Staying in the Know
Artists are known to be eclectic about life. As designers it is important for us to not only be informed about our own fields, but also about what our potential clients are interested in. Now, this doesn’t mean you have to go play golf every weekend or become a Shakespeare scholar, but you should be well-rounded. It is important to show genuine interest in a company or client and what they do when applying for jobs. Reading up on on their mission statement is essential, but to go the extra mile do some research to better understand their company. This will probably require you to read a article or two, and look at something besides their website. Recently, when applying for an internship I was asked about my resources for keeping up with my craft. Instead of easily mentioning my top five design related sites, I decided to give more than they asked for. I replied with a long lists of sites, which interested me. This way my resources ranged from politics to music to typography and more of course. It showed that I could bring more to the table than just knowing the latest logo or color palette trends.
Now, if you are thinking, “Am I too crazy about design?” don’t worry. As a student I use to be completely boggled down with design magazines, conversations, and conferences. It seemed like the right thing to do, and for the most part it was. Well, until I started talking to those who were not designers and didn’t understand my hatred for Papyrus or craziness for knowing the proper names for colors. It’s Marigold, not Orange! Then, I decided that I need to pick-up a newspaper or turn on CNN. At some point even other designers and employers will want to know you beyond design. I am the type of designer I am, because of who I am, and not the other way around.
So, when you think you might be loosing control and drowning in a pool of pantone colors haves someone throw you a donut. Remember the more thing you have to pull inspiration from the better designer you will be and the more you will stand out among this over crowded club!
So, what is my list you ask?
CNN
BBC News
The Onion
Associated Press
NPR
News One
BET
MTV
VH1
theGrio
WonkaBeats
Black Art Director
Global Grind
Smashing Magazine
designworkplan
Fly
Mashable
Design Observer
KissMyBlackAds
A List Apart
Design By Grid
Design Milk
Design Addict
Dexigner
kiss my black ads
The Font Feed
Villatype
Sleevage
You always know someone by their bookmarks right? Check out what Woordle says about what I store in my delicious account:
Thanks for spending time on the computer (writing) so ohetrs don’t have to.
Nice post. I like that basically what you’re ptoining out is that we designers need to be collaborative. We sometimes try to do it all, but if we tap these people for help our work will be much more actionable and successful. It would be a bonus if these people knew how to work with designers. Many of these listed are scientists, and if they can remove some of their technical rigor they can be even more helpful early on in upstream development.If I can add two more, I think knowing a marketing person and a finance person are crucial for making your work actionable to fit within business strategies. Reply
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Hi there this is somewhat of off topic but I was wanting
to know if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML.
I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding expertise so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience. Any help would be enormously appreciated!
Feedback is the key to getting a great result! You don’t have to comment on every design, but remember — designers won’t know how you feel unless you tell them.
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To be a great communicator, you have to use words that mean something. Sounds obvious, I know, but you’d be surprised. Most designers “just know” when their design “works”. Being able to articulate why it works is part of what separates good designers from great. For example, say you chose Garamond as the primary typeface for a client’s logo design. Did you choose it because “it looks cool”? Or did you choose it because the client wants to portray her business as traditional/elegant, and will be publishing a variety of print pieces that need to have high legibility as well?