Design Bridge creative director Asa Cook presents the top ten mistakes designers make. (And by designers, he means himself…)
In
an industry so cruelly at the unforgiving whim of subjectivity, it’s
common for us designers to become tortured, cynical souls self-conscious
about our failings and constantly musing on the inherent cruelty of the
creative process. So here’s for some light relief. If we’re going to be
self-deprecating, let’s do it with a bit of candour. Here’s my top ten
of the most common mistakes made by creatives (and by creatives, I mean
me).
1. Flogging a dead horse
Sometimes
when a client rejects an idea we go back one too many times trying to
persuade them otherwise. Learning to tear up your own ideas and come
back again with a better one is a right of passage for any great
designer. And trust me, I’ve learned this the hard way.
2. Killing a great idea too early
Of
course, it works the other way too. If it’s a good thought, let others
know and don’t be afraid to fight your corner. Sometimes tweaking,
rather than binning, works wonders. We’d have lost so many design
classics to the wastepaper basket had it not been for the bravery and
tenacity of good designers with a bee in their bonnet.
3. Underestimating yourself
Designers
are an insecure breed. This can lead to a lack of confidence when
starting a new brief, presenting work or even when selling yourself to a
potential employer. But the trick is to learn to love the fear – after
all, if it wasn’t so scary, would it be so rewarding? It’s worth
embracing your anxieties and the adrenaline rush that creativity
provides. Turn nerves into pure nerve and you’ll be surprised at the
effect.
4. Bad spelling
A letterform is a
beautiful thing to a creative. We don’t write letters, we draw them. So
often we’re so focused on the way they look that we neglect to make
sure that they’re in the right order, at the despair of every copywriter
we work with (not to mention the eagle-eyed client). Just don’t forget
that good design can be completely demolished by poor spelling. Get
friendly with your dictionary, or failing that find a decent
proof-reader.
5. Using a favourite typeface too often
Isn’t it better when a typeface is used because it’s right for a particular brief, not just because we like it?
6. Being precious about awards
Ah,
the glory of standing up there, award in hand, eyes ablaze at the
prospect of an evening spent drunkenly dancing whilst grinning from ear
to ear. But for every victor, there’s a grumpy designer at the back of
the auditorium lamenting his loss to anyone who’ll listen. Design awards
aren’t the be-all and end-all. There will always be an element of
subjectivity in judging design work. The fact is, if a project is the
best that you could have made it then you should feel proud to have it
in your portfolio – silverware or no. And you’d only leave the award in
the taxi on the way home anyway.
7. Missing talent
I’ve
interviewed graduates in the past and offered them a placement only to
see them get snapped up by another consultancy in a permanent role. When
you wholeheartedly believe in someone, you will never regret employing
them. (And always, always hire people better than yourself).
8. Getting overly emotionally involved in a pitch
When
we win, it’s sheer joy. When we lose – deepest despair. If only we
could pitch without exposing ourselves to potential agony. But then
would that take the fun out of pitching?
9. Shelf-stacking
OK
– so this is one for the packaging designers. We often find ourselves
standing in supermarkets, rearranging shelves or displays, making our
designs look neat and tidy – drawing confused glances from our fellow
shoppers. Some would call this a mistake, I call it good marketing
practice.
10. Trying to ‘Apple-Z’ real life
This
keyboard shortcut is now so ingrained in our brains that when we
accidentally knock over a glass of water we try to ‘undo’ real life.
Note to self: keep the keyboard shortcuts to the keyboard, and always
have some kitchen-paper handy.
11. Designing inappropriate leaving/birthday cards
When
a brief isn’t real, it’s all too tempting to cross the line. Rumour has
it that designers have lost their jobs over such things. Leading to
more leaving cards, and yet more opportunities for offence. Be careful,
and get yourself to the nearest Paperchase if needs be.
12. Poor numeracy skills
Hmm,
yes, you’ll have noticed the deliberate mistake here. Ten design
mistakes? Well, I’ve never been able to restrain myself from throwing
more ideas into the mix. Which leads me onto number 13… no, sorry, I’ll
stop there. But in all seriousness, mistakes are what make us human,
perhaps even what makes us creative. So maybe we should be less
self-deprecating, and a little more accepting of our foibles – after
all, don’t we creatives take enough of a beating? So my advice is this;
go forth, make mistakes, fail, come back the next day, learn. But
whatever you do, do use spell-check along the way.
Asa Cook is creative director at Design Bridge.
(Wed, 9 Apr 2014 | By Asa Cook)
recently introduced its seven commitments to do more for a sustainable
fashion future, known as H&M Conscious, which range from recycling
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and offering fair living wages to its garment workers. H&M was also
recently named as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies 2014 by
Ethispehere Institute, an independent center of research promoting best
practices in corporate ethics and governance.
In
the CCC 'Tailored Wages' report, 50 of Europe's leading companies,
including H&M were surveyed. The report examined H&M's work on
wages which includes commitments to improving pricing method to ensure
the true cost of labor by 2014 and reduction of average overtime by 35
percent, with 90 percent of suppliers perceiving H&M as a fair
business partner by 2018 was reviewed.
