Posts Tagged → tips

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?

Filling Up The Social Bottle

The more in-depth I become with the internet I realize how vital it is to keep tweeting, blogging and making connections. If you’re looking for a job, trying to get better in your field, or just wanting to become more popular in your niche’; then I have a few secrets for you!

Being a Slave to the Tweet-Ahcholic Bottle
If you’re tweeting about yourself, your niche, or your own work thats one thing. But consistently tweeting links about other people during the day will bring your follower count down dramatically. People are not following you for links, they are following you, for YOU! Think about it this way, over time you tweet a link, you’re promoting that site and that person, not you.  Only do this in moderation, say, 2-3 times a week if you are an avid tweeter.  Also, it’s better to tweet links your friends have given you, because that way you are supporting them and in turn, they will support you. 

I am not saying that I was never guilty of this. I totally was. When I first started using Twitter all I did was post links to articles and re-tweet like crazy, just so someone would re-tweet me back or until I got a mention. It  really profited me nothing but spam followers and an occasional design follower. 

Sure, it’s being a little selfish on Twitter, but if you want your following to increase, you have to make sacrifices. I find Facebook to be a better place to post links to articles and websites. 

Recruiters Are Smarter Than You Think 
Your follower count on Twitter, your connections on Linkedin, your Facebook friends, guess what, it matters. Recruiters are constantly looking for talent, especially in the valley and if you have an online presence you’re more than likely to get in contact with some sort of Startup. 

Designers, 
Keep your Dribbble shots clean and somewhat professional. Recruiters are looking on there more than ever to find talented designers. Dribbble speaks a thousand words to future employers and it’s very likely that it may be the key to your next gig. 

Create a brand within yourself, promote, but dont overly promote. Best of all be yourself. Natural charisma is an important key to filling up the social bottle. ;)