The shift from college to industry is an overwhelming and exciting one for most us design aspirants or anyone for that matter. It is a big step and I would not call it the smoothest change. There are definitely gaps between college wok life and industry work life. It’s the first opportunity for many to put into practice in real time what we have acquired from our college projects to real time client projects.
The situation has its pros and cons and most of the time you realize that you were living in a bubble being ignorant to so many hurdles like the cost of the project when you were at college. Some of the major issues, which I faced, are with time management and also dealing with the opinions of multiple people who sometimes are not even in the same book as mine. The communication gap between the client and the designer and people who are in between is also a new concept, which we will eventually grow into hopefully. I am working in a relatively smaller studio and there are many situations, which arise within just 2 to 3 layers of people who are involved
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with the different aspects of work. Even though people say that you have to be more independent in work environment than in college I feel the opposite and I feel more dependent now that I was at college. I will not deny that that the fact that I have sit for 8 hours a day minimum does help with some issues I always had like a lack long attention span. The situation I am in now has helped me deal with that personal problem of mine better than ever before.
As an ethic designer should we be taking work down the net and just altering it for the solving a problem?
When it comes to the kind of project one gets in real time and the quality of work you have to deliver that’s a different ball game all together. I must say that I have been quite lucky with my internships to get more than some generic social media posts. No offense to social media posts but there are too many of them and most of the designs are almost decided by the client. The gazillion change, which is bombarded on you from multiple angles, puts you in a complicated position. The process which one goes through in the hypothetical projects that we have been used to in college is way different than what we end up using for the design processes in a work environment. The major facts for the process to be shorter are the shortage of time to deliver the final produce and also to save money.So in some organization when the delivery period is quick we rely on templates and elements from the Internet to give decent outputs at desirable time. I am not sure whether this is a good practice from a design perspective but even though it legally allowed. I have quit mixed emotions about this practice even I was subjected to at times. The expectations
from such projects and tasks are to get it done in a decent manner in the given deadline which maybe few hours or even few minutes.Another factor, which one has to keep in mind, is to stay positive and push you and be self-motivated to perform better. The amount of pressure and negativity that a person goes through while in an office environment is much more than in a college setting. No one in your office is giving projects for you to grow. You have to forget the problems and push yourself to work forward. The environment is way more competitive and you cant have a go easy attitude is you want to even exist in this rat race. In the end it’s a cooperate creative world where most of us work in even though we are lucky many an times to do some fun things to add sparkle into peoples lives at times.As we have been aware 98% of the designers work for 2% for the society. But I am not sure whether that statement is completely true. I would like to put out my thought and say that the good and meaningful design reach on 2% of the people not always because they are financially capable to receive it but also because the hurdles that these designs cross to reach the end consumer are comparatively easier to cross. There are some path breaking organizations and interesting thoughts that some clients bring across which help to cater to the 2%. What we should be working on is to increase these numbers.How to reach out to more people and make the world a better place with design. It’s not just a tool for aesthetics and can do wonders to a problem, which a common man or any living thing faces.
So like every profession now a day we need to be constantly aware of the latest design and technology. I can see that design trends come and go pretty quickly these days. When we believe that we have come up with something original and out of this world someone has already come up with this. There are multiple ways and method that we can keep up with the fast paced developments around the world. The fingertips have some basic answers if we dig deep. There are some brilliant platforms that are showcasing works for us to take inspiration from and many are free for that matter. For ones well being as an individual and to understand that what is trending (and keeps changing constantly) we should find time even if in a cooperate sector. The client usually wants the work yesterday but they are also well aware of what the target audience wants.
So as known to any project is not a one-man show (mostly) multiple skill sets and talents need to come together to put up a good show. These skills can come in the form of content wrier and copywriter, the client himself or herself who may visions on how this project should be, the senior designers in multiple fields from illustration to graphic design to interaction design as much as a broad communication design project is considered, the project manager who is in charge of the finally delivering the project and also ensuring that all the communication gap between the client and the project in charges are null. And as and when the requirement there will be developers involved, animators of different capability and capacities will also take part in the project. So multiple skillsets combine together to make something work and this again is a new process compared to college environment. And as part of the team eve if you were different caps you ought to know certain capacities and limitations of each of the skill set and understand how at least some of the basic operations of the different skillsets part of the project. Even if you are giving graphic design inputs the designer should have some idea on the content, which is going in so as to work towards the goals in a better manner.
