Recently, and thanks to a Smashing Magazine tweet, I stumbled across an interesting article over on FINCH. The title of the article is “You Suck at Design (Here’s Why)“, and the piece itself explains an interesting phenomenon by which those who truly understand a particular subject area – like design – are actually those best equipped to judge the quality of their own work, and thus tend to undervalue themselves. On the other hand, those who know nothing about that same subject area tend to overvalue their own abilities, simply because they are unable to actually see the mistakes they’re making.

The Makeup of a Designer

The article raises all sorts of really interesting points – about the community, about the psychology of design (the action of, not the interaction with) and even about why so much poor design is produced by the now-proverbial nephew – and is even sometimes celebrated, making those of us who actually know what we’re doing cringe.

It also raises some interesting questions – at least in my mind – one of which I would like to address here. The FINCH article ultimately polarizes the population into two distinct categories: the knowledgeable and the unknowledgeable. Or, to put it another way, the true designers and everyone else. The question that I have to ask, however, is what actually makes someone a designer? The FINCH article talks a great deal about knowledge, and I think that’s a key element, but what about things like talent, skill and critical thinking?

In this article, I would like to look at these different elements and how they apply to the makeup of the designer.

Talent vs Skill

Any discussion of this sort needs to take into consideration both the concepts of talent and skill. Often, these two ideas are understood to be very similar, but there is a fundamental difference that actually makes them very distinct. To illustrate this difference, let’s turn (somewhat typically) to definitions from Dictionary.com. The definition for talent is as follows:

a special natural ability or aptitude: a talent for drawing (source).

Conversely, skill is defined as:

the ability, coming from one’s knowledge, practice, aptitude, etc., to do something well: Carpentry was one of his many skills (source).

By contrasting these definitions, we can see that talent is something that is naturally born in an individual, while a skill is something that is acquired over time. With the FIFA World Cup coming up very soon, let’s look at a soccer player (or football, if you prefer), as an example.

A great soccer player has both talent and skill (photo from Shutterstock)

I would hazard a guess and suggest that probably every single player that you will see run out onto the field during the upcoming tournament possess an in-born athletic ability. They may have a natural speed or strength or agility that they have likely displayed all their life. As kids, they probably did pretty well at whatever sport they tried their hand at, and were likely the envy of others (like me), who were not quite so athletically gifted.

That’s a talent.

But if talent was all that was required to be a great player, then I don’t think professional sport would be nearly as special as it is. There are millions of incredibly athletic people in this world, but only a very few of them ever rise up to become stars in their particular discipline. The difference maker is skill. The World Cup soccer player spends years and years practicing, learning to move the ball with his feet, and accustoming himself to the flow and pace of the game. The player learns everything he can about the sport, and as he develops these skills, is able to couple them with his natural talent to become a world class soccer player.

I think that the same thing applies to designers, though obviously with a different set of talents and skills. On one side, I think that most designers have some level of natural born talent (though, perhaps, to varying degrees). This talent may encompass a tendency towards visual composition, a natural ability to draw, an inborn sense of colour and usually just a general creative spirit.

However, natural talent is simply not enough. I don’t even think that it is the most important element in the makeup of any designer. That distinction belongs to skill. Just like the soccer player, the designer needs to learn the ins and outs of the design game. There are principles to learn (and to learn to apply), the need to distinguish beauty from function, and the ability solve problems visually and an understanding of typography to be grasped. There are also practical skills involved in the actual creation of a design, much of which focuses on computers and software these days, but which once involved paste-up and typesetting.

These are the real hallmarks of a designer. Without them, even them most naturally talented creative individual cannot hope to truly excel at design, any more than that the most naturally athletic individual can hope to just step onto a world class soccer field without years of preparation and training.

However, unlike the soccer player, who is equally unlikely to succeed without some natural talent, I do believe that someone who has a firm grasp of the principles of design is in a far more likely to be able to create a good, solid design than a much more creative person with no understanding of these same principles. In other words, while I believe that most of the people who find themselves getting into design are there because of a natural talent, I also believe just about anyone can develop the necessary skills to become a successful designer (though perhaps not one of the world’s great designers).

On Education

This emphasis on learning and skill may seem to be putting a strong push on the importance of education. In many ways, I suppose it is, since the knowledge and learning that a designer accumulates is probably one of their greatest assets. However, I want to stress that this education does not necessarily need to happen between the four walls of a formal school.

Yes, the most important part of developing your design skills is gaining the necessary knowledge, but how you acquire that knowledge is really up to you.

