How to design: How to win the title of designer

Article Description: The pseudo designers overwhelmed the professionals.

Thanks to Facebook, I was able to get a lot of anecdotes and people's immediate desires quite quickly. When I noticed a graphic designer friend updating the status on the Fecebook said: "I spent the afternoon riding an excellent palomino, Milton Glaser." "I was sweating all over the keyboard and just trying to earn enough money for meals and medicine every week."

I don't mind that much, but I don't like the way they try to talk to me about how to design it, as if they have a more important role in the industry or in my work and career.

Except for those manic and delusional people, everyone else is good. I'm thankful for one thing: I'm not their spouse, I'm trying to do a full-time job, you'll also see updates to the status on Facebook: "I went swimming today, and I drank a lot of Marguerite when I was thinking about the next design (mainly from tequila and all kinds of orange and lime juice, A short drink usually consumed after a meal). I might make a best-selling children's book! ”

How to win the title of designer

The focus of discussion is often on how busy designers are--more precisely, in a brutal environment full of real-life cat-catching diseases-how free they are and why they are so busy.

Everyone can be a designer today. The phenomenon is blamed on the existence of personal home computers. Using Microsoft's words, anyone who can design a junk Sale flyer or bulletin for a child's birthday party can be called a "designer." Some people will argue that those people are not "professional" designers.
What is the difference between professional and unprofessional? What is really important? In my opinion, there are many factors.
You may be a real designer if you are in compliance with the following list of situations:

• You are such a strange child: while other children are working hard, you draw pictures in textbooks, and other children will tell their teacher that you did not study hard;
• You rely on design to make a living, or at least a large part of your income comes from design (as is the case with economics);
• Colleagues consider you as a professional designer;
• Because of something you've designed, your name will appear somewhere on the first page of Google.
• When your relatives asked you to design a logo for their new company, you wanted the Lightning to kill you at the dinner table.
• You want a stranger who wants you to design a website that can pay you 50 dollars;
• You will worry about a customer's ability to pay, afraid of affecting you to rent and eat;
• You'll be complaining about having to buy some ridiculously expensive design publications.
• You are angry and call those who design magazines "overrated Hackers";
• When you have to use pirated design software, you will consider pretending to be invisible;
• You know the difference between RGB and CMYK and they are not the name of the TV station;
• Do you think the mass outsourcing and design competition is eroding the design of this industry;
• You swore that your child would never go to art school;
• You start to realize some of the ideas in this article

If you are in the following situations, you are probably pretending to be a professional designer:

• When you were a child, you were a student who told the teacher that some children were doodling in textbooks.
• When a relative lets you design a logo for their company, you will be excited to tell your admirers through Twitter.
• When you go to a group of people who are talking about a design case, they roll their eyes, become silent and quickly spread out-and you stay in the content they just talked about;
• You just burned your house because you were arrested or smoking in bed, and so on the Google homepage;
• You're excited about a 50 dollar reward for designing a website;
• Your sweetheart pays all the bills and you don't know where the checkbook is and you don't care about it.
• You subscribe to every design magazine and put them on the coffee table, but you never read them.
• Even if you read these design magazines, you are genuinely anxious about the people who are jealous of the publications.
• Often in the 24 hours before the release, you let your partner purchase the latest version of Adobe CS for you. Your lover did, but only to block your mouth;
• You let your kids register at every art school in town and keep yelling at your kids about how sloppy and lazy their work is, until they cry;
• You think this article is very bad, and I am a fool

Why these distinctions are so important

We deal with "The design of committee members" almost every day, and these committee members think we are too stupid to do our job right, or that they are better off because of the company's hierarchy and the thought process.

In the eyes of customers, it is not helpful to ask other "designers" for help and to reject our design. Have you ever heard of a customer offering a low salary and said to the designer: "Our last designer did this for only 50 dollars!" ”。 Then the designer will certainly ask, "What do you ask to keep him/her from doing this project?" "The answer will be that he/she is not as good as you.

Some customers want you to do a certain job first to make sure you are up to the job you are going to give you. Have you spoken to such a client? They did so because the previous designer had screwed up the work they had given them. Professional design work has also suffered from this trouble.

Altitude Associates is the founder of a creative agency in San Francisco and a "100 Publications Program" (A global art experiment that allows publications to be passed from one person to another). Brian Singer is the agency's creative director and founder. During the last Phoenix Design week, as a major speaker, he made a statement about the design community and how to grow it.

