Good advice from a self-described mentor and design veteran.
- Get the book
- Get the obscure book you’ve never heard of
- Choose a topic that fascinates you and learn it inside out
- Write, blog, and speak on that topic
- Learn Something New Every Day
- Create a New Idea Every Day
- Experiment
- Learn as many frameworks as you can
- Choose variety over anything else
- Model or draw (all the f*@#ing time)
She begins:
An open letter to the next generation of designers, part 1.
Everyone has moments in their career when they look back and think, “If I had only known then what I know now….” After 15-plus years as a designer and design researcher at places like IBM, Trilogy, M3 Design, and now frog design, I know I certainly have. Which is why, now that I’m a veteran, I’d like to give share some advice with young designers just starting out. If I could be your mentor, this is what I would tell you:
Footnote:
The obscure book referenced above is The Universal Traveler: A Guide to Creativity, Problem Solving & the Process of Reaching Goals. I discovered this book as an undergraduate in architecture school and I am sure my teachers hated seeing such a hippy book in their studio. Maybe they were on to something: I found the book’s language unfathomable. I barely understood what it was about. Yet it spoke to me, and apparently some seeds were planted. So we have bd-MAP: not a Universal Traveler – as we’re trying to get a rather specific type of work done. bd-MAP would be your Specific Traveler According to Universal Themes.