Some form of education is important (photo from Shutterstock)

Personally, I don’t have any official schooling in design. I took art classes all the way through high school and one basic drawing class as an elective in university, but while none of this probably hurt my skills as a designer, they certainly don’t constitute anything remotely close to a formal education in design.

Instead, I have developed my skills and education through a number of different means, such as:

Reading – If you were to go to school for design, one of your principal resources would be surely be books. Teachers and professors would assign required reading, and you would be expected to learn a great deal from these pages. Well, it just so happens that you don’t actually need to be enrolled in a class to read a book. You can pick them up at your local bookstore or library and learn all kinds of wonderful, design related thoughts, ideas and principles.

There is also the internet, filled with tons of blogs and other websites dedicated to the subject of design. These are a rich and valuable resource for you to tap into, and I will openly admit that a lot of what I have learned about design over the years has actually come from reading the material on these sites.

Feedback and Critiques – Another really educational experience is always receiving constructive criticism and critiques on your work, especially if these are coming from other skilled designers. I have had experiences where I received criticism that made me sit back and look at a design from a different perspective, allowing me to see something that I hadn’t before. When this happens, I try to file away that perspective, to help broaden the way I look at my own work and hopefully improve my overall skill as a designer.

Dribbble is a great resource for getting this kind of feedback. If you haven’t been invited to that site yet, there are all kinds of other communities that you can look at too. The trick is to find a place where you will be offered more than just a proverbial pat on the back. Praise is all very well and good, but solid advice and constructive criticism that will help you hone your skills is far more valuable.

Practice – I’ve written before about the importance of practice for becoming a better designer, and it has honestly been one of the more valuable educational experiences. Though somewhat organic and perhaps unfocused, I believe that by simply practicing the act of design, many of the underlying principles will being to manifest themselves to you. You will likely start to learn that things generally look better when aligned with each other, or with a larger pattern (such as a grid), or that visual hierarchy can help establish a logical organization for a design.

Just as an aside, there may be some who would argue that this just doesn’t happen – that people don’t just naturally pick up on the principles of design through practice, and that they must be taught. If this is true, where did the principles come form in the first place? There were no ten commandments of design, delivered from on high. There was no miraculous revelation.

No, like most human knowledge, the principles were discovered over time. Through practice and analysis, we gradually began to understand why certain compositions worked better than others. As we learned, we translated this new knowledge into working principles, which remain with us and guide much of what is designed today!

Critical Thinking

I think that another thing that is part of the makeup of a great designer is the ability to think critically. This can mean taking stock of a particular design project (usually through a brief of some sort) and undertaking an intentional and careful analysis of the requirements in order to come up with the best possible solution.

It can also mean being able to step back from your own work, examine it from a somewhat objective perspective and ultimately assess whether anything needs to be tweaked or changed.

In many ways, I think that critical thinking generally emerges as a by product of extensive knowledge, and here I find myself coming back to the FITCH article, and the suggestion that only those who really know what they’re doing in design are actually equipped to assess the quality of their (or any other) design.

Conclusion

This of course, brings us full circle in our discussion, and offers a perfect segue to wrapping things up. As already stated, the purpose of this article has been to take a look at the makeup of the designer. So far, we’ve looked at some of the various parts that I believe to be key elements to this makeup. To pull it all together, I would like to offer a more complete picture, based on what we have already talked about.

In essence, I believe that a true designer is an individual who has amassed a certain degree of knowledge, allowed that knowledge to develop into critical thinking, and applied themselves to a significant amount of practice to help develop and refine their skills. Ultimately, all of this may (or may not) serve to emphasize or complement a natural-born talent.

And that’s it. For me, that’s the makeup of a true designer. Of course, it’s going to vary from designer to designer in terms of degree and/or proportion, but generally speaking, I think this pretty much describes every designer I have ever known.

What about you? Would you agree with this, or do you think that designers are made up of different elements altogether? Share your thoughts and help be refine this definition!

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If you read a lot of design blogs, or if you’re an active participant in the design community, chances are you’ve had some connection with Steven Snell and/or one of his websites. He is the founder and owner of both Vandelay Design, DesignM.ag, and a variety of different gallery sites, such as CartFrenzy, FolioFocus and TYPEinspire, all featured below.

Recently, I’ve had a bit of communication with Steven, and he was able to help me out on a large-scale project that I have been working on over the past several weeks. I also had the chance to ask Steven some questions about his experience as a freelance designer, questions which he was kind enough to answer. I think you’ll find that some of his responses are really interesting! Also, I’ve included several works from Jon’s portfolio for you to check out.

