We’re only one week into the New Year, so I think it’s safe to drop a post on New Year’s resolutions, don’t you think?
Besides, these 10 New Year’s Resolutions for Designers from .net is dynamite!
1. Choose Better Problems to Solve
An interesting perspective. Instead of designing virtual farms and Facebook clones, how about designing things that improve and enrich our lives. You’re a designer, a creative thinker by nature, do something big!
A concept to live by.
2. Stop Stealing Crap
Steal something good, and make it better. It’s the evolution of design. Take someone’s design and make it better. While you’re at it, contribute something new to the pool of ideas that is design.
I love this concept.
3. Stop Trying to Save Bad Work
You’re doing no one a favor by saving a comp. Delete it and move on.
Yes, please, thank you!
4. Stop Being Your Own Obstacle
This is an amazing concept:
How horrible for a client to have gone out and found a good designer and then get handed work that looks like something they would have done. Clients deserve your best work, not their best work. Really good clients, the ones I want you to work with, would rather be challenged than pandered to.
Good stuff.
5. Blame Yourself First
We can all do better about this — take responsibility!
6. Stay Curious
Try doing things you’re not good at?
You’ll eventually be good at more things, and you’ll know what you honestly suck at.
Great advice.
7. Learn to Make Mistakes Faster
I’m guilty of this.
You’ll learn more by trying something 50 different ways than by stubbornly trying to make your first idea work.
I’m so going to start doing this!
8. Stop Using Your Mom as an Example of a Stupid Person
This advice is very insightful. Why would you want to make something “so easy that you’re Mom could use it” when you’re Mom will never be using it?
Great point. Find your target, aim, and fire!
9. Learn to Write
Ninety percent of design is communication. Half of that will be done in writing. A designer who can’t write can’t defend their work. And work that can’t be defended will die.
10. Get Comfortable Arguing
Just because you poured your heart into a design, doesn’t mean no one is allowed to question you about your design choices. At the same time, it’s your job to protect good design.
You win some and you lose some, but never roll over and play dead.
Care to add to this list?
[via .net | Image via Jared Erickson]
April says
This is a great list of New Year’s resolutions/advice for designers. I wish more people would actually follow it.
Eric Dye says
It would change the world.
Dallas says
I love #6 and I think it’s definitely important for designers/developers. With the rapid change of and the introduction of technology we have to stay on the ball keeping up with everything. No longer do (web) designers design for a 1024px computer screen but now there are smartphones, tablets, 27″ Cinema Displays!, and a variety of other screens/resolutions that a designer needs to understand how to design for.
This hits home for developers too. This past year, on the front-end side of the web dev world, there was a significant focus on HTML5/CSS3 and responsive web design. What about iOS/Android apps? Who knew the explosion of popularity that they would see.
For the developers, net.tutsplus.com has a pretty solid list of 10 resolutions every developer should make. http://net.tutsplus.com/articles/general/ten-new-years-resolutions-every-web-developer-should-make/
Eric Dye says
Nice! Great share, thanks!