. Despite this, you need to remember your goal and continue to work. The only serious mistake will stop moving forward, and the rest can be solved. So do not despair if something does not work, and you will succeed. As the saying goes, “patience and hard work all over.”

Of course, these are not all the problems that await the designer on a creative path, but if you don’t despair and read my blog, you can succeed. What I wish for you!

Original article in my blog.
According to Kelvin Cox .

I would like to hear your comments about the article. What difficulties did you face and how did you solve them?