Featured Designer: Steven Snell of Vandelay Design and DesignM.ag

1.Hi Steven! Thanks for agreeing to do this interview. Why don’t we start with the basics. Tell us a little bit about yourself and Vandelay Design. I’m interested in how you came up with the name!

I’m a designer and blogger from New Jersey. Well actually I’m from Pennsylvania but I have been living in New Jersey for a few years.

I always struggle with naming things, so when I started Vandelay Design I didn’t really have any ideas. I’m a big fan of Seinfeld and several Seinfeld episodes mentioned Vandelay Industries, which was a made up company. Since I had no better ideas I decided to run with the inspiration from Seinfeld. Looking back I wish I would have put more thought into it, but many people have told me that it makes it easier to remember and stands out, so I guess it’s ok.

Echo Note: I’d actually wondered if there was a connection between Steven’s Vandelay and the infamous Vandelay Industries from Seinfeld.

2.There are many roads that lead people into design. How did you get into the game?

My senior year of college I took an elective course on web design. I was a business major so I was pretty interested in learning web design because of all the opportunities it could bring, but I never really imagined that I would be a full-time web worker. It was a really basic course and by the end I could design a basic table-based site, but that was about it. Following that I did some reading and studying on my own to learn more, especially CSS, and that’s what got me really interested in pursuing it even more. I started to do some small sites for family and friends and then I started Vandelay Design as a way to market my services on a bigger scale. At that time I had a full-time job and designing was more of a hobby than a job.

Vandelay Deisgn

3.Let’s play with time a little bit. Can you tell us a bit about where you were 5 years ago, and how those years got you to where you are now?

Five years ago I was working as an internal auditor for a leasing company, and doing a little bit of design on the side. During my time as an auditor I thought that was the career path that I wanted, but I got really sick of being an employee so I dedicated myself to growing Vandelay Design to the point that I could quit the job and work for myself full-time.

4. Looking the other way, where do you see yourself five years from now? It doesn’t have to be specific, just a general

That’s the one thing about my work that kind of scares me a little bit is that I have no idea what I want to be doing in five years. I change my mind at least every few months. I think I’ll probably be doing a lot of the same stuff that I’m doing now, managing my own sites and some client work as well. I’m more of an entrepreneur than a designer, so I don’t want to be dependent on client work, but I do like to mix it in with my own projects.

DesignM.ag

5.Tell us a little bit about your typical day at the “office”. Any gear (hardware or software) that is absolutely essential for you?

My days vary depending on what I have going on at that particular time. My work involves writing blog posts for my own sites, some freelance writing for other blogs (not much of that anymore), updating my gallery sites, and designing for clients. The one constant is the need to produce new content for my blogs. I take client work on a limited basis and do freelance blogging when I have time, but keeping my blogs up-to-date with new content requires that I spend at least a few days each week on blog posts. Some of my everyday tools include: WordPress, Photoshop, Blog Desk, Twitter and TweetDeck, Fanurio, and probably some other stuff that I am forgetting.

6. As a full time freelancer, what is most rewarding for you? What is the most challenging?

The most rewarding is seeing growth. Whether it is my own sites growing in terms of traffic and income or the growth and development of a client’s site. The biggest challenge for me is managing my time and focusing on getting things done before running off and taking on something new that I don’t have time for.

In terms of working with clients, one of my biggest challenges is starting projects properly. Most of the sites I work on are small businesses or organizations, so in many cases they underestimate the importance of planning and preparing the project. Getting to fully understand their situation and the customers/visitors is a challenge if they just want to get a site designed and developed without much involvement on their part.

CartFrenzy

7.How do you typically go about finding new clients to work with?

Typically I don’t go about finding new clients. I get a lot of inquiries through my site and I’m only able to work with a small portion of those people, so I don’t pursue work actively since I really can’t take on any more.

8.Could you comment on the state of the design industry at large, at least from you perspective? It can be positive, negative, observational or all of the above!

One thing that I have always noticed about the design industry is how helpful people are. I think most designers see their fellow designers as friends or colleagues rather than competition. I like the fact that the industry has so many learning resources available. I’ve benefited a lot from books and online tutorials, and really anyone that wants to learn more about web design can do so very inexpensively because of all of the resources that are available.

9.What about social media? Like the rest of the design world, you’re on Twitter, but what else do you use? Do you think that the massively saturated social media world will be able to sustain itself?

I really don’t use much social media anymore. I visit niche sites like Design Bump, DZone and Design Moo a few times a week and I’ll vote on stuff here and there with StumbleUpon and Digg, but it’s really a very small part of my day. When the Vandelay Design blog was pretty new I was much more active with social media and it played a big role in the blog’s growth.

