29 Things Designers Need to Know + 8 Ingredients for Success

Doug Bartow, principal of id29, has been long regarded as a mentor to many designers through his firm's intern program and active status in the design community. It's with that knowledge coupled with his understanding of how seasoned designers can benefit as well from his advice that he'll be speaking via a design tutorial "8 Critical Ingredients to a Successful Graphic Design Career," 2-3 pm EST Sept. 30.

Bartow will tell you about the secret ingredients for a successful and fulfilling career. Who doesn’t want that?

"The original '29 Things' piece (available below) was written with students and young designers in mind, but it got a lot of positive feedback from seasoned professionals who told me it helped kick-start their creativity. I've hand-picked 8 tenants from the original 29 that I think apply to designers of all ages and levels of experience. I'll talk about these ingredients in depth, and some of the things designers can do in their everyday work to keep the creative justices flowing," Bartow says. Reserve your virtual seat now!

Too bad there’s not a handbook for making the shift from design student to design professional. To make that transition easier, Doug Bartow, and his colleagues at id29 share 29 things they think all new designers need to know. See No. 13-21 below from his list.

13. DEFEND YOURSELF
One of the biggest benefits of a formal design education is the lessons learned in the crit room defending your work in front of your instructor and peers. If you can articulate your ideas and design process in that hostile environment, learning to do the same in client meetings usually comes easy (see No. 21).

14. THE PAPER MATTERS
Contrary to what you might read on the blogosphere, print is not dead. The beauty and tactility of a well-printed piece on quality paper cannot be appreciated or replicated on a screen, tablet or mobile device. Paper manufacturers, merchants and printers are doing a terrific job helping designers make sustainable paper choices to minimize the impact on our environment. Become well-versed with the Forest Stewardship Council certification program, and use this knowledge to choose your papers wisely. Clients are demanding it (see No. 28).

15. CONTENT IS STILL KING
Technically, Elvis is still the king, but for the sake of this argument, let’s put an emphasis on the message, and consider design as a plan for delivering it. The most effective and memorable visual communication almost always has the right mix of form and content, regardless of medium. Good design can engage a viewer, but interesting content will keep them reading, and thinking, past the headline.

16. REJECT PERSONAL STYLE
Picasso had his Blue and Rose Periods, Georgia O’Keeffe obsessed over flowers and animal bones. The difference between them and you? They were artists solving their own personal communication problems. We are designers, primarily tasked with solving the communication problems of others. Using one singular style or direction for multiple clients or projects will rarely be successful and, in retrospect, will look one-dimensional (see No. 11).

17. SAY NO TO SPEC WORK
Speculative work, or spec work, is a request by a potential client for uncompensated creative and design work at the inception of a project. Avoid this like the plague—it’s a devaluation of the entire design process and marginalizes our efforts as a whole. AIGA.org has great resources for dealing with spec work, including a sample letter that you can personalize and send to clients explaining why their request is unappreciated (see No. 19).

18. BECOME INDISPENSABLE
What are you really good at? Contrast that to the skill sets that could help you advance at the workplace. Could your studio benefit from having an in-house photographer, web programmer, video editor or screen printer? Follow your bliss and get the additional training you need to expand your talents and, ultimately, your role at work. Now, does the studio come to a grinding halt when you’re home sick for a day? Congrats. You’re indispensable.

19. JOIN AIGA
Founded in 1914 in New York City, AIGA is the professional association for design, representing more than 21,000 professionals, educators and students with 65 local chapters (find a chapter near you) and 200+ student groups. AIGA supports our efforts at the chapter and national levels through the exchange of design ideas and information, research, innovative programming and as a source of inspiration. If you’re missing that sense of design community you had in school now that you’re in the professional world, AIGA will help reconnect you for life.

20. BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
Build personal relationships with everyone you work with, not just your clients. Get to know your delivery people, paper merchants, printer reps, local politicians and business leaders. Attend Chamber of Commerce events, network and meet people. Get on people’s radar screens—they will be impressed with your well-designed business cards that prominently feature your website address.

21. SEEK CRITICISM, ACCEPT PRAISE
As a designer, listening to your ideas being questioned and your hard work being ripped apart isn’t usually very pleasant. However painful, though, constructive criticism of your design work is the most effective way to grow as a visual communicator. Remember this when you leave the crit rooms of design school for the boardrooms of the corporate world. Build a network of friends, co-workers and mentors you can use to collect feedback on your work. Online sites (heavy with anonymous commentary) are not an acceptable substitute for this discourse.

Want more? Doug Bartow shares with all levels of designers “8 Critical Ingredients for a Successful Graphic Design Career.” Tune in!