What Makes a Successful Designer?
What do you feel you need to accomplish to be a success? Perhaps it’s all about the money, or enjoying yourself? Maybe you want to win awards, or go freelance? Maybe you’ll only feel successful once you own your own company?
I’ve been tagged for this ‘accidental meme’ by Tara at the Graphic Design Blog, who was asked the questions originally by Lauren Marie Krause (a fresh new designer from California). Ironically though, the questions she’s asked me to answer are ones that I’ve been recently been asking myself!
I’ve been in the business of web and graphic design for about 15 years now, and my client list features both start-ups and blue-chip organisations, from all over the world. Feel free to have a look at my portfolio if you like!
1. How did you get started in the business?
I originally discovered the Internet way back in 1991. I used to spend whole days - and ridiculous amounts of money - sitting in Cyberia (just off Tottenham Court Road in London), and it was then that I decided to make my first website. After a couple of months of fielding emails from people asking who had made my site, I realised that I could make some serious money if I taught myself how to do web design properly. Six months later I launched my first ‘virtual’ web design studio, and I haven’t looked back since.
2. What kept you going in those early years?
Self-conviction. If you don’t believe in yourself, then who else is going to believe in you? I guess it helped that I got a constant stream of clients right from day one - including the likes of Virgin and Easynet. It was rewarding to see something I had made being visited by thousands of people every day!
3a. Did you ever feel like you weren’t good enough or you would never make it in this industry?
Of course. As my freelance web design business got bigger it seriously interfered with my school work, and I used to get it in the neck from teachers on a regular basis because I hadn’t done an assignment on time. On more than one occasion I really felt like chucking the towel in and focusing on my studies.
3b. How did you work through that?
With the exception of one guy, my teachers and tutors just didn’t understand (or want to understand) computers - and the one that did forced his way into the school to manage the new IT suite, and only because nobody else wanted to! It was with his reassurance that I began to feel that I could really make a career for myself in design.
4. Do you look at others today and think “Wow, I wish I were that good”?
All the time. Designers like Jon Hicks, Dan Cederholm and Bryan Veloso have all had an influence on stuff I’m working on at the moment, but I’m constantly looking at the work of other designers and wishing I were as good as them. Having said that, without aspiration there is rarely growth.
5. How do you measure success?
I don’t really have a single way of gauging how successful I am. Things that people say to me, passing comments, overheard discussion - they can all make me feel like something I’ve done has made a difference.
6. By your standard, do you think you are successful?
I think I’m getting there. I’m now working full-time freelance, which is something I’ve always wanted to do. Of course, it was always my aim to retire at 35 - but I’ve got some things in the pipeline that might end up making that a reality, which would be really cool!
In the true vein of tag memes, my usual suspects willing volunteers are:
One of the team from Freelance Switch
webee from the bee design
Lisa from Design, Life, Culture, Whatever…
Jon Hicks from Hicks Design (hopeful, but you never know…)
Zep from The In-Sect
Digg/astetix
Flickr/astetix
Facebook/Paul Enderson
Linkedin/paulenderson
Del.icio.us/jazzpak
Technorati/astetix
MyBlogLog/astetix
I was only kidding, it didn’t have to be within the hour
Interesting reading and I like the portfolio.
John Hick’s website is one I love too.
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I like this post
I totally agree with you on the fact that we have to believe in ourself !
Thanks for your comment Tara, and for the tag! As I said, they were questions I’ve been asking myself recently - so the words flowed easily.
Ludovic, the thing about self-belief is that it remains through all the times when everybody elses belief fades!
Interesting read Paul.
I’m especially curious as to what your projects are, those that will help you retire at 35.
Here’s your task: create a new post within the hour detailing your millionaire project plans, step-by-step for dummies (like yours truly).
Oooh, now that would be telling! I guess I could write a ‘Dummies Guide to Becoming a Millionaire’ - but then I’d have to monetize my blog and change my template to one with a flash sports car at the top.
Anything to do with the community site you have mentioned before?? Very curious!
Well, yes that might be one of them… I never put all my eggs in a single carrier bag though!
Hm, personal success is so hard to quantify, especially when you try sizing yourself up against others’ specs on what success is. Is it money? Is it prestige or respect? Is it being in charge? It’s a tough question, but I guess I considered myself successful when I was employed by someone else. I led a small team of webmasters, and tracked or personally handled a base of nearly 200 clients on an ongoing basis… but the pay sucked and the boss was an idiot who probably won’t be in business much longer.
As a freelancer, I’ve yet to come to the point where I would consider myself a success. Family responsibilities, bad luck with the first handful of clients I picked up, and self-doubt have kept me from pursuing freelance work with any real enthusiasm over the past year.
It’s a bit ironic - I had respect and at least a steady paycheck working for someone else, but my hands were tied regarding what the boss was willing to see or allow as far as growth and development of his employees AND his business. On my own, I’ve learned so much more than I ever could have working for someone else, but no one knows who I am and there’s no stable income! It’s a catch 22 for me at this point.
