Self Worth As A Designer

Anonymous Suggested Topic '' I'm worried about making an impact, i'm worried about industry standards, maybe i'm not gunna be good enough, compared to some guys my age + younger. I'm nervous that because i'm quite an introvert, I may not work well in a group when it comes to a design brief. I look at portfolios on behance, dribble etc and everyone seems to be better. ''

I've simplified this down to self worth as a designer. Me personally, I have struggled with this quite a bit, because I relate to the topic a lot. Now that I'm heading into my graphic design work experiences and future work placement, I'm worried that my designs are too different from what the design industry expects - So, i've narrowed down some pointers that could help!

As a designer, we want our designs to be understood. What I mean by this, is that when someone views or judges our work, we want them to relate and imagine where the inspiration was drawn from to design or create the piece that they're viewing. If viewers/clients can't relate, then most likely they aren't going to appreciate what you have created. To support this point, you can create a workflow, to portray how you designed your piece and what made you feel the need to design it. This helps viewers understand your design the way you have and they're able to relate easier that way.

A lot of designers think of graphic design as an individual task - which in most cases, it is. But design is also a great way to create unique and unheard of projects. With designers being very self-centred and protective of their designs, there is quite a few ways to include each design ideas together. Say for example you have to create a web design for a client, this is where multiple designers could chip in. If you have 2D designers, or photo editors/photo manipulators, this can merge quite well. Whilst the 2D/UI designers present the website, the manipulators could work on the creative side of things, and different ways on how to make the company/client 'pop' and stand out. 

No matter what designer you are, there is always ways for different types of designers to merge together and create an epic project!

When viewing other designer's work, it's always important to remember that you have *COMPLETELY DIFFERENT* design techniques. They don't design or think like you do, therefore it makes their design style techniques different to yours. (Have I said the word 'different' enough yet?) You have to also remember that they may be more experienced, and may already be working in the professional industry.

We can't really avoid intimidating work, but the best way to view it is using them as guidelines:

- Look at how they present their work. E.g. Are they spending money on presentation? Estimated time-frame spent on the designs? Design methods they might of used? Programs/Software?

- How they have worded their idea, or how they went about getting the client/design. E.g Did they search for their own clients? Are they working as a group? Was the design created under a small/large design industry?

Points like that will be a great guiding line to when it comes to yourself creating your own work in the future, or improving your work you're designing at the moment. That way, you won't be thinking that they're better, but looking at how you can be as good as them by their work methods.

Hope this helped guys,

Have a great week!

Jess x