I think social media and social networking are here to stay, but I’m sure it will evolve pretty rapidly. Two years ago I was using StumbleUpon a lot to share articles that I found here and there, now I use Twitter a lot more. The concept of users interacting and sharing I’m sure will stick around, but I think the sites and resources that are popular will change with time.

FolioFocus

10.I know you’re spending a lot of time on your own network of websites recently, but your portfolio shows that you’ve done a lot of work for churches and other non-profit ministries. Why did you decided to specialize in this area and how (if at all) do you find it different than working with other clients?

I started to focus on church and non-profit sites because I have an interest in their cause and it feels good to work on a project that gives you a sense of satisfaction. And because traditionally their websites haven’t been the best.

The biggest difference and challenge in working with these organizations is that it can be harder to nail down the business. In a lot of situations there is no real decision maker, so the contact person has to get all of the information, then go before a board or committee, and this process can take a while. The same situation comes up in some cases when trying to get information about the organization for the site.

11.When you’re not designing or working on DesignM.ag or your network of design galleries, what do you do to stay inspired, or to blow off a little steam?

I like to watch football, mostly college. I used to play a lot of sports and go to the gym just about every day, but that’s a lot less frequent now because I don’t have much time. I also really like to just hang out with my wife. It could be staying at home and watching a movie or traveling somewhere.

12.Right off the top of your head, fire off the names of three other designers that you really dig/respect.

• Chris Spooner
• Jonathan Snook
• Henry Jones

13.How about three websites that you visit the most?

• MiamiHerald.com (University of Miami football news)
• Smashing Magazine
• Delicious

TYPEinspire

14.Last, but not least, the question that every interview has to have, and which most close with – the advice. Any pearls of wisdom you’d like to share?

My advice for aspiring designers is to focus on your own improvement and development. One thing about the design industry (either good or bad, depending on how you look at it) is that it’s really easy to get started. As a result there is a huge range of abilities and experience from one designer to the next. It’s easy to look at someone who is amazingly talented and feel bad about your own abilities, but there is really no need to compare yourself to that person. Learn what you can from the work of others and always try to improve your own skills. If you’re always improving you’re on the right track.

That’s it folks! Thanks so much to Jon for doing this interview! What do you guys think? Any thoughts or comments on any of Steven’s answers? Please feel free to ask any questions of your own, too!

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If you’ve been following this my posts over the past few months, chances are you’ve heard me mention Jon Phillips, founder of SpyreStudios, at least once. I’ve done some writing for his blog, and just this week Jon released Tweevil – The Dark Twitter Bird, a freebie vector pack that I designed exclusively for SpyreStudios.

I’ve really enjoyed working with Jon, and I definitely hope to collaborate on more projects with him in the future. Jon is also a strong force in the design community, remarkably generous with his time and knowledge, and above all, a very talented designer and developer.

Recently, I had the chance to ask Jon a few questions, which he was kind enough to answer. I think you’ll find that some of his responses are really interesting! Also, I’ve included several works from Jon’s portfolio for you to check out.

Jon Phillips - Founder of Spyre Studios

1. Hi Jon! Thanks for agreeing to do this interview. Why don’t we start with the basics? Tell us a little bit about yourself and SpyreStudios.

It’s my pleasure, thanks for inviting me. My name’s Jon Phillips, I’m a 27 year old web-designer from Montreal, Canada. I’ve been designing for the web for many years now and have launched my design business, SpyreStudios, in 2007. SpyreStudios acts as my portfolio as well as my design blog where I also have regular contributors and guest authors.

SpyreStudios

2. There are many roads that lead people into design. How did you get into the game?

I’m a musician so I’ve always been interested in creating stuff and ever since I got my first computer I’ve been interested in the web and how it works. At some point I started building simple webpages for friends and family and I read books and tutorials and discovered blogging (almost by mistake – I was bored one evening and installed WordPress just because I’ve heard of it). I didn’t study design or programming. I’m self-taught, so I still read a lot of blogs and books about design and typography.

3. Let’s play with time a little bit. Can you tell us a bit about where you were 5 years ago, and how those years got you to where you are now?

Sure! I used to work in marketing and sales for a big telecom company here in Quebec. I hated almost everything about it, except for the fact that I met my lovely girlfriend while working there! I worked there for 5 years (isn’t it human nature to be afraid of change?) and I was doing some freelance work on the side. So, one day I simply decided to quit the day job, just like that. And I started building my freelance business and networking with other designers. The big step after quitting my day job was to launch SpyreStudios, which took me about 2-3 years before I decided I needed to expand and take this more seriously. And now I’m here, blogging, designing and making a living working from home.

