One of our web design students from last year found the article Talent isn’t everything as she browsed her del.icio.us links last week… It’s a great article as it’s written by a junior designer who’s been working for 3 years now reflecting on the false assumption that only people with the design gift can make it in the design world.
The article is especially interesting to me because of the author’s encouragement to be pro-active about our own lifelong learning:
Effective and successful designers are lifelong learners. They are curious, enthusiastic, and passionate about design and want to learn more. This passion translates to better job satisfaction and productivity. They also:
- Seek out mentors, perhaps a teacher, manager, or industry expert they admire.
- Choose jobs based on those that let them learn the most. When you’ve stopped learning, it’s probably time to leave.
- Have projects outside of work (such as cute productivity blogs).
- Keep up with technology and become an early adopter.
- Write about what they’ve learned and share it with others. It helps organize their thoughts.
Great advice from someone who’s “finished” their study and is now working as a junior designer. There’s lots of other worthwhile tips in the article too, so go give it a read: Talent isn’t everything.
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