The Journey From Design Student to Professional

Feb 17, 2017 | 3  min
author Pyxl Development
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My plan worked. After going through the process of sending out job applications, perfecting my portfolio, and giving myself mock interviews, I actually convinced someone to hire me. Yes! This is what all passionate design students dream of – an opportunity to be creative and design for a living. But on my first day of the job I realize that although I was very excited, that feeling was slowly overcome by one of concern and inadequacy. “Wow, I’m so pumped about this job!” … “What are my coworkers like?” … “What will my projects be?”… “They want me to design something in Photoshop? But I never use Photoshop. Oh no!” And that was only the first 15 minutes of the day.

The transition from design student to design professional comes with its unique set of challenges and blessings. I wanted to share a few of my thoughts with other young designers out there who might be looking for insight into experiences they may encounter as they make the transition into the professional world.

Don’t Be Afraid To Ask

As designers, we should be preaching the phrase “don’t be afraid” to ourselves daily. It is crucial to ask the “dumb” questions no matter how small or ridiculous they may seem. There are so many processes, phrases and acronyms, and I wish I had stopped someone and asked “what does that mean?” There will be days you look around and feel as if everyone knows more than you, and even though that might be true, don’t mistake it for a bad thing. As young designers, we have to use every opportunity to take advantage of the knowledge and experiences of others as resources.

In fact, humility and  a willingness to listen to others when you don’t know the answer to a problem is a huge part of being a designer. This keeps us fresh, ya’ll!

Learn to Collaborate

No designer is expected to know everything. Knowing this opens up the door for collaboration. Collaboration happens in many ways, whether it’s through giving feedback, being critiqued, or brainstorming. Through this we see every team member bringing different skills and processes to the table. When we utilize each other’s strengths and meld those together, the process of creating work for clients becomes a learning experience rather than just “getting the job done.” This means clients win and you win, because even if they change direction or request numerous revisions, you have gained new knowledge and deepened your relationship with your coworkers. Learning from one another will help you on your next collaborative project!

Now take a deep breath because unfortunately, not every project will feel this glamorous. And that is okay!

Appreciate the Grunt Work

Listen, everyone has to do it and I’m not just talking about interns. You might have to design PowerPoints or work on projects you don’t think are exactly “rock and roll.” Early on, I was tasked with the  job of transferring roughly 100 documents from one brand template to another. But you know what? I learned more about InDesign in those two weeks than I ever did during my four years of college. It is possible to find a growth opportunity or a new challenge with every project, no matter how mundane or boring it might appear. I know this seems annoyingly optimistic, but we have to remind ourselves of this, especially on those days we are bummed over a project or start dreaming of design school, where creative freedom reigned.

There are so many additional topics we could cover here regarding this transition, but what it boils down to is realizing that the education process is just now beginning and that’s exciting. It’s a fun and challenging ride, so relax, be flexible, and enjoy it!

Updated: Apr 13, 2022

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