When I started to really focus on becoming a better designer I began searching high and low for any tips, tutorials and thoughts on the subject. Recently I stumbled across on of those infamous lists that seem to be dominating social bookmarking these days entitled “50 Ways to become a better Designer“. I have never been one to believe that one source of information will provide that breakthrough to the next level of study or professionalism, however this article got me thinking about how I actually come up with a concept for a design or piece that I am working on.

This article seems to focus primarily on those who have been given a commission to bid on, which I will say has always made it easier for me to conceptualize an idea. When I am given the direction with a few suggestions or ideas generated by the end user then I can usually come up with something that is headed in the right direction. However what about those of us who design for ourselves? I often find myself in this predicament as I attempt to design a t-shirt or perhaps the web site you are looking at right now. Of course I have to take certain things into consideration when creating these designs such as what kind of t-shirts are people looking to buy or what would I be more likely to stop and take notice of while browsing the web. When it comes to this type of design it is never completely for self there is always that marketability factor involved.

My thought process - Often an idea will just hit me, it may have been something I read or saw while walking down the street. A t-shirt that caught my eye perhaps. Then I will spend hours looking at related images, perhaps similar projects or products that come close to touching on that idea. No matter what the project I tend to search out what other people have done in the past not only to get ideas but to be absolutely sure that my idea is at least somewhat original and styled upon completion. The next step is to begin doodling. Just putting down ideas and every once and a while something clicks, I say to myself “that’s it, that’s what I have been seeing in my mind.” This process tends to take a little longer than I would like as I have any number of other tasks inherit to running a business waiting to be completed, and I am consistently in awe of those who can put the pen to paper and conceptualize an idea in what seems like minutes. I personally have never been one to do this and often find myself reworking until I find perfection and then two days later reworking again. So in my quest to become a better designer while attempting to manage my time more effectively I would like to learn to cut down on the idea generation time.

Some things I learned from this article that may aide in achieving this goal.

The most useful idea I came away with was to carry a notebook with me at all times sketching down ideas and thoughts keeping them fresh. I often find that those ‘aha’ ideas come to me at the worst times and I either have to hope I will remember them or they end up on a loose piece of scrap that almost always gets lost in the shuffle.

Secondly is the idea of brand thinking when it comes to design, I need to be more aware of what or who I am targeting with a particular design and realize that it is not entirely for me. I will always have other forms of artistic expression that I can do for self.

Third is the idea of getting away from the medium with which I am creating the work. This is one that I have attempted to do more often but I still find it hard to leave something less than perfect in that unfinished state.

Feedback: Something that is hard to comprehend for a lot of us in that it hurts somewhat to here someone tell you that they are not really feeling your idea. Listening to what others think is very important when creating a work that appeals to the masses and not just a few or even one person.

Keeping a library. I actually purchased a external hard drive for exactly this purpose and began saving things more often no matter how unpleased I am with their outcome. Stop crumpling that sketch before you step away and come back to it. You may find later that there is something there that may be useful in a future project.

Read, take classes and learn. Reading has been key for more to learn the little bit that I have in the past year. I find reading and teaching myself to be my most successful learning model , but I encourage you to do whatever it takes to get better.

Lastly I would like to recommend you read the article “50 Ways to Become a Better Designer” as well as anything else you can find and to apply the practices that work well for you. Never believe that you are as good as you are going to get. There is always room for improvement.