Get Better.
You know looks matter. Sometimes it doesn’t seem fair, but they do. If they didn’t, super models would be waiting tables. While it may be that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, I don’t think it applies to good design. Anyone who has been in this field for a few years can begin to tell the difference in a good design and a bad one. Even the good ones, you might judge with a critical eye and look for things that you would change, given the opportunity. Great design is what your success depends on a lot of the time and if your design is lacking then your income would probably be directly affected.
Kent Shaffer of Bombay Creative hits the nail on the head:
“That is why it is vital to have great design because those who know nothing about you will judge you by your appearance. Aesthetics are a powerful thing. Whether graphic design or product design, your appearance shapes how others perceive you.”
Are you where you want to be in your career as a freelancer? If not, I encourage you: get better. Get good at what you do. You might be pretty decent at it now, but getting better will never hurt. This article comes out of my personal desire to become a better designer. I think I’m already pretty good at it, but heaven forbid that I stop learning how to improve. Mark my words: the moment you stop learning to hone your craft is the moment you stop advancing.
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Filed under Career, Design, Freelancing, Misc.
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Great post. The question then becomes how to get better.
I saw a TED podcast about design recently that inspired me to think about Web design in a larger sense. I think it made me a better desiger, and a designer better able to articulate what I think about design.
The talk is “Treating design as art” by Paola Antonelli, design curator at New York’s MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/207.
A quick summary:
Good design addresses the useful and functional characteristics, as well as visual appeal. Designers synthesize the technologies. The functional and visual are fused via the possibilities of the medium into a design that makes it more than the sum of its parts.
I think Web designers do this as a part of the process, and it is what customers pay us for, whether they realize it or whether they just “need a Website”.
In terms of growth as a designer, this and other excellent work about design can give a framework to think about our own craft.
I am actively looking for other resources like this. If anyone has any to share, please pass them along.
Comment by Dianne Bengtson — Mar 1, 2008 @ 1:26pm