You don’t have to be involved in the technology field to know that technology moves on and it moves on fast! In the three years, I have been practising web and graphic design I have seen coding and new devices appear on the market making the digital designer’s job harder each day. At times you will think to yourself I may get out of touch in my Industry. Don’t get left behind in design by creating routines and following simple steps…
I’m aware it can be quite daunting to consider how many coding languages are out there and knowing that it is important that you at least have a basic handle of the most important ones, I remember chasing my tail when I first started in the industry. But when the new technology comes along you feel like you are starting to fall behind in the race to be the best designer around.
But fear not fellow designers, there are ways to stop feeling as though you are in the sinking sand of no mands land and keep your head firmly above water by following this 5 step guide so you don’t get left behind in design.
1 ) Time management
Most jobs in design are 9am to 5:30pm (unless you have a deadline approaching for a major project then you can maybe consider 11:30pm more likely, aaaanyway ), 1 hour to travel to your job and one hour back, that leaves 4 hours of an evening to eat, recharge and sleep, not much time for self development ay?
The best way to make the most of this 4 hour evening is to allocate at least 1 hour to learning something new a night. How can you do it if you need to be social with your buddies, play your Xbox and watch the latest episode of Star Trek? It’s all about the schedule.
Although it may seem geeky, I have created a spreadsheet that I try to adhere to as much as possible and I try to identify places I am wasting my time. Simply creating a timetable, even if you don’t stick to it, can help you realise that maybe you can free up an hour here or there to help advance your ability in design.
2 ) Online Tutorials
Teamtreehouse, Lynda.com, and Youtube.com are just three places you can advance your skills. If you know you have a particular weakness, say in javascript or jquery then focus on tutorials to do with that.
Teamtreehouse is an excellent tool to get to grips with the basics of each main coding language and can recommend it for new, wannabe designers or even people like myself who simply want to brush up their skills.
3 ) Blog about it
Blogging is not only a really kind and generous way of sharing information with the world but it is also beneficial to re-enforce what you learnt in your previous self study time.
Blogging has lots of benefits as it will create new content for your website, it will help the people who are visiting your website understand specific topics and also make you look like a guru on your particular topic ( of which you are becoming).
Don’t forget to visit and comment on other people’s blogs, do it about 10 times a day and you will soon become one of the top bloggers in your industry.
4 ) Do your own projects so you don’t get left behind in design
Once you feel confident enough try creating your own design projects.
I regularly come up with various ideas for startups and have a few under wraps behind the scenes till it is at a level to make live. Even if you never make it live those projects will help you become a better designer to help your future clients.
5 ) Excercise, meditate and relax
Lastly, something I sometimes forget is to enjoy yourself! Taking time out for yourself can recharge your batteries and excercise in particular is scientifcally proven to improve your mood so will give you the motivation when you are snowed under with work because of your improved mood.
Remember, no matter what level your design skills are at currently all the excellent design work you see on the web has taken years to master.
Try not to be too hard on yourself and keep trying to improve yourself and eventually you will get there. Do you have any tips to ensure you gain new skills and abilities so you don’t get left behind in design? Please comment below