This may not be what you want to hear, but it’s what you need to hear.

Overview

I have been asked so many times that it’s not even funny anymore: how do you make it as a designer?

That can be both a tough question and answer for anyone; I should know, because I’ve done it myself.

Today I’m going to share with you how you actually make it in this industry, how to do it the right way, and how to do it without loosing your mind.

Understanding the industry

The first thing you have to do in order to make it in this industry, is that you have to understand it.

You make money by helping other people make money.

Let that sit for just a minute and read that again if you need to, trust me its worth it to know by heart. Every dollar that you make as a designer is garnered basically by selling someone else future money at a discount.

Understanding your role in the industry

Brochures, business cards, logos, user interfaces, user experiences, IA diagrams, design systems, doesn’t matter. All of those things are just a means to an end: helping people make money.

This is not to say that you won’t have some fun, onesy-twosey projects that are for direct consumption like funny shirts or wedding invitations, but the lion’s share of your professional work will be done for the direct, specific purpose of helping someone else make money.

The more money you help them make, the more money you stand to make yourself. That’s the reason why UI/UXers make more than most standard GD’s; because they help a business or corporate entity design a product that reaches more customers, delivers more value, and captures more capital in return.

What about being a business owner?

You certainly can be and in the end that’s probably where you’ll want to end up being, but know this: the function of design listed above doesn’t change.

Design is communication or the medium of exchange, information, product(s), service(s), or experience(s) for payment.

That is the essence of how design makes money, and scaled up there is certainly money to be made for a designer who understands this concept.

What do I need to know?

Crucially to be an effective, modern designer that is modular, flexible, and can deliver on short notice across a variety of mediums, you will need to know the following:

• Print design (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat, Typography/type-speccing, general print design standards/margins/bleeds/etc. for common business marketing collateral).
• Web/UI design (Responsive/Multi-device design considerations/patterns, Adobe XD/Figma/Sketch, HTML, CSS, some JavaScript, and a little jQuery for good measure, but stay away from JS frameworks).
• UX design (User psychology, user research, research analysis, conceptualization, IA diagramming, project planning, user testing, design validation, how to talk to people openly).
• Holistic design thinking (designing with systems, pattern libraries, scalable design, component-based design, understanding what’s possible and practical for your team as approaches).
• How to be calm (dead serious, how to keep a calm, cool, level head under pressure, and how to keep your team calm when its utter chaos).

Literally Google any of these terms plus the word “tutorial” and you will find a boatload of content to get you started.

How do I get my foot in the door?

Step 1: portfolio

In short, no one cares about what you say you can do, what they are interested in is what you can prove you can do.

Remember the rule of our industry:
You make money by helping other people make money.

This means that you have to show other people that you can help them make money by doing something for them that they can’t do themselves, and that is valuable enough to others, in part or whole, to sell and make money.

Work on your portfolio like your life, career, and future depend on it, because as a designer, they do.

I want you doing no less than a project a week, whether you’re a novice or a professional. This is because there’s 52 weeks in a year, and even if only 20% of those projects make the cut for your best work you’ll still be getting better exponentially faster than if you were only thinking about doing it.

Step 2: pitch your value compassionately

Never treat a job like you’re applying for a position. No, you are a designer who is looking to service clients, however they may be presented to you.

They may come in the form of employers, co-workers, board members, actual end-customers, or professionals somewhere else in the supply chain.

The point is that you need to pitch your value compassionately here and have empathy for their real needs.

Remember your value = how you make others feel x what you help them do x how easy you make the process for them.

Step 3: practice constantly

Never let it be said that you didn’t practice your craft. Practice every single day and have a morgue or set of content that you keep as a morgue just in case. Many times projects that you set down and thought were dead will come back in a new form at the proper time down the road.

Your practice is what makes you proficient. Not your titles, accolades, or theoretical approaches. Practice constantly.

Step 4: connect with other people

In order to be successful, you need to build a robust network of people from all walks of life. Let yourself unfurl into the professional ether via platforms like LinkedIn, go to conferences, meetups, or networking events, but to make real friends, not just to talk about what you do.

Your most challenging goal will be to create real, meaningful connections with others by taking a genuine interest in who they are as people and what they do that they value.

Important proverbs from the industry

• “The one who assumes first, loses. Assume nothing.”
• “A project always takes twice as long and cost twice as much as you think it will, plan accordingly.”
• “Your users are more complex than you think, get to know them.”
• “Designing with no plan is like sailing with no navigation.”
• “Let your best work today be your worst work tomorrow.”
• “Never trust InDesign, preflight your PDFs in Acrobat too.”
• “You either win or you learn.”
• “Focus on your customer, not other companies.”
• “Don’t compete, create.”

Let’s talk about that last one as your final takeaway, and most important lesson you can ever learn about this industry.

Don’t compete, create

In the design industry, you will face constant, mounting pressure to “stay competitive,” in the wake of near daily change.

Don’t buy it, and don’t believe the hype.

Remember, your job is not to keep up with the latest fads, trends, paradigms, or other such nonsense. No, all tried and true design principles have existed for epochs and shall continue to exist long after we are all gone.

The trick to succeeding in this industry, and I would argue in life in general, is not to compete, but rather to create.

Create the works that you want to see in the world. Create things that inspire you, things that astound and astonish you. Create things that you want to create.

There will always be someone who can do it better, faster, cheaper than you. Don’t worry about it.

Focus solely on creating, and your competition will become irrelevant.

Nick Lawrence Design
Website | Portfolio