And for thus you need to spend time with the different skillsets and give in your inputs and also understand and take the vision of the fellow project member to for better and best outcomes. He comes an important point of peer interaction and peer learning. Initially I as an individual was quite taken aback with the new surroundings and I was pushed out of my comfort zone to interact and learn from the peers, which need not be always designer’s but also from other skills.So this experience can never be a smooth ride. We have to push our way though and pester people if we want to get things done. So even if a designer you need to have some writing skill and cant just fold our hands and wait. This kind of interaction will be really helpful for an over all growth of a person as it will make you understand different work processes and help you design better and make the process less tiresome of alL.
And design companies are very expensive to run with all the software’s and images to buy and hardware’s capable for such high capacity.
If designers came from a wider range of racial, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds, we’d immediately see less broad, often-mistaken assumptions about our users. When you bring in more designers from a wider socioeconomic spectrum that didn’t grow up immersed in tech companies, the profile of an “average user” changes. And when you have more cultures and backgrounds contributing to a design sprint, better functionality for international and underrepresented markets comes along for the ride. Your user base expands. That gives you an easier first hand research on the project and understanding the market better. This information is an asset forever as one can always take notes from each interaction with multicultural colleagues. And when you have more cultures and backgrounds contributing to a design sprint, better functionality for international and underrepresented markets comes along for the ride. Your user base expands.
We’d also get slightly less fetish of what’s cool and shiny and more on what’s usable and has greater impact. More perspectives on race, color, economics, and religion expand design priorities. We can afford a bit less money and attention on apps targeted at 25-year-olds living in the Mission, and focus more towards critical issues like healthcare, economic inequality, education, and the environment. The more we represent our community, the less chance our work could be ultimately rejected and marginalized.
Good design should start and end with our users. Realistically, though, most work requires approvals from fellow designers before users even hear about it, especially during tight deadlines or heated design critiques. This is s practice which we are all suppose to follow and will benefit from. Even the many in the work environment become competitive and stay away from such practices. The interpersonal interactions between employees should be encouraged for project benefits. Right now I would say it is a subjective matter. So, a more diverse design community adds more than moral or cultural benefits—it also makes us fundamentally better designers.
It goes beyond widening the base and the quality of our work. It’s for the longevity of our field. The more we represent our community, the less chance our work could be ultimately rejected and marginalized. Design is having a huge impact on the world, and we can do better on the diversity front. We’re in an industry that’s about empathizing with our users, but that only works as far as our community can extend. In light of this, we have a responsibility to do better.It goes beyond widening the base and the quality of our work. It’s for the longevity of our field. The more we represent our community, the less chance our work could be ultimately rejected and marginalized. Design is having a huge impact on the world, and we can do better on the diversity front. We’re in an industry that’s about empathizing with our users, but that only works as far as our community can extend. In light of this, we have a responsibility to do better.
One of my biggest concerns for the design industry today is the way we hire designers for teams, particularly the problematic trend where hiring managers prioritize technical skills over thoughtful workflow processes and fit.
Long lists of requirements that would stretch any designer far beyond their comfort zone. The focus on skillset could eliminate scores of creative thinkers and great collaborators who may be less qualified on paper, but a better fit for the team overall.
They want an expert in IA and UX, an expert at responsive layouts and visual design
who can whip up info graphics and interactive, someone that knows products and ads, but also can prototype and code, and can manage up and down, who writes publicly and gives talks, and also knows all the software.Good design should start and end with our users. Realistically, though, most work requires approvals from fellow designers before users even hear about it, especially during tight deadlines or heated design critiques. This is s practice which we are all suppose to follow and will benefit from. Even the many in the work environment become competitive and stay away from such practices. The interpersonal interactions between employees should be encouraged for project benefits. Right now I would say it is a subjective matter. So, a more diverse design community adds more than moral or cultural benefits—it also makes us fundamentally better designers.