DesignNewz

4. Looking the other way, where do you see yourself five years from now? It doesn’t have to be specific, just a general

5 years is a long time hehe. I’m pretty sure I won’t be doing freelance work anymore, as I’m currently working on building more profitable websites and working on personal projects with other designers. Freelancing is great and I love every single day, but I would like to have more time to play music and focus on personal projects. So to answer your question: I hope to have some streams of passive income set up and more free time 5 years from now :)

5. Tell us a little bit about your typical day at the “office”. Any gear (hardware or software) that is absolutely essential for you?

Everyday is very different. I usually wake up, make coffee and open my Mac. Then I check on my emails, stats and Twitter messages. I try to get all the administrative work done as soon as possible so I can then start working on more creative things like wireframing or website design for clients. Then I’ll spend some time working on my own sites and blogs, brainstorming ideas for blog posts and whatnot.

Software I couldn’t live without:

• Adobe Creative Suite (mostly Fireworks, Photoshop and Illustrator)
• Daylite (http://www.marketcircle.com/daylite/)
• TextMate
• Freshbooks Invoicing (web-based), Billings 3 (desktop app)
• Mail app
• Safari and Firefox
• WordPress

Hardware I couldn’t live without:

• 15-inch Macbook Pro
• iPod Touch

Vividways

6. As a full time freelancer, what is most rewarding for you? What is the most challenging?

Waking up in the morning and being my own boss and running my own business is a hell of a reward hehe. And one thing I find especially rewarding is when I get great feedback from clients on my work. That’s priceless. As for the most challenging, I would have to say keeping track of everything. I consider myself well organized, but when it comes to accounting, invoicing and keeping track of revenues and expenses, I suck at this.

7. How do you typically go about finding new clients to work with?

I’ve never advertised my business, bought banner ads or used any other online advertising methods. Instead, I rely heavily on word of mouth and on my blog to attract clients. It’s been working great so far. Being an active Twitter user, I also get a lot of inquiries because of it.

twitterhotties (now offline)

8. Could you comment on the state of the design industry at large, at least from you perspective? It can be positive, negative, observational or all of the above!

The design community is great! I seriously have never been part of a community where there’s such a positive vibe – everybody I talk to is friendly and willing to help. I can’t say that much about other industries like the music industry where it’s almost the opposite. People in the design industry seem to have a greater understanding of the word ‘community’. The feeling I get from the design community is that people understand that in order to succeed you have to help others, if they succeed you succeed too (win-win).

9. What about social media? Like the rest of the design world, you’re on Twitter, but what else do you use? Do you think that the massively saturated social media world will be able to sustain itself?

I think you’re absolutely right, it is saturated. I think the big players will be there for a long time (Twitter, Facebook) but smaller guys will need to innovate to survive. I use Twitter and Facebook and the major social media sites like Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon. I’m also very active on design related sites like DesignFloat, DesignBump and DesignMoo.

Geek Factory

10. Of course, we need to touch on music. As a guitarist for a band like The Gods of Now, how do you manage to balance both design and music? Do you ever find that one starts to crowd out the other?

Well I have time for both. Of course when I’m on tour with my band it’s a little more difficult to work on design projects, but I bring my laptop and work as much as I can (and let my clients know about it before they hire me). Of course when I’m on tour, I don’t take rush projects and can’t schedule meetings or anything, but it’s never been a problem. Besides, we’re working on our second album now so I have all the time in the world to work on my design business and I can go to the studio at night to record some tracks :)

11. Aside from tearing up the strings with TGON, what else do you do to stay inspired, or to blow off a little steam?

I really enjoy spending time with my girlfriend, go out for a drink or to a nice restaurant, or simply take a walk. This helps me regain focus and recharge the batteries a bit. I also try to go on vacation every 3-4 months so I can disconnect and not think about work for a week. This helps tremendously!

The Gods of Now Blog

12. Right off the top of your head, fire off the names of three other designers that you really dig/respect.

• Jason Santa Maria
• Chris Spooner
• Jonathan Snook

13. How about three websites that you visit the most?

• Smashing Magazine
• Six Revisions
• Twitter

The Game Zen

14. Last, but not least, the question that every interview has to have, and which most close with – the advice. Any pearls of wisdom you’d like to share?

Never underestimate the power of friends and the connections you make! Keep networking with other like-minded people in your field, you’ll thank yourself in the long run. Also, always lend a helping hand whenever possible.

That’s it folks! Thanks so much to Jon for doing this interview! What do you guys think? Any thoughts or comments on any of Jon’s answers? Please feel free to drop a line!

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