A design job listing included this statement: Special considerations will be given for (art school name) alumni.

There is little to be criticized in having a preference for specific educational backgrounds and skill sets that will blend well with a hiring comany’s needs. Predisposition and special consideration is a common practice. In the fields of business, law, accounting, technology, science and medicine, many of which require education and on-the-job experience in order to be licensed or certified, where one went to school carries weight in hiring practies. GPAs are important qualifications and are a commonly used filter for making hiring decisions  In the design fields, GPA is not a prime consideration, but degree achievement is a common criteria. Above all, the portfolio is regarded as proof of ability and experience.

Given the academic standards, breadth and depth of curriculum, degree of excellence in design thinking and craft, and the focal strangths of individual curriculums, it’s realistic to expect much from graduates of certain design schools. All curriculum are not equal. All canddiatate are not equal. One can be a good designer and not have had formal training, but when one comes out of a school which maintains a world-class reputation, it is reasonable to expect him or her to live up to it.

The concern here is in the publication of the preference. If a hiring firm wants to give special consideration to candidates from a specific school, that’s its right. But then it should carry on its notification processes within the sphere of that school’s alumni and career counseling office rather than broadcast it to the job-seeking design population at large. Although it may not intend to exclude, it will in fact, do so. Job seekers wil assume they have no chance and therefore not apply, and it may or may not increase the pool of candidates from the preferred school.

No matter what the hiring criteria might be, it’s unwise, for a company to disclose preference for specific alumni in a job posting. Special consideration, when stated outright, does not promote equal opportunity or good will. It makes a company’s reputation suspect and can set the stage for lawsuits.

It’s said that design is in the details. Yet it’s the sum total of the details that makes the design. When you’re in the middle of something, you can’t see the whole thing altogether. It’s only when you step back far enough that you see its entirety. When you can see the whole, say, from the “30,000 ft. level”, you become aware of patterns, anomalies, structures, contexts and overall design.

Does it matter if a design is good or not?

Before we can deal with that question let’s ask a more basic one: What makes a design good?

To answer that question, we should first begin with what good means. Without a definition, it’s unlikely that any design can be considered good or not, since there would be no standard.

Good embodies three ideas: benefit, fit, and value. If something is good, it is useful and beneficial. It is not harmful, destructive or compromising. Its use results in good things.

Things that are good also fit well… they’re appropriate to the situation. If something is good then it’s not out of place or inappropriate. It specifically addresses the need or purpose it was created for.

And if something is good it has value… it enhances and builds up. It makes something desirable and worthy, or is in itself desirable.

Good design contains all these qualities: value, fitness and benefit. A design that does not work, does not communicate, does not add value, does not fit its audience or represent an enterprise appropriately is not good. And that matters, doesn’t it?

There are other businesses do exactly what yours does. The customer you seek has choices, and may or may not choose you. What will get you noticed? Your business needs to stand out and separate from the rest of the crowd. It needs to be the anomaly.

An anomaly is something that deviates from what is normal, standard or expected. Much of the time we think of anomalies as undesirable: Fitting in is better than standing out. Standing out makes you a target, unacceptable or open to ridicule. But in marketing and promoting your business, fitting in does nothing to grow your business.

Being different is one thing. Being different in a marketplace in which every other business is trying to be different is the key. One way to stand out is through effective design solutions specifically tailored to your business and your audience. You won’t find effective graphics through a crowdsourcing site or by holding a contest. The prevalence of stock photography, motion, illustration and canned logos is not going to help you stand out. The plethora of visual sameness lulls your audience to sleep. Wake them up with custom design specifically tailored to your business. Custom design solutions will differentiate your enterprise and increase its influence in the marketplace.

Make the investment. Be the anomaly.

Some projects just don’t fit me well. There are things I’m really good at and things that I’m not. I want to be effective at what I do, and that involves doing the right thing at the right time in the right place.

When a client wants something that I know I can deliver although it might stretch me and I might have to invest extra effort and time, I’ll take it on. But at the point that I realize what they want is simply too far out of my sweet spot for me to be effective, I need to make a decision. Do I continue onward or let it go?

Letting it go is the more courageous choice. This requires recognizing my strengths and weaknesses and being willing to experience discomfort in order to solve the client’s problem. This is not a bad thing… but when I know that the return will not match the effort, or the client could end up dissatisfied, the best thing to do is to face it, and offer an alternative. Clients trust honesty.

I took on a project to create some illustrations for a plastic surgery after-market product launch. In the process of iteration and reiteration, the client began re-defining their purpose and market, and I knew that I was no longer the right designer for the work. I am a realistic, narrative illustrator and the re-defined project needed a fashion illustrator. What they wanted was not realism but stylized fantasy. So I referred them elsewhere.

