My 6 Month Missions

Despite my blog being about design and fashion, I also try to merge in my personal life sometimes. Lately I have had a lot of things I want to get on my mental “To Do” list. But haven’t done anything concrete about it. I figure if I write about it, post it online and make myself accountable, it will happen a lot of faster. Plus, it’s always great to have goals. So, here are mine!

• Buy a sewing machine
• Learn how to sew a dress
• Run the SF half Marathon – 13.2 miles
• Focus less on freelance and more on music
• Release my fashion app in the App Store

I used to sew a lot in high school. I would modify my clothes often and miss how relaxing it was. I think its good to have a sewing machine in general, but want to know how to use it for more complicated patterns.

I’m running the SF half marathon in July, I am so excited. Finally a big race that will be a huge check in my list.

I love freelance, I have been fortunate to have great clients. Although I think that it’s  time to focus less on working for others and get some of my own personal things accomplished. I’ll be my own client for once!

My fashion app has been in development for about 3 months now. Still a lot of UI and engineering to be done but it’s nice that it’s finally an actual usable app on a device. There is a lot more to go, but I just need to get it done.

What are your goals for the next 6 months? I think it’s great to set both short and long term goals. It keeps life interesting and makes me even more motivated.

Design & Career Mentoring

Growing up as a teenager I hated mentoring. I couldn’t stand the fact that someone was trying to teach me something and coach me on life. Heck, I knew everything! So I thought. Being a typical teenager I never really allowed myself to be as teachable as I should have been. But luckily as I’ve grown older I realize the great benefit of having a mentor. I not only have one mentor, but several for different areas of my life. One for design, one for my career and one for my personal life. I have realized that I need to be mentored to grow. It’s good to be told when I am going the wrong way and also to be encouraged when I am going on a path that is beneficial.

What I wanted to share was having a design mentor and career mentor. Someone you can go to at anytime to ask questions, receive advice, listen and be teachable.

How to choose a mentor:

• Find someone that is in your career field
• Have admiration and respect for this person
• Enjoy their work
• Study their accomplishments

Choose someone who you admire and respect what you do. They should be accomplished in their field and have a good amount of experience. You’ll want to grow from someone who has already grown in their life. A lot of designers would be willing to help out another designer. When you find someone that you would like to be mentor just simply ask! What else is the community for? I see there is a lot more potential in us then just showing off our work and trying to get as many likes as possible on Dribbble. Or trying to gain some kind of popularity. My mission ever since day 1 as a designer was to help out the design community and give back. Sure, having an online presence helps a lot but that’s not what it’s all about.

A mentor should be someone you go to about:

• Pricing for projects
• Salary questions
• And even deeper issues such as dealing with clients

You don’t want to exhaust your mentor so only go to them when you are truly in need of help or a certain kind of information you are unable to find anywhere else. It’s find to send your mentor designers to receive feedback, but remember sometimes it takes time to hear back.

Having a mentor for design and your career will help you grow a lot and also you improve professionally as time goes on. It’s even better if your mentor is close to you. Going out for a cup of coffee once a week and building that relationship is to profitable to not only you, but to your mentor as well. Being open and allowing yourself to listen and take in all that they have to say is vital for your career. Taking the right steps in the early stages of your career will make a strong and straight pathway to the rest of your life. These lessons learned will probably even pave you to the success of your own company or design firm. The possibilities are endless with your career and your dreams. Having a mentor and someone to help guide  you will make you hit your dreams even faster.

Your Thoughts
Who are your mentors, or who would you want to be yours? Do you have other ideas for mentoring?

It’s Good to Get Away

I just had to make something on my own tonight, something whimsical and fun. I didn’t focus too much on perfection, just on a fun concept! It’s good as designers to get away from everyday design and make something of our own. Something where we are able to create whatever we want, and just go with it. Not worrying or being too critical of the design at hand. Just having a great time in making what we love and what inspires us.

Awaking the Dreamers

I’m awake again. It’s 1 am on a Saturday night and while I could have gone out, I’m here writing out my ideas. Half of the ideas I ever write down end up getting canned for one reason or another. But I feel that anyone that has ever had a great idea for a company or an app, started with many small ideas. It’s almost like each idea gets greater and better and then one day it’s going to explode. I can feel it, this momentum building up inside my gut. There is something in me that has this desire to build and do something great. I wish I could explain it to you, but I just know it’s there. I feel it hovering over me constantly. I know I am destined for something so much bigger than myself, but what is it? My whole life I’ve wanted to be apart of things that are bigger than me. That’s why I really enjoy working in a larger startup, it’s why I love spending time with people of such a high caliber who are smarter and more talented. When I spend time with greatness I aspire to do great things.

A lof of my thought process is asking myself “How can I make people’s lives around me easier? What can I do to improve their caliber of life and what can I give?”

Is it a product, company, application or charity? These are questions I am always asking myself. I want to help improve the quality of peoples lives. Weather it’s finding people jobs in SF through connections, taking a friend out for coffee, or really sitting down with someone and mentoring them in design.

As my birthday rolls around, I start thinking to myself how I want the next year of my life to impact people. This positive impact, that changes lives and gives people the motivation to live their life to the fullest. To dream bigger than they ever have before to keep running when people say to stop. I’ve always had this notion and this self awareness of life and time. I know I am so young, but for me I can already feel time running out, that there is so much that needs to be accomplished in life, yet we truly have a ticking clock among us. Time is moving quickly, and the world is moving even faster.

I know it’s coming, I just don’t know what it is yet. It’s the calm before the storm. I know for myself that I need to make the right decisions in my life that will lead me to that place. To be cautious of my steps and to protect my work and ideas. I am sure many of you feel the same way. I believe the reason we wake up everyday with motivation is because each of us knows we are destined for something great that each of us was made for. The hard part is just learning to wait and grow and also have the ability to take the blood and sweat that will happen in the process. So many people feel the urge to be a “Mover” but they get half way up the hill, something happens, they get hit by a rock falling from the top and they never climb back up. Great things will not happen on a first or even a second treck up the hill. They will happen when the person refuses to give up and lives their life to complete their destiny and fulfill what they were created for.

Research – Design’s Best Friend

Design research is about making yourself more innovative and making sure you’re following in the right footsteps and also making your own. 

Competitor Research
Find out who your competitors are, depending on your design market.  You can research competitors that fit your style and design preference through Dribbble for design, print design and the App Store for utility and game apps. But also keep in mind it’s good to be unique, which means you’ll attract unique clients. Competitor research is more for when you are developing a design product.

Trending Design – But Beware
Creating timeless design is one of the greatest challenges. It’s good practice to take certain design trends for inspiration. But it’s not always healthy in the long run to follow them, because trends do end.

 Logo Research
When creating a logo, research logos to make sure you’re not copying anyone else’s design. Gather inspiration but innovate on your projects. Clients are looking for unique work that represents who they are.

Valid UX
Research to stay up to date on UX design. Just because a new UX design happens, doesn’t mean it’s right. Research to make sure its the best solution for your UX problem or project. Test, test, and do more testing.

Research by Conversation
Follow designers on twitter and watch the feed to see what people are talking about. Designers are open about their opinions and will talk strongly about good and bad design.  You could even hash tag #Design and follow feeds related to design.

Q: What are ways you research to enhance design skills and also for projects?