5 Design Industry Myths

5 Design Industry Myths

There are a lot of myths about the design industry and with some industry experience you will get to know some of these myths very well and how to handle them. For students these all sound like a fairy-tale that happened once upon a time…   

The first myth is the Knighthood. You have studied hard and got your design degree, you are now ready to go out into world to slay your dragon. The myth is that you only need your qualification to do this job. Yes, your qualification gives you the right tools, training and understanding for the job but it’s the experiences and the ability to learn that will count the most. The truth is that you will learn more in your first six months of working in industry than ever before.

The second myth is the Pot of Gold at the end of the rainbow or that your first job is your dream job. This might be true for the odd lucky person but for the rest of us this might not be the case. See this job as a stepping stone towards your dream job. The experience you gain will get you there in the end.

The third is the Ugly Duckling or that your own design standards don't count in industry.  Meeting a client’s specific requirements and expectations is very important but you don’t need to give up your own standards to make this happen. Sometimes you need to guide and help your client into the right direction to turn the ugly duckling into a swan.

The fourth myth is the Gremlin or that mistakes only happen in the first part of the job/project. The client is happy, the delivery date is set, you have checked your proof and everything is good to go at the printers. Nothing can go wrong now! But no one notices the Gremlin of a spelling error. Sometimes the Gremlin can be out of your hands like the case of the Hijacked delivery truck (this happened last year when the truck that was delivering the final project to the client was Hijacked, the content of the truck was dumped on the side of the road). Mistakes can happen at any time through the process, so be prepared.

The last myth is the Unicorn or the perfect client that understands what you are doing or know what they want. You might think that you found one in a client that knows what they want but it can easily be a donkey in disguise. These rare creatures are difficult to find and remain elusive. If you do find one, treat them well and they will return.

Written by

Stefanie Krynauw

Lecturer at Inscape