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Designers, 2012 is yours! Why I won’t let myself be left behind.

by Wells Riley on February 7, 2012 in Design with 1 Comment
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Every morning I wake up and scan my iPhone notifications. First I check email, to make sure I’m either 1) not at fault for some huge disaster or 2) that the world hasn’t ended. If there’s nothing mission critical, I move on to the other miscellany of Path, Twitter, and Hanging With Friends bleeps – whichever social network or needy app I happen to be into that week. Then I browse my RSS feeds on Reeder to gain perspective on the world as of that moment, and I’m not even out of bed yet.

How fitting that David Cole wrote just yesterday (emphasis mine):

The big narrative going around right now is that design has been crowned king of the solar system. A Braun-esque super-future is in the works for 2012, and by Thanksgiving we’ll be downloading perfectly cuboid turkeys with rounded corners and all will be well.

Woot! It’s the perfect storm for design, and everything is great! Right?

Well, maybe not. The precedent is there, but David aptly continues:

But to get there, we need to solve a really big problem: the huge demand doesn’t actually seem to be creating supply. Every startup needs designers but they’re nowhere to be found.

His proposed solution is a fantastic idea. He’s encouraging highly skilled designers and design teams to take on bright young designers in a mentor / mentee relationship. In fact, that’s exactly what I’m looking for in a startup out West. I really want to join a stellar team and learn from the most talented designers I could possibly gain access to. I want to be a master, and I know that would be a huge step in the right direction. There’s plenty of startups and tech companies hiring designers, so assuming we can find existing design teams to work with, we as an industry could start a great feedback loop training designers to create world-class work.

From my experience in academia and working with student designers, I see a big gap between where students are now and having the opportunity to be mentored by skilled designers. Many young designers don’t even know that great startups / companies hiring and the exquisite designers within exist. How could they possibly begin seeking them out?

College works really well as a vacuum, and it’s easy to “become a designer” without a clue to what exactly it means to be a designer in 2012. I can say this with a certain amount of conviction because I know I’ve been guilty of this through my years in college.

It’s only been in the last year or so that I’ve had any serious interest in other designers, their work, and design history. It started with a brief research project on Dieter Rams (whom I already knew about, but I didn’t understand his significance) and the interest grew upon being invited to be a player on Dribbble. I came to realize that there were tons of great designers that I didn’t know existed. It wasn’t like I thought they didn’t, I just never really thought about it to begin with. Suddenly I was actually interacting with designers like Louie Mantia, Rogie King, Matthew Smith, and Luke Beard (to name just a few) – I’ve seen work coming out of these guys for years… since before I ever even thought to call myself a designer. They were like idols, but suddenly I was Liking their work on Dribbble, tweeting at them (and getting replies back) and buying prints of their work. I’ve even spoken to one of them over the phone. Call me corny if you must, but it’s been an incredibly eye-opening experience for me. This kind of immersion is exactly what I think young designers need in order to take the next big leap.

And it’s a pretty big leap. It’s not easy to just ‘become’ a participating member of a community overnight. It has taken months (and will continue to take me months) to amass my list of designers to follow on various social channels. I just recently added dozens of blogs to my RSS reader, and I certainly still have dozens more to add that I’ve never even heard of. Every day I’m seeing retweets and blog posts and references to people I’ve never heard of. It’s almost a full-time job in itself.

David said how “designers [are] nowhere to be found” but I’m not sure if that’s the problem. If you look at portfolio networks, blogs, or college campuses, student designers are everywhere. David believes (and I concur) that seasoned designers have the opportunity to mentor young designers, but I wonder how that works if young designers don’t even know that someone like Jessica Hische exists? How do we build those connections? Do we even need to? Maybe students just need that drive to explore and learn outside of the classroom… it’s hard and takes time, but we’ve just gotta do it.

For some students, it’s a case of “You don’t know what you don’t know.” How do we get student designers to start asking the right questions? It started for me in my senior year (of a 5-year program) upon reading “Why Designers Can’t Think” by Michael Bierut, and I wish I had realized it sooner. Being thrown in during my senior year is jarring, and maybe if I had started exploring two years ago I’d be more confident entering the ‘design workforce’… if such a term even exists. I’m excited and super motivated to do it… but it’s still super nerve-wracking.

Would it be helpful for me to compile some of the resources, designers, and bloggers I’ve found inspirational or motivating? Maybe if I share great work on this blog, it’ll not only motivate me, but maybe motivate others? You tell me.

 (Edited 1:20pm on 2/7/12… I spoke with a mentor and I’m seeing things a bit differently than I did before.)