Singer said: "The way to make progress in design is to improve the design ability of people around you." "What a good suggestion!"

It's also true that this is a different way of saying that people around you will make your design worse.

There are other occupations in which amateurs are involved. Actors, authors, and even dancers are affected by these people, who have no talent but want to squeeze into the circle of gifted people. Imagine if American Idol (American Idol, American reality show) does not start with a disabled person who thinks he has a talent for singing, will it still have such a big entertainment role?

There are two levels of membership at a high level of professional organization: professionals, who have certificates of certification and six member signatures, and others who are involved in art in some form of support. There is a problem with the uncensored presentation. Some people also want to show their work, which is obviously not possible.
Almost all professional members are trying to refuse to adopt ideas that will damage the organization's reputation. A board member claims that they should be allowed to participate in the design, and that if not, eventually people "may miss some beautiful artwork"

Needless to say, we will not miss any of the beautiful works of art. Finally, professionals will be seen to boycott their show. And ultimately the results of these demonstrations are damaging to the organization's reputation.

and see how it works?

Say what you think.

Many times I sit in the client's "decision committee" and see that the art direction is forced to obey a group of so-called "designers". When all the comments were presented, I told the art director: "You are the art director, why don't you simplify all of these ideas in the direction you want?" ”

I always get thanks for being able to give them a certain amount of sensibilities when I speak. And the truth is, they don't have to lose their face at all.

Sometimes conflict is unavoidable in order to benefit in the future. If conflict scares people who "want to be" web designers, or if they can correct creative designs that will bring designers down to the bottom of the food chain, let the conflict happen.

If we don't say what we think, we will soon have nothing to say, we can only under the command of others, two hands constantly moving the things on the screen. They will use their hands to point to the screen to show you where the logo should be, and how to design the top of the site with various flashing patterns.

Eventually, when faced with a failure of activity or branding, the designer would say, "That's what you told me at the committee." ”

find the courage to protect your career . Even a small step forward can make your job more enjoyable.

We have to monitor ourselves on these issues. There is no trade union or organization to ensure who is a professional or who is not a professional. You can communicate with so-called "designers", teach them something and eventually raise them to a professional level. or let them feel ashamed of themselves and choose to leave and hope that they can do something else in their spare time.
Instruct art students to join us in this industry without harming them. Train young designers who work with you to let them know how to grow and succeed in this field. Say what you think and tell the people sitting in the Committee all day that their little ideas are not in the best interests of the end user/consumer or the final product.

Find your own sense of honor by proving that you have a special talent for using creativity to solve visual problems.

Some of these common gifts are:

• This is some interesting idea. Let me organize them into a holistic design solution
• To better attract viewers ' attention, various factors should be weighed. and set it in a roundabout way to keep visitors focused on where we want them to focus. It's not good to make a factor stand out, which will stop the visitor from browsing and then affect the final delivery of the information (which will make a non-designer feel very confused and no one will be arguing at this point).
• Why do you think I have no ability to do well I have been training for many years of work? I've been hired for my good work. I want to propose the best solution for the company's success.
• It is my job to design a website that brings you the best visual sensation, but if it is changed by other departments, then I will not take any responsibility. Of course you feel the same way, if I change the marketing plan (of course it's useless but they will envy my courage, because eventually I will be expelled from the company's security services).

Avoid them when it comes to people who design this career as a pastime. Until they choose to leave and find another organization that allows them to play casually. Eventually, his/her partner will be tired of paying bills for software updates and subscription magazines.

Persuade a creative amateur to stop damaging the industry in a gentle way:

• Say something strange in front of these people and expect all the other designers to do the same, as you can say: "I'm using the Glockenshlorp feature in Photoshop and it works." "(amateurs either feel embarrassed and walk away, and may investigate the merits of Glockenshlorp in private.) ）
• It can also be said: "I'm sorry, you need to spend 10 years to make a design to participate in our discussion." ”
• Just point and laugh at those people until they're mad and out of the means.

There is a dream, but there is a reality. In a dream, no matter how much work you do, there is always someone to pay the bill for you, and in practice, you will starve or be homeless because you don't earn enough money to work. When someone who pretends to be a designer tells you how to make your design better, you should think about those words. [中文版]

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Author: rockux–web Front end
From: Pseudo-designers overwhelmed the professionals