Quick Confidence
Renew your vows
I love the premise of Fabricio Teixeira's website 'Lessons of Design'. After almost 20 years of being a designer, like wedding vows, he’s reflected about what he finds compelling about being a product designer (or 'product of design'), with the hope that by writing down what he’s learned, he will inspire other designers.
He’s got many great insights; here's the top 10 that resonated most with me:
- You're never bad at something, you're just new to it.
- Whenever there is an argument between two ideas, find the third idea.
- Find the ideas that scare you. Invite them over. Give them a try. At a minimum, even if they don’t work, you will be less scared to try them next time.
- Simplify by finding elements in your design that are serving a similar purpose. Either pull them apart, group them closer together, or merge them into one.
- Simplicity is repeatedly saying no to almost everything.
- You don't—ever—have to be rude when you say no. At work, and in life.
- Create space for the eyes to pause.
- Usability is not everything. Remember about usefulness.
- Choose consistency over intensity. Consistency compounds. Consistency makes things last.
- Give credit even where credit isn’t due. Credit is a designer’s currency.
There's many more great insights, you can read all of them here: Lessons.design.
Is it time to renew your vows as a designer and reflect on what you've learnt?
Khroma colour tool
I’ve been playing with a free colour tool that helps you design with colours you love. First, it asks you to set your colour preferences by choosing 50 swatches from a range of options, and then it generates an unlimited number of colour combinations based on your preferences.
For me, it was pretty bang on – I immediately saved a few palettes for future use (and added it to my Designer’s Toolkit for future reference). Pretty cool!
Believe the world is worth it
"You have to really believe not only in yourself; you have to believe that the world is actually worth your sacrifices.” – Zaha Hadid
Zaha Hadid was a renowned British-Iraqi architect, widely celebrated for her groundbreaking and futuristic architectural designs.
As designers, our work requires dedication, perseverance, and a belief in the power of our craft. It's important to remember the impact our designs can have on the world around us, and believe our effort is worth it.