  • Startup looking for a Designer? Here are some resources you didn’t know existed.

    by Wells Riley on February 2, 2012 in Design, Entrepreneurship with 2 Comments
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    Everyone is looking for a designer these days, and I think that’s super exciting. It’s a great time to be doing a startup, and it’s an even better time to be a Designer. Finding quality design talent is hard, though. I think it’s safe to say that finding Designers is significantly harder than finding a developer or engineer, mostly because:

    1. Designers aren’t as in-tune with the startup world as business guys and engineers are. Relatively speaking, it’s a new thing for many of them.
    2. Many entrepreneurs don’t have the design lingo yet – others don’t exactly know who they’re looking for. They know what they need, but can’t verbalize it effectively to designers.
    3. There are limited resources for scouting designers. Design meetups are scarce (in Boston, the majority of my audience for this post) and Design communities in general are small and nuanced. There’s way less fanfare and tweeting than the average startup event.
    4. “Good Design” and “Good Designers” are entirely subjective. There’s no quiz, rubric, or mold to easily assess a Designer’s skill – especially when the assessor isn’t a Design expert.

    I’m addressing this exact problem for my Degree Project, which will launch to the world on March 27th. In this post, I’m going to focus on #3 above. The other three require a bit more explanation… you’ll see. I’m gonna make a big fuss about the whole thing when my project is complete.

    Fortunately, there are   resources.

    Designers may be harder to find than engineers right now, but it’s not impossible. I think the overarching message here is If they won’t come to you, you’ll have to go to them. Here’s where the designers are.

    1. Dribbble – ‘Find Designers’ Page

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    www.dribbble.com/designers

    Aptly named – I feel like I’m cheating by including this, but it might not be the first place you’d think to look. For some, this may be the first time hearing about Dribbble in the first place. Dribbble is essentially an exclusive online community of Designers from around the world who are excellent at their craft. Signup is by invite only, and invites are very hard to come by. It took me nearly nine months to get ‘drafted’ after first discovering the site. Some of the best designers in the world are on Dribbble – it’s serious business.

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    If you’re not a drafted “Pro” member (like me), you’ll have to pay to play. Don’t close that tab just yet, though. There are pros and cons:

    Pros:

    • Access to a concentrated pool of the best and most public designers in the world
    • Easily search by location and skill
    • Instant access to their proudest work and WIP (works in progress) posted on the site
    • Payment includes a 30-day listing on the Dribbble Job Board. Designers will come to you.

    Cons:

    • It costs moneys : (

    And just to clear the air, I’m in no way affiliated with Dribbble. I’m just a loyal player (are you overwhelmed with basketball puns yet? No, I’m not either) and I know the founders personally. They’re great guys, and they’re building a kickass community that everyone loves.

    2. Zerply – Your Professional Presence on the Web

    Think of Zerply as LinkedIn exclusively for designers, developers, and entrepreneurs. It’s an exquisitely designed platform (see my profile) and it operates primarily on a system of recommendations. If someone knows a designer (or developer, writer, whatever) and like their work, they’ll “recommend” them in the system. It builds real credibility in people and allows them to see who appreciates their work.

    www.zerply.com

    As with Dribbble, Zerply allows you to search for talent by location, skills, and talents. Their system is free to use, and it’s great for networking with other entrepreneurs. Double-win.

    Pros:

    • LOTS of Designers. Oh boy.
    • Another source of high-quality and socially-active talent
    • Easy to search by location, skill, or other tags
    Cons:
    • It’s a relatively new professional network, so their user share isn’t quite where LinkedIn is yet
    • Can’t directly view the Designer’s work on the site unless they have the Behance plugin installed

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    If you’re looking for local talent, this is a great place to start. Zerply is a relatively new platform, but it’s valuable because it appeals to startups, engineers, and (most crucially) designers. I think you’ll be surprised to find so many on here – I searched “Design” “Boston” and found nearly 100 results before I ended my proving-a-point search.

    3. AngelList

    This one seems well-known among Entrepreneurs and Engineers. AngelList is a great network of Startups, Developers, and Designers. It’s more well-known for the former two, but there’s definitely designers on there.

    www.angellist.com

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    AngelList is a really diverse resource. It can help you find an investor, a startup, or a talented engineer (or designer!). It’s a pretty simple but highly-reputable resource for startups and talent to get together and do awesome things. They’ll send awesome designers your way, and you can post job openings so they’ll come looking for you.

    Pros:

    • Easy to post jobs directly to the huge AngelList network
    • Talented people are sent directly to you
    • Well-known and reputable
    Cons:
    • Much higher volume of Developer talent than Designers (for now)
    • Many Designers haven’t heard of AngelList yet

    4. Design Meetups

    This might be the hardest resource to break in to, and it requires the most effort on your part. It has the unique benefit, however, of allowing you to see directly into Design culture and mingle with prospective talent face-to-face. I strongly recommend you attend at least one Design meetup regardless – I think it’s really important to have that perspective going into your talent search.