Professionalism often involves letting go rather than creating problems by pushing against our natural bents.

We talk about creativity and innovation in terms of thinking outside the box.

Thinking outside the box still needs to remain within the boundaries of the problem we are solving. In other words, thinking outside the box does not disrespect the box.

Look at the box from a different angle, but keep looking at it. Be as creative as you can, but conform to the project requirements.

Despite the trend of green design and sustainability, most of us neglect our most obvious, fundamental and overlooked resource. We waste time right and left, wonder where it goes, and never seem to have enough of it to accomplish goals or life plans.

Time  Is Not A Renewable Resource

Of all the resources available to us, time is the only one that everyone has the same amount of. Once a minute has passed, it’s gone. We cannot reclaim, recycle or renew it. The difference between achieving our dreams and goals or not is mostly based on how we use our time resource. It’s fairly easy to be efficient, but being effective in our use of time is often a crap shoot.

Designers juggle many concurrent tasks and projects of various sizes, levels of importance and complexities. There are incoming client requests that compete for attention in the middle of the projects we’re developing. There is a constant tension experienced between the task at hand and the one waiting to be started. While I’m working on one project I’m feeling the pressure of another. Does this sound familiar?

Many books and blogs deal with issues of time management and how to get things done. Lifehacker, FranklinCovey, Behance, 43 Folders and David Allen’s GTD are just a few of the myriad sources of advice, systems and forms. These are all useful, and I have picked and chosen from among them to work out my own way of managing time and projects. In the process I have made a few discoveries on my own.

Remove Distractions

The primary tactic for guarding our time is to remove distractions. Nothing slows our progress more than a distraction, and no time management or productivity system really deals with these time-suckers. Distractions are usually small, and we don’t notice we’re being pulled off course because most of them are in some way necessary. (Some of my distractions have been email, phone calls and text messages.) Identify your distractions and determine how you’ll manage them. Time is wasted when we do the wrong thing at the wrong time. People and tasks both can be distracting time-suckers.

Guard Your Time

Only you can slay the time suckers and design your schedule. Being a guardian of your resource is vital to accomplishing things for yourself and for others. Set boundaries and enforce them with yourself and others. A friend of mine designated Wednesdays for study and research, and made himself unavailable for any contact the entire day. He burrowed in and got things accomplished without interruption.

Setting boundaries requires enforcement. Boundaries are only as strong as you make them. Your time will be robbed if you allow it. Don’t worry: maintaining boundaries will allow for spontaneity and sudden changes in plans. Every wall has a gate in it somewhere. The key is to know when to open or keep it shut.

Design Your Time.

It’s easier to keep your time boundaries and your well-being intact if you plan ahead. Here are tips for designing your time:

1. Design your week ahead of time. Take part of the Friday, Saturday or Sunday prior to assess the week being completed and plan the week ahead, scheduling appointments projects and  tasks. Include your personal and professional time in this, because your life is made up of more than work. I also schedule my planning time. Scheduling an entire week rather than just a day ahead provides a 20,000-foot level view of your time.

2. Block your time.  Morning is a block. Afternoon and evening are blocks. Set aside mornings for one type of activity, afternoons for another and evenings for a third.

3. Designate one day during the week where you’ll take care of business. This is essential if you’re a freelancer or contract designer. The reality is, you’re in business, which means you have record-keeping, marketing and administrative responsibilities as well as creative labor. I designated “Admin Fridays” in which I focus on business.

4. Know your peaks and valleys. We do not function at peak levels all the time. Energy levels and attention spans ebb and flow. Most people have a consistent rhythm of peaks and troughs each day. At what time of day are you most creative or productive? If it’s mornings, don’t schedule meetings and errands until your afternoon block. Learn how you ebb and flow, and schedule accordingly.

5. Take breaks between your blocks. Eat a meal. Go for a walk. Play with your dogs. Take your kids out for ice cream. Play a game. Put your feet up. You’ll move into the next block refreshed.

6. Take a weekly sabbath, also known as a sabbatical. The idea of sabbath is simply rest and reflection. Most designers I know, myself included, tend to work long hours during the week and on weekends alike. Because of deadlines, unforeseen challenges and unplanned events, we tend to make up for “lost” time on weekends. Creative energy is directly affected by fatigue, illness and anxiety. Rest and reflective moments are necessary for our overall well-being, and allow us to make better decisions. A sabbath allows us to stop working, gain perspective, retain objectivity and experience contentment.

Given all the emphasis on being green and reducing carbon footprints, consider the one thing you can never get back once it’s gone. By planning and following through, you’ll conserve, waste less and become more effective with your time resource.

What are some ways you “sustain” your time?

