Mike Kus
- is a web/graphic designer & illustrator.
He's based in UK and works for clients worldwide
Mike has
been a professional graphic designer for fourteen years and for just under four
of those a professional web designer. Like most designers he has learnt, both
from a design point of view and in business as freelance designer. A few of the
things he has learnt stick out in his mind, so he thought he should share them
with you. They’re pretty random and in no particular order.
1. Becoming the designer you want to be
When I
started out as a young graphic designer, I wanted to design posters and record
sleeves, pretty much like every other young graphic designer. The problem is
that the reality of the world means that when you get your first job you’re
designing the back of a paracetamol packet or something equally weird. I
recently saw a tweet that went something like this: “You’ll never become the
designer you always dreamt of being by doing the work you never wanted to do”.
This is so true; to become the designer you want to be, you need to be
designing the things you’re passionate about designing. This probably this
means working in the evenings and weekends for little or no money, but it’s
time well spent. Doing this will build up your portfolio with the work that really
shows what you can do! Soon, someone will ask you to design something based on
having seen this work. From this point, you’re carving your own path in the
direction of becoming the designer you always wanted to be.
2. Compete on your own terms
As well
as all being friends, we are also competitors. In order to win new work we need
a selling point, preferably a unique selling point. Web design is a combination
of design disciplines – user experience design, user interface Design, visual
design, development, and so on. Some companies will sell themselves as UX
specialists, which is fine, but everyone who designs a website from scratch
does some sort of UX, so it’s not really a unique selling point. Of course,
some people do it better than others.
One area of
web design that clients have a strong opinion on, and will judge you by, is
visual design. It’s an area in which it’s definitely possible to have a unique
selling point. Designing the visual aesthetic for a website is a combination of
logical decision making and a certain amount of personal style. If you can
create a unique visual style to your work, it can become a selling point that’s
unique to you.
3. How much to charge and staying motivated
When
you’re a freelance designer one of the hardest things to do is put a price on
your work and skills. Finding the right amount to charge is a fine balance
between supplying value to your customer and also charging enough to stay
motivated to do a great job. It’s always tempting to offer a low price to win
work, but it’s often not the best approach: not just for yourself but for the
client as well.
A client
once asked me if I could reduce my fee by £1,000 and still be motivated enough
to do a good job. In this case the answer was yes, but it was the question that
resonated with me. I realized I could use this as a gauge to help me price
projects. Before I send out a quote I now always ask myself the question “Is
the amount I’ve quoted enough to make me feel motivated to do my best on this
project?” I never send out a quote unless the answer is yes. In my mind there’s
no point in doing any project half-heartedly, as every project is an
opportunity to build your reputation and expand your portfolio to show
potential clients what you can do. Offering a client a good price but not being
prepared to put everything you have into it, isn’t value for money.
4. Supplying the right design
When I
started out as a graphic designer it seemed to be the done thing to supply
clients with a ton of options for their logo or brochure designs. In a talk
given by Dan Rubin, he mentioned that this was a legacy of agencies competing
with each other in a bid to create the illusion of offering more value for
money. Over the years, I’ve realized that offering more than one solution makes
no sense. The reason a client comes to you as a designer is because you’re the
person than can get it right. If I were to supply three options, I’d be
knowingly offering my client at least two options that I didn’t think worked.
To this
day I still get asked how many homepage design options I’ll supply for the
quoted amount. The answer is one. Of course, I’m more than happy to iterate
upon the design to fine-tune it and, on the odd occasion, I do revisit a design
concept if I just didn’t nail the design first time around. Your time is much
better spent refining the right design option than rushing out three
substandard designs in the same amount of time.
5. Colour is key
There are
many contributing factors that go into making a good visual design, but one of
the simplest ways to do this is through the use of colour. The colour palette
used in a design can have such a profound effect on a visual design that it
almost feels like you’re cheating. It’s easy to add more and more subtle shades
of colour to add a sense of sophistication and complexity to a design, but it
dilutes the overall visual impact. When I design, I almost have a rule that
only allows me to use a very limited colour palette. I don’t always stick to
it, but it’s always in mind and something I’m constantly reviewing through my
design process.
6. Creative thinking is central to good or
boundary-pushing web design
When we
think of creativity in web design we often link this to the visual design, as
there is an obvious opportunity to be creative in this area if the brief allows
it. Something that I’ve learnt in my time as a web designer is that there’s a
massive need for creative thinking in the more technical aspects of web design.
The tools we use for building websites are there to be manipulated and used in
creative ways to design exciting and engaging user experiences. Great
developers are constantly using their creativity to push the boundaries of what
can be done with CSS, jQuery and JavaScript.
Being
creative and creative thinking are things we should embrace as an industry and
they are qualities that can be found in anyone, whether they be a visual
designer or Rails developer.
7. Creative block: don’t be afraid to get things
wrong
Creative
block can be a killer when designing. It’s often applied to visual design,
which is more subjective. I suffer from creative block on a regular basis. It’s
hugely frustrating and can screw up your schedule. Having thought about what
creative block actually is, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s actually more
of a lack of direction than a lack of ideas. You have ideas and solutions in
mind but don’t feel committed to any of them. You’re scared that whatever
direction you take, it’ll turn out to be wrong. I’ve found that the best remedy
for this is to work through this barrier. It’s a bit like designing with a
blindfold on – you don’t really know where you’re going. If you stick to your
guns and keep pressing forward I find that, nine times out of ten, this process
leads to a solution. As the page begins to fill, the direction you’re looking
for slowly begins to take shape.
8. You get better at designing by designing
I often
get emails asking me what books someone can read to help them become a better
designer. There are a lot of good books on subjects like HTML5, CSS, responsive
web design and the like, that will really help improve anyone’s web design
skills. But, when it comes to visual design, the best way to get better is to
design as much as possible. You can’t follow instructions for these things
because design isn’t following instructions. A large part of web design is
definitely applying a set of widely held conventions, but there’s another part
to it that is invention and the only way to get better at this is to do it as
much as possible.
9. Self-belief is overrated
Throughout
our lives we’re told to have self-belief. Self-belief and confidence in what we
do, whatever that may be. The problem is that some people find it easier than
others to believe in themselves. I’ve spent years trying to convince myself to believe
in what I do but have always found it difficult to have complete confidence in
my design skills. Self-doubt always creeps in.
I’ve
realized that it’s ok to doubt myself and I think it might even be a good
thing! I’ve realized that it’s my self-doubt that propels me forward and makes
me work harder to achieve the best results. The reason I’m sharing this is
because I know I’m not the only designer that feels this way. You can spend a
lot of time fighting self-doubt only to discover that it’s your body’s natural
mechanism to help you do the best job possible.
Culled from Mike Kus Article (Nine things i've learned) on 24ways.org
7:48 AM
Yomi Taiwo