    • Creative Mornings (events held across the world)
    • Warm Gun (Silicon Valley / San Francisco)
    • Meetup.com – Search for “Design” (Anywhere)
    • Plancast.com – Search for “Design” (Anywhere)

    And so on. “Check your local listings” – There’s stuff happening around you all the time. Keep your ear to the ground and you’ll hear the Designers coming from a mile away. Get in, learn about Design, meet great people, and maybe you’ll hire one.

    And everyone lives happily ever after.

  • 3 Questions All Designers Should Be Asking their Future Employers

    by Wells Riley on January 21, 2012 in Design, Entrepreneurship with No comments
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    I have experience as a consultant, a prospective employee, and a design advocate. All three personas have demanded that I verbalize my methodologies, principles, and understanding of Design. From now on, I’m going to capitalize Design. It deserves no less, and it’s that important.

    Now that I’m seeking a career, I’ve been trying to compile some good questions to ask prospective employers when asked “Do you have any questions about us?” Aside from taking a genuine interest in the company (you are genuinely interested, right?), I’ve come up with a few that I don’t think you (or the prospective employer) would think to ask.

    They’re not ‘curveball’ questions meant to throw off your interviewer’s mojo – I think they’re genuine and simple, and they’re incredibly telling of what to expect if you do end up working there. It’s really easy for an employer or hiring manager to talk about amazing opportunities, but Design is an oft misunderstood craft. To some, Design is purely aesthetic. What could be called a ‘Senior UX Designer’ position could just be someone’s spin on ‘make our website look pretty and code it’ but with the “UX buzzword” – which isn’t a buzzword at all. The two jobs are on entirely different ends of the Interactive Design spectrum. Others could resonate with you perfectly, and simply asking will solidify in your mind that you’ve found the right place.

    On the flipside, I think interviewers (HR, CEOs, Creative Directors) should be able to ask the question right back – they’re not exclusive. Designers, be prepared to ask and answer these. Think of it as a way to spark meaningful dialogue with a (potentially) huge influence on your life for the next ‘x‘ years.

    1. What is good Design?

    This is my favorite question to ask anyone. Sometimes the person will stammer for a second or two and either fall flat on their face or answer in a way that will genuinely surprise you. This is not an easy question to answer, even though my answer is fairly simple. I’m not just going to give you ‘the answer’ though… it’s something you need to define for yourself. This is a good place to start:


    Google is also a surprisingly good place to look.

    So why ask this question in the first place? I think it democratizes the conversation – it allows you to speak a common language. As a designer, if the person you’re speaking with has a totally different definition of design than you, it dramatically changes things. Are you going to live up to their expectations? Will the job live up to yours? Is this going to be a meaningful, worthwhile relationship?

    Be prepared to talk about it. It hits the core of your craft and sets expectations on both sides.

    2. What makes a good Designer?

    The first two questions will seem similar, but they touch on some crucially different points in the employee – employer relationship. While learning their definition of ‘Good Design’ helps root you in their outlook on the profession and craft, asking what makes a ‘good Designer’ gives you benchmarks for how your performance and skill will be assessed.

    Is a good Designer someone who can think holistically? Is it someone who is product-minded? User-minded? Someone who can deliver Photoshop files on time and on-budget? Someone who can design easily in PowerPoint ’97? I have seen countless examples of each ‘definition’ while consulting. Balk at my PowerPoint quip all you’d like, but some people seriously expect that kind of stuff. I have the .ppt files on my Archive HDD to prove it. As you can imagine, I’d like to avoid a career in PowerPoint like the plague.

    Each company (and job title) will result in a different answer to this question. It’s a great way to easily figure out how you’ll stack up against their mental Designer template, and whether or not they (and you!) think you’ll be the right fit for the job.

    3. How are you going to change the world?

    This isn’t Designer-specific, but it’s a really important question if you’re looking to join a company full time. I could even see this being a totally valid question to ask a company contracting you as a freelancer or consultant, too. It’s probably the boldest (and hardest) question to ask, but it’s arguably more important than the two questions above. Beyond knowing how they feel about Design and Designers, the answer to this question will give you a great idea if any of that even matters.

    No one starts a company (tech, bio-med, startup, etc… maybe doesn’t apply to a Mom n’ Pop store) to make ripples. Entrepreneurs and founders want to make huge waves and leave their mark on the world. Steve Jobs famously said to John Sculley, former President of PepsiCo, ”Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?”

    It’s not just Apple – it’s everyone.

    If you’re looking for exciting work outside of corporate America, this is a necessary question. Without high aspirations companies go stagnant, and so does their work. The last thing I could ever imagine myself doing is being a cog in the machine churning out uninspired work for uninspired people. I want to design products for >10m people without breaking a sweat, all the while figuring out how the product will work for the next 100 million customers. I’m hungry to learn from the absolute best. I don’t want to sell sugar water – I want to change the world.

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