Self-expression is not the purpose of design creation, although the designer’s style and sensibilities will naturally influence their work. Being a designer is a matter of serving others, focusing on their needs and creating for their greatest good.
 
As a designer, I create visual communications that help an enterprise succeed. My focus cannot be self-serving and my designs cannot point to me and say, ”Hey, look at me!”. Instead, my designs must point to my clients and say, “Hey, look at this!” Although I’m the creator, I step out of the way and allow the client to be the focus.
 
If we approach a design solution as an opportunity for self-expression, we’ll miss the point and risk not solving the problem. If we don’t solve the problem, we’re not serving the client.

Everyone who follows the television series, NCIS, knows that the lead character, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, has a set of rules. These rules are invoked by Gibbs or his team members to admonish, to encourage, to discipline and to keep the team unified in purpose and conduct. They’ll remind each other of “Rule Number 38″ or “Rule Number 7″.

Rules are useful tools to keep oneself in check, to maintain boundaries and to avoid issues. Every person has rules. I’ve found that the more experienced you are in life and business, the more rules you have.

I wanted to share a few of my rules. These have kept me from making some bad decisions. Some have been formed on the fly and others have been established as the result of a sad situation.

Rule No. 1. Don’t accept projects that contradict your values. If you’re uncomfortable with the premise of the project or the goals of the client, pass it by. It’s not worth it to take on a design project just “for the money” and end up hating the work. Invariably, no amount of money will make up for compromising your personal standards.

Rule No. 2. Don’t accept a new client if there’s even the hint of  trouble ahead. Trouble comes in many forms and will always sap your joy and creative energy. No relationship is perfectly smooth, but some are downright not worth it. The trouble is usually not about the project itself but about how you and the client interact. When a client wants to be the art director, when they seem to not know what they want, when they are fishing for ideas or spec work from you before committing to the project, when they are secretive about their project… when they think actually hiring instead of contracting you… these are all red flags.

Rule No. 3. The computer is only a tool. I am the designer. No software will provide the sense, knowledge and creative skill required to design. Computers have been around since the mid-1980s. Designers have existed for centuries. That should sum it up.

Rule No. 4. Take a day off every week. Just as you need to pull off the road to re-fuel or re-charge your car, you need to take a break regularly. Most of the designers I know work long hours, including weekends. An annual two-week vacation is not enough to regroup and sustain ongoing productivity. Stopping work to rest and reflect is important for long-term success and satisfaction. Unplug, slow down, and reflect on what you’re doing and why. You’re able to put things in perspective when you step outside the flow of daily creative effort.

Rule No. 5. Design your day before you begin it. The design process includes planning and being purposeful, knowing where you need to end up before you begin. This applies to managing your time in order to be effective in your work. If you plan each day before you begin it, you’ll keep distractions to a minimum and can focus better.

Rule No. 6. Always be looking. Keep your eyes open. Everything is a potential inspiration.

Rule No. 7. Always be listening. Listening is a skill few people take the time to develop. Clients are more likely to trust someone who who listens and then applies what they’ve heard.

Rule No. 8. Don’t edit when brainstorming. The best solutions are known to come from “brain dumps” where you just start listing and/or doodling everything that comes to mind in pursuit of a design solution. Once the list is made, then review it and narrow it down.

Rule No. 9. Do not work for hire or on spec or bid. These all devalue your work and your contribution to the client’s success. They also depreciate the design profession as a whole.

Rule No. 10. Always begin a project with a handshake AND a written contract. The handshake helps establish the relationship with the client and the contract protects the relationship by outlining specific expectations that both parties have agreed to. Most designers I know will concur on this: It’s when you don’t have a written agreement that trouble shows up.

Rule No. 11. The client is not your enemy. The designer-client relationship should be one of mutual respect. The designer is there to serve the client. The client is there to facilitate the designer. It’s a give-give relationship. When a disagreement arises or a mistake is made, own your part in it, fix it, and continue. Don’t blame. I’ve known too many designers (and even have been guilty of it myself in the past) who complain about the client constantly. And I’ve worked with clients who complain about their designers. Both designer and client should be about the business of seeking the other’s highest good.

Rule No. 12. Always be thankful. I’ve established the habit of thanking clients at the end of a project. Send a hand-written note rather than an email or a business letter. Really. It makes an impact. Show your appreciation and you’ll be appreciated.

Here are some “rules” for the rules: Determine your values and non-negotiables before you engage with clients. Setting your own boundaries mitigates or prevents others from setting them for you. Deciding up front about how you will handle things makes it easier to respond when situations arise. Be consistent in upholding your values, but also be flexible. Sometimes you need to add or modify a rule. Setting and maintaining boundaries will help you avoid relationships and circumstances that are potentially harmful.