If designers came from a wider range of racial, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds, we’d immediately see less broad, often-mistaken assumptions about our users. When you bring in more designers from a wider socioeconomic spectrum that didn’t grow up immersed in tech companies, the profile of an “average user” changes.
And when you have more cultures and backgrounds contributing to a design sprint, better functionality for international and underrepresented markets comes along for the ride. Your user base expands. That gives you an easier first hand research on the project and understanding the market better. This information is an asset forever as one can always take notes from each interaction with multicultural colleagues. And when you have more cultures and backgrounds contributing to a design sprint, better functionality for international and underrepresented markets comes along for the ride. Your user base expands.
If designers came from a wider range of racial, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds, we’d immediately see less broad, often-mistaken assumptions about our users. When you bring in more designers from a wider socioeconomic spectrum that didn’t grow up immersed in tech companies, the profile of an “average user” changes. And when you have more cultures and backgrounds contributing to a design sprint, better functionality for international and underrepresented markets comes along for the ride. Your user base expands. That gives you an easier first hand research on the project and understanding the market better. This information is an asset forever as one can always take notes from each interaction with multicultural colleagues. And when you have more cultures and backgrounds contributing to a design sprint, better functionality for international and underrepresented markets comes along for the ride. Your user base expands.We’d also get slightly less fetish of what’s cool and shiny and more on what’s usable and has greater impact. More perspectives on race, color, economics, and religion expand design priorities. We can afford a bit less money and attention on apps targeted at 25-year-olds living in the Mission, and focus more towards critical issues like healthcare, economic inequality, education, and the environment. The more we represent our community, the less chance our work could be ultimately rejected and marginalized. t goes beyond widening the base and the quality of our work. It’s for the longevity of our field. The more we represent our community, the less chance our work could be ultimately rejected and marginalized. Design is having a huge impact on the world, and we can do better on the diversity front. We’re in an industry that’s about empathizing with our users, but that only works as far as our community can extend. In light of this, we have a responsibility to do better.
One of my biggest concerns for the design industry today is the way we hire designers for teams, particularly the problematic trend where hiring managers prioritize technical skills over thoughtful workflow processes and fit.
Long lists of requirements that would stretch any designer far beyond their comfort zone. The focus on skillset could eliminate scores of creative thinkers and great collaborators who may be less qualified on paper, but a better fit for the team overall.They want an expert in IA and UX, an expert at responsive layouts and visual design who can whip up info graphics and interactive, someone that knows products and ads, but also can prototype and code, and can manage up and down, who writes publicly and gives talks, and also knows all the software.
It all began when the economy was pulled into a recession and hiring slowed. Businesses were forced to make choices about limiting the number of hires,and they tried to find the fewest number of people to do the most number of things according to references. This practice is still continued due to different reasons mainly based on pay for the employee. If you hire designer with good content creation skills and design sense its double benefit. This is a debatable topic as it has its pros and cons to it. A multifaceted person in any organization is an asset to them and for your personal growth also it’s an added benefit. This should not be a hindrance to selecting candidates.
Yet, the more important issue to tackle is that job descriptions like these determine a designer’s qualifications by ticking boxes on skill set, rather than teasing out a designer’s process. When we consider candidates merely by skills, we may be ruling out great design-thinkers who may be lighter on technical skills but gifted with brainstorming and collaboration. Over time, technical skills can be taught, but fit is harder to reconcile. Articulating process and fit can be difficult.
While design certainly has been recognized as a differentiator of product success (especially with digital products) in many companies today, the investments made in bringing design into the overall strategic conversation have fallen short. Yes, design is hot. And yes, companies are hiring designers.
The piece of that conversation that most executives miss is that bringing in designers to “make it pretty” is an insufficient, superficial gesture. The value of what we do and the understanding the role of designers is still lukewarm in the industry. We are till making the world understand what we do like making the family and friends of ours understand our profession. It is never a bed of roses. The shift may not be the comfortable just like most of the changes we face in life but we become accustomed to it eventually and go with the flow. At the same time in education years we are taught some design values which may fade away along our professional life. Try to keep up to those values as, some have lived a enriching life and came up with these. We are blessed few who go them the easy way, Keep it close to the heart and follow them in whatever small ways we can in our daily lives. Try to live up to them and make lives of people better around you.Scroll to top