“but then I’d have to monetize my blog and change my template to one with a flash sports car at the top.”
haha, I love this reply
Fortunately there are still some people (you) left with a talent other than making money by talking on how to make money, and there are some people (us) who appreciate the creative talent and get motivated by topics other than get-rich-quick stories.
“without aspiration there is rarely growth”. This is so true!
David, you should include this quote to your blog’s quotations list.
Charity,
I enjoyed reading your perspective and it’s good of you to write so openly.
This is a great post all around.
Charity: It’s a hard decision to make - comfortably work for another and be stifled creatively, or precariously work for yourself and flourish. I have had my fair share of both over the years, and I’ve now decided that the latter is better - although it took some time to get there! Keep at it!
Vivien: Thank you! See, it’s comments like that that make it all worthwhile!
David: Thanks! This is a good meme as it goes…
Paul, thank you for answering my questions! I enjoyed reading your reply. I specifically asked whether by your standards you felt successful because I know different people measure success in different ways. I personally don’t think making a lot of money makes one successful; money is nice, but it’s definitely not everything. Having the luxury of spending time with family and friends is more important than money to me. I agree completely with what you said about hearing nice comments and compliments and feeling like you’ve made a difference. That is a very satisfying feeling.
Without aspiration there is rarely growth
I think I will pin that up on my wall. What a profound statement. What a true statement!
Lauren Marie: It was an absolute pleasure - and I’m glad you enjoyed the post! It’s definitely worth pursuing what will make you happy, whatever shape that takes.
Excellent post, Paul.
Truer words have never been spoken. Well, maybe they have - but that bit of truth hits home for me.
Thanks for the tag (I think) - I’ll have to work on these
Thanks Lisa! It’s quite ironic that a post I wrote so quickly is going down so well…
Look forward to your response!
I think that’s because of the promotion this post received over at Tara’s blog
We are all curious about the other designer’s background and personal thoughts on the business side of the things.
[…] got tagged with this by Paul Enderson of Reflections - originally started by Lauren Marie Krause in an effort to gather thoughts from other freelance […]
Yup. Could certainly be that…
Nope. Apparently it’s not (just) that. I’ve actually only had 11 unique physical visitors today, but there’s been 83 unique reads of the post - meaning that 72 people have viewed it via the feed, which I’m rather chuffed about!
Congratulations for getting on the road to success in blogiverse
Paul, which plugin and stats tool do you use to get all those numbers and to display the number of views at the top of your posts?
LOL! I’m getting there slowly!
The plugin’s called WP-PostViews. You’ll find it here.
Thanks for the plugin link. I should’ve visited your website sooner, then I would’ve definitely included your attention to details (like dates styling) in my yesterday’s blog post.
I’ve got that on my ‘to read properly’ list for tonight actually!
“It was rewarding to see something I had made being visited by thousands of people every day!”
That has to be a major highlight in everyone’s career, and a goal for those who aren’t there yet. Getting the feeling that your work is recognised and serving its purpose is a great motivation for future work. My biggest project doesn’t have more than a couple of hundred visitors a day, but I’m incredibly happy with that since I’m pretty fresh.
And Paul, I’d love to see your guerilla marketing pieces.
I am quite lucky that my early clients were high profile enough to give that initial kick-back, or I may have given up sooner! Mind you, I get excited if some of my own sites gets 200 visitors in a month!
My guerilla marketing wasn’t in the form of a product - but a publicity stunt. Several of us descended on the Internet World show in London, all dressed in matching (and unmissable) t-shirts, held the entrance/exit doors open, and gave out flyers for two hours!
Paul, I am impressed by the fact that, during this interview, you said several times that you appreciate other designers’ works and that you want to learn from them. I think that this is the most constructive attitude ever. I am just like you, with a great respect for the best ones’ works and with a continuous will for learning.
Thanks for your comment Respiro. I think not appreciating another designer’s work would be foolish, as there is much that can be learned from others.
“I think not appreciating another designer’s work would be foolish, as there is much that can be learned from others.”
You’re right, Paul, but someone who admits that he/she can learn from others admits that he/she is not the best.
What do you think about this?
I certainly don’t have a problem with admitting to myself that I’m not the best! It would be conceited of me to think that I was - although I may possibly not be quite so transparent with potential clients, who like re-assurances that the designer they have found is the best person for the job!
“although I may possibly not be quite so transparent with potential clients, who like re-assurances that the designer they have found is the best person for the job!”
This is the point…
[…] the question ‘When do you consider you are a successful designer?’. Tara, David and Paul, among others, have already posted their answers to this. I encourage you to […]
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Happy clients and their ROI make the difference.
None…
None…
[…] out some other designers who have participated in this discussion: Brian Gardner David Airey Paul Enderson Charity Ondriezek Lisa […]