A Survey for Designers
I've had quite a few young designers emailing me lately asking questions about design, requesting critiques, and just general advertising agency career advice. So, in an effort to streamline the process of answering all those emails, I went back and reread some of the surveys from the 2004 Graphic Design USA and 2005 Graphic Design USA magazine. In order for designers to truly understand where they can they can go, they need to know themselves a little bit better. Too often, young designers are focused on interface design and their software skills without any reverence for the underlying strategy. The GDUSA surveys were devoted to "Insights and Opinions from the Best and Brightest." They asked several designers the following questions:
1. Do you have a design hero?
2. What would be your dream design project?
3. How and where do you find inspiration?
4. What do you do in your time away from work?
5. What are you currently listening to, watching or reading?
6. Is there one product, tool or gadget you cannot live without?
In the responses, the designers who stood out were the ones whose passions helped influence others they worked with. I think that is a pretty good exercise for any designer or illustrator for that matter. I would have gone deeper with the survey, but this is a good starting point. I may add to that question list myself at a later date. Take some time and think about how you would answer the questions. If you really get inspired, feel free to post your answers.