Tips for Young Designers

When I was younger I had no idea what design was growing up or the impact it would make on my life and the lives of others. Before I was a licensed Architect, and before I ever took steps into Zaha Hadid’s studio, before I researched the exploits of Paul Revere Williams or drew an axonometric of Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye — I was just a kid acting smart. The future adventures in creating great architecture, making exciting movies, teaching awesome students and exploring the world were just surprises to come in time with the spark of the word ‘design’. Little did I know how powerful the word design would become for me, and how important understanding how to handle this power can be for every designer.

Everyone has the creative spark, and this is an important thing for everyone to realize fully. Something we all have is not something to be just glorified and horded. It is rather something to be shared and contributed. My design becomes better from the design quality of others. I have lots of ways to go. And so does everyone else.

My realization about this design perspective came much after actually training in school, and seeing a world of competition and favoritism, that sometimes helped and sometime out shadowed me. In the end, I learned to let the pride go, and really explore what was important for whichever design process I was involved in. I found it easy to work with others assisting and creating my own designs.

To young designers, I would espouse the important points I had to go through to truly feel and bring results to the work I was gifted. Here are the key tips for that journey you may be going, so the results one day will be worthwhile and quality legacy, and hopefully many rewards beyond the world’s limitation.

Stay Humble
There is no greater power than a person aware of their ability and confident enough to know they have room to learn. Young designers sometimes let things go to their head, but it’s truly a skill do great things and remain humble. Everyone loves a humble attitude. This doesn’t me deprecating your effort or ability, but is truly a way of doing great things with a great attitude.
Create Genuinely
One major issue that happens in advancing societies is that the spark of creation gets replaced by being productive. But copies and repetition should not replace creativity. This goes for designers who are advancing in a world where sometimes their opinions aren’t valued. You must continue to value your own, and spend time to think of new ideas and new solutions. Some interns get to share their ideas, but when you are treated as just an assistant, you must persevere. Keep a sketchbook, and keep creativity as the free gift it is.
Appreciate & Respect Others
This should go unstated. But often the attitude of jealousy or offense happens when we grow in skills, and are ignored or just face failure. Respect and appreciation is the best way to keep a calm head in this situations and in life. There are many that I respect and can learn from. And I am happy when others do well. My striving sometimes hits a roadblock, but I am glad those helping me and I want to give encouragement to others. Imagine the quality of the world with this attitude in abundance.
Appreciate Your Progress
Sometimes, years can make our progress look minimal. But regularly taking a look with gratitude for where we’ve come can be the best medicine and motivation going forward. When you take this look, it can also keep you from stagnation. Going forward will require looking at failure and success, so don’t count it lightly. Those who do are bound to grow.
Strive For Rewards Before Awards
Receiving my first Design Award was a pretty cool experience. Receiving these sorts of awards independently and in teams really brough a sparkle to the world I did. However, competitions and submitting work for reviews sometimes takes longer than expected, and maybe your award entries stretch much longer than your awards. No need to worry. Focus on rewarding work first. This means do work the way you believe it should be done. Sacrifice a few extra hours, and get some rigor to your process so that your results even when not getting recognition are part of the world being better. Awards will follow, but focus on the best work and you will never have the fear of burnout.

Thanks for reading more about the world of design from an I Am The Studio Perspective. You can get more inspiring stories, and news for our courses by signing up to our I Am The Studio newsletter. Have a Great Day!

Brandon A. Gibbs

Director + Founder @ I Am The Studio

Creative Director + Registered Architect @ MotionFORM