3 Things Design School Didn't Teach Me

Ahhhhh university. A time of no responsibilities, no body clock, and no money. Aside from the pasta and cheese meals and weeks off at time, what do you really come away with??

Don’t get me wrong, the university I went to was great, and gave the platform to think big. But speaking openly I learnt more in the first 3 months at my first design job than in my entire 3 years at university. (sorry Fabio!)

But for those wishing to peruse a creative profession I feel there are things that should have been taught which would have made that education to work transition a hundred times easier for me, and is the reason I thought to write a little note to anyone thinking of doing so in the future.

What Am I Worth?

In most design schools they have a Personal Professional Practice module (PPP) which is designed at getting you prepared for the real world and getting hired by an agency. So you set about making a snazzy CV, setup a Wix site, print some Vistaprint business cards and machine gun post them to managers and agencies in the hope of landing a role/placement, or win business.

In reality however, you leave with NO understanding of how valuable you are to a company, or if you’re a freelancer, how much you should charge a client. It seems like the wool gets pulled over your eyes when it comes to talking about money in the creative field, and it’s needs to stop.

They gave delusions that I could leave and become an Art Director overnight making the big bucks. However in my reality, my first job straight out of university I got a salary of £17,000 as a Junior Designer. Not great, but it was a start in the right direction and knew I could show my hand at other things I’m good at once I was there.

Now it’s a much more treacherous time to be searching to go agency side, but when you start looking do not jump at the highest paying salary. Research the companies clients and do some stalking of the meet the team page to get an honest representation. It might mean a year or so of more pasta and cheese meals, but finding a smaller role that you can mould around your strengths means you’re doing the work you’re passionate about..

For those with the itch to go freelance, there are 3 methods for pricing creative work which you need to know - hourly, project-based and value-based. This video by Chris Do is essential viewing for anyone wanting to turn this business into a career.

You pay an extortionate amount for education at these institutions, and it’s only fair that they arm you with the skills to pay for it.

Time runs out quick.

As you begin studying they give you a creative brief and let you run with it for weeks at a time. Literally weeks for a concept, ideations, mock ups and usually a final presentation.

Except clients don’t pay for weeks. They pay for hours (usually). And the companies that do take weeks, don’t win any clients.

Your entire project from idea to execution has to be rapid. You’re lucky to have a full day to spend on a single project, with budget pressures and delivery deadlines that you aren’t exposed to at university.

From a company perspective, your time spent on a project is billable (which has its pitfalls too) so you need to trust your gut and fire out ideas if you stand a chance of winning work.

If you’re thinking of becoming a freelancer, beginning to understand your time is essential in learning how to charge properly for your work and keeping the lights on.

The “Change of Scope”

Learn this phrase and have it embedded into your memory. It’s going to make you cry at some point, especially when you think you’ve finally nailed your masterpiece and don’t want anything to change.

But clients can be a particular bunch. And this is where a lack of knowledge over the process that is devoid from education comes back to bite you.

Speaking and interpreting a clients wants, needs and desires requires a huge amount of discussion, especially now where meeting face to face is almost impossible. When they then change their mind about what was agreed in the initial brief, it is your job to pick up the pieces (and potentially your head up off the keyboard).

Learning to accept it is not easy, but being prepared to rip apart your magnum opus to bend the wills of the client you are working for makes it easier to comes to terms with it, and is something I wish was told to me much earlier on in my career.