From Noob to Pro Designer (How did I do it?)
Starting with design is as easy as downloading an app nowadays, and right after you open it you realize that all the app allows you to do is to draw triangles, squares or lines, and that’s when you realize an app is just a tool and no matter how good you are at it, that doesn’t make you a great designer.
OK, so the good news is, you don’t need loads of qualifications — just a passion for the design industry, and yes it requires hard work and determination.
You want to become a Pro, start with these easy steps:
1. Expand your Vision (“train your eye”)
Start viewing things from a designer’s perspective, break down the interface into components, see how big is the text compared to the button and why, why the Forget Password button is under the Login button.
Don’t just view the website as a website, try to analyze why things were put together that way. I see a lot of designers says Facebook’s design is just not great, and that's where they are wrong, Facebook is just paying more attention to the user experience and they are doing the right thing (this applies to other big companies too).
Surround yourself with design, there are millions of resources out there like behance.com dribbble.com muz.li
2. Learn the principles of design
Design, like any discipline, follows strict rules to make the work stable and balanced. If the work is missing that balance, it will be weak and ineffective.
When we talk about principles of design is like talking about color combinations, but there are some basic principles that every interface should follow when possible like Contrast, Balance, Hierarchy, etc.
3. Practice doing concepts
The best way to get better at what you are doing is by practicing, challenge yourself to design a concept per day and you will end up hating the first concepts you thought were beautiful, that means you are improving.
No matter how good you are, there is always room for practice, we see new trends every day but we can't find a client to apply these trends every day so the best way to stay updated is to practice using them.
4. Copy other designers
There is no shame in copying, everything your next clients will want is for you to copy another product. Copying and improving the copy, that’s where things change.
There is this great book by Austin Kleon: Steal like an artist: The author cautions that he does not mean ‘steal’ as in plagiarise, skim or rip off — but study, credit, remix, mash up and transform.
5. Share and get feedback
Share your designs with as many people as you can and ask them what so bad about your design, then you will realize there is always room for improvements.
If you try and search the web on where to share you would get answers like Dribbble and Behance, and you can get from these networks are good comments, the best way is to share it with our friends because they are the potential customers.
6. Redesign existing products
Start with a product you use every day, try to visualize what is it that you don’t like or what you could do to make it better, that’s what pro designers do.
I would suggest doing as many redesigns as you can, not only they will help you in getting better but also create connections.
7. See the product through the eyes of the customer
UI/UX Designer is that field where you can play and have fun with colors, well yes you can do that until you are designing for the customer, what that means is that you are one person at the end and you are designing for thousands or millions who will be using the product. You have to think things very clearly in order to deliver something that can be usable by all your customers.
“Writing articles for people who are in a rush, I value your time, and probably like me, you like reading on the go. Keeping it short so you don’t have to skip any paragraph.”
❓Do you have any questions? Let me know:
Instagram — Linkedin — Behance — Dribbble
