How to design for yourself
You’re your own worst critic. I think we have all heard this one, and it has never been anymore true. Designing for yourself may bring on some of the hardest projects you will face during your life as a professional designer. If you’re good enough to design for others, you’re good enough to design for yourself!
I thought I’d address four points that will help you when creating your own personal brand or rebrand.
Don’t take advantage of your own skill set and talent
One of the biggest problems when designing for yourself is taking advantage of your own skill set and talent. Our personal brand is our public image and we want it to attract potential clients, but there comes a time in the design process where we just need stop and reflect on what we are capable of and how we want to market ourselves. If you are a designer off all trades, but you choose to focus on developing CSS websites, don’t go above and beyond by designing your site in Flash just because it’s cool and interactive. A designer should offer themselves what they are willing to offer to their clients.
Don’t compare yourself to other designers
This is a hard one to abide by but it is important to realize all designers are different. All designers have a different forte and different strengths. It is always nice to browse online design showcases to spark inspiration, but when you’re rebranding yourself it is hard to look at design showcases and not think “wow, that logo is better than mine.” When you start to compare your work to another designers work it can really damage your creativity. Remember, you are designing for yourself, you are not designing for a competition. There is meaning behind a brand, and another designers brand is not better than yours, it is only different.
Design for yourself as you would a client
Sometimes it is hard to be your own boss. If you only offer your clients 3 design templates to choose from and a limited amount of design revisions, do the same for yourself. When you allow yourself to scrap your designs and start over you will start to ruin your initial vision. Take yourself back to high school testing and remember your first answer is probably the right one. This means your initial designs are most likely your best ones because you have gone into them with a virgin mind. As soon as you start critiquing and questioning your designs is the moment you start destroying them.
Why you should rebrand?
You should never rebrand just because you are tired of looking at the same website or the same logo. I do think it is important to refresh your presence yearly just to keep things moving, but sometimes a rebrand is a bad decision. We can all take a lesson from the 2009 Tropicana rebrand. Before rebranding you must take a look at your statistics and reassess why you feel the need to rebrand and decide whether a rebrand or just an update is the correct solution.
If your clientele is slipping and your website is getting fewer hits it just may be time to rebrand yourself to let people know your’re still alive and you are back stronger than ever. If you still have a strong clientele, but you seem to be getting more web clients than print, reassess your strategy and make an effort to change certain things to enforce this boom in web clients. Make it easier for potential clients to approach you about the possibility of a new website they have in mind and showcase more of your web design and development in your portfolio.
Designing for yourself is difficult, but it doesn’t always have to be. Always keep in mind that we do what we do because we love it. Designing for yourself should be a fun and relaxed experience, don’t make it more difficult than it needs to be.
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On January 19, 2010 at 9:21 pm Justin Roberts wrote:
I just went through the process of redesigning my own website and I think I was by far my worst client. Everything I did wasn’t up to scratch. I actually ended up building my whole site and putting a cms behind it only to throw it all out and start again. It’s still under development now!!! … One day ill get there
Justin – Big Click Studios
http://www.justinroberts.com.au
http://www.bigclick.com.au
On January 20, 2010 at 12:18 am Chris Porter wrote:
I have this problem all the time. Also with the rebranding thing, I may have pull the trigger and rebranded a bit too early. I find my clients and friends using my old logo more than using my current one. Even after a year I stop using it, I still find people using my old logo. I’m thinking about going back to it, but a bit more defined.
Thanks for the article. You woke me up definitely with this. A definite retweet!
On January 20, 2010 at 11:01 pm Antonea Nabors wrote:
Justin, hang in there! I know it is a challenge to design for yourself. I am currently doing my yearly website redesign and I have chosen to leave it for a few days and then come back to it once my mind is more relaxed. I find it is easier to design for myself when taking a break then coming back and not making the choice to scrap the entire design. Sometimes making a few changes to one design makes it look like a completely new one.
If I am not certain about a design I share what I have with other designers to see if a fresh pair of eyes can help my design. Can’t wait to see what the new design looks like. Make sure you come back and share once completed!
Chris, it’s great to know this article helped you. A little sprucing up around an old logo can do amazing things for a business, but since you have been using a newer logo for the past years I’d suggest taking the initiative to inform your current clients about your new logo, or just making a switch back to an updated version of your old logo if you see fit. It can start to get confusing to see two different logos for the same company, especially when current clients start spreading the word about your services to others. They may think they have been given false contact information for you if they see an old logo in an email and a different one on your website. I’d love to know what you end up doing and how it works out for you!