Skills Every Designer Needs

So you want to be a designer! Great! Welcome aboard the Enterprise, Number One. The truth is when you’re considering a college, or wanting to peruse this on your own outside a formal education, or you are even starting a budding interest in high school there’s some things you need to know that you need to know, if you catch my drift.  So I sat down and took a look at the skills a designer needs to have to be successful in almost any market. Now there’s always company, or agency specifics that are outside of this realm, but if they’re built on this, you have a strong foundation. Without further adieu, the list:

Adobe

It is a monopoly on the market? Sure is! But what that means for you is knowing it, and almost all of it. InDesign for your print layouts, Dreamweaver for you web stuff (P.S. REO Speedwagon, I believe you can get me through the night). Flash, and dabbling in Actionscript, even cursory knowledge of Premiere, Soundbooth and Aftereffects for any multimedia endeavors.

Photoshop and Illustrator

Dear Ryan, why aren’t these in the section above? Because they are THAT IMPORTANT. If you don’t know these, go and take a class, watch a tutorial, bone up. Photoshop and Illustrator are two of the most important skills you must possess. No one wants a Photoshop Logo, and no one wants a live-traced Photo.

Classical Skills

So you are great with a mouse… So what? Can you sit in a room with a client and effectively communicate an idea without the aid of technology? Practice on your old fashioned paper medium to keep your sketching and roughing in shape for the times when you’ll need it.

The Googler Machine

At this point, you cannot ignore web technologies, even if it’s in tables, you should know how to code an email, or even a basic web page, nothing amazingly fancy, but the better you are at this, the more valuable you are to any company that brings you on. Oh and by the way, this internet thing is not a fad. Try some place like W3Schools to have a solid understanding.

Concepting

Your ability to think of fresh new ideas or re-invent old ones will make or break you as a designer, all layouts have been done for the most part, can you break out of the box is the question. Strong concepting ability never goes unnoticed and unappreciated. This is the true key to unlocking the inner creative genius. It’s ok to remember that imitation is a form of flattery, and there is plenty of inspiration around the internet.

Media

Heck, any media, new and emerging technologies like HTML 5 and the iPad and phone are new ways companies are going to want to market to their customers. Do you have what it takes to develop ads and interactive experiences in the world of new media? Know the difference in these types of media, and how to design around their limitations and extra abilities.

Communication

Effective communication skills are always necessary, dealing with internal and external clients, writing proposals, and quotes. Even just email interaction and basic copywriting will be a powerful weapon in your arsenal when working out in the market. It’s simply not enough to throw Lorem Ipsum everywhere, and besides, no one speaks that anymore.

Be cool, ish….

Facebook, Dribble, Twitter, Design bump. Get involved in social aspects of the world, in the old days, that meant going to conferences and networking events, and while those are just as popular than ever, you have to leverage the new way to market yourself and your skills to be a successful designer. Technology companies especially like to see this.

Love it

or leave it. Lets face it, no matter how much you love art and design, a job is a job. And you’re out to make your client happy. You’ll always have your own website, and your own design project, and hey even client projects that you truly love. But it’s your responsibility to show up every day, kick ass, take names, rinse, and repeat.

Hopefully that helps you put some stuff in perspective now go forth and be awesome!