Graphic Design is Mental

Graphic Design is

Tips for looking after your state of mind as a designer

Ben Longden

Ben Longdon

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s someone who is passionate about design, design education and mental health, I wanted to write down my thoughts, which have culminated in a book, Graphic Design is Mental. Below is an extract from this book, reflecting my career experience from my role as digital design director at The Guardian, teaching at Shillington College and running a shop, RoomFifty, with Chris Clarke and Leon Edler.

Graphic Design is Mental

Be kind to yourself, learning is hard, design is easy

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earning new skills is one of the most satisfying and frustrating things you can do as a designer, but if you give yourself the time and space to do this, design will soon feel like second nature to you.

When learning a new skill, like a software or a way of thinking which is new to you, it’s really easy to beat yourself up when things aren’t going the way you think they should.

The result is a sort of selfhelp guide to being a graphic I guess there designer and an Someone who are two points exploration of is creative but often here, the first creativity and frustrated, sometimes one being mental health, nervous, but always looking that learning which I hope is hard. If you might be useful for ways to be better and are a creative to someone like improve what they do, person who me. Someone and what they love. needs to learn who is creative by doing, there is but often frustrated, no linear structure. The sometimes nervous, but best thing you can do is to always looking for ways to be get stuck in and play, and view better and improve what they learning like playing with a new do, and what they love.

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tool. For me I learned through play, by using my hands to create marks and bringing them into design, or by experimenting with software. The frustrating side to everything will come when you are in this play stage, when your ambition to create and your technical ability doesn’t quite match up.

This is where the frustrated creative can rear its head and you often feel as if you can’t do it, or that you aren’t very good. Know this: your ambition and your skills will soon match up, and the thing you see in your head will soon be possible to bring to life.

I remember when I first started designing, I could always see where I wanted to get to from the start (even during the briefing I knew what I wanted to do) but by the end of the project it looked nothing like it.

This is partly the process you go through, and partly because my ambition was greater than my skill set, but there was a click, at a certain point, where I felt “yes that’s what I saw when I started thinking about this project”.

That’s satisfying and if you stick at it, it will come.

The second point is about the way you think it should go. This is an expectation that should be left at the door; no project will ever be the way you expect.

This is where the joy lies in being a creative – your eyes and mind need to be open to looking and thinking about the possibilities, and not setting expectations for yourself or your work. This can be a freeing and liberating approach, and can feel much less stressful. Whenever I was struggling with a brief, either as a student or a junior designer, I would keep saying to myself to trust the process that I know: sketch, write, try, expand and really search around for ideas. They are there and you will find them. You have to trust in the process and not let moments of “this is not going the way I thought it would” creep in. Ideas are there and you just have to catch them.

It’s not about you, it’s about them

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henever anyone gives you their opinion, know that it’s their opinion of the work, don’t take it personally. Critique is a good

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Ben Longdon

thing, and you should always give it too. Don’t say “that looks nice” as it won’t help anyone.

Expect the same for your work.

Clients can be mean when things go wrong

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ou are basically working on their baby, and it’s a precious baby. If a client sees that even a small thing goes wrong, or isn’t quite working (especially on a website), they will probably freak out, and blame you. But it’s really not your fault. Take a breath, know that no one has died and deal with it in a calm and considered way. Everything can be fixed in this way.

Graphic Design is Mental

Confidence comes in many forms

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or me confidence comes from the work I do. I get more confidence from showing my work than hiding it, from being open to critique and change. Sharing your ideas and challenging yourself to do something new and different will bring you as much confidence as you let it, as long as you listen and take on board what people are saying to you.

How to deal with the big projects

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big project is just another project, with the same process as the smallest ones. Whether it’s going to be Whenever something goes seen by one person or a million wrong, it always feels like the people, the route is the same. end of the world but The only difference is when Mistakes you launch a big project in reality it’s obviously not. happen, it’s just you will only see the negative comments Mistakes happen, the way we are, and never the positive it’s just the way and mistakes always ones. The internet is a we are, and happen when you horrible place when it mistakes always wants to be and those are learning. happen when you with positive opinions are learning. I always generally stay quiet. remind myself that it’s not what happened, it’s how you deal with it now that matters. You can’t take back past mistakes, all you can do is learn from them and not repeat them.

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In January 2018 we launched the redesign of The Guardian’s website, app and newspaper all at the same time. It was something that, from what we could remember, had not been

done in that way ever before.

We hit the button to go live It was the biggest project, and at 6am on the morning of 15 most prominent project, that January 2018. For the first time, I had ever worked on and we in about three months we had knew that if we did it in this little to do but wait for our way, with a big bang, we would Twitter feeds to start chirping, cause people to take note. It’s and this is what it said:“This is not the way you do things in the worst decision you’ve ever digital these days – especially made.”“Bright red heading with established brands though. Seriously hun?” and platforms “Was it designed where you by your ...you could spiral iterate, iterate, unpaid intern?” into a whole world of pain iterate so that As I said, the thinking that the last the change is internet can less dramatic three to six months worth be a horrible for the of work was a waste, place and audience, and that you had ruined – if you let and less for one of the most loved brands it – you could the business. spiral into a But, as we’re in the world. Forever. whole world of The Guardian and pain thinking that it was a big moment the last three to six for the organisation, it felt months worth of work was a right to launch with a big bang. waste, and that you had ruined Surprise! Your daily newspaper one of the most loved brands in looks different. This safe zone, of the world Forever. iterating and iterating did not exist and we were putting our But given less than 24 hours you proverbial design necks on the will see that change can be line. We had shown it to a select a positive one. For us, we saw group in user testing and we more people reading and for knew that the design wouldn’t longer, no drop in ad revenue get in the way of their reading and a positive change for a experience, in fact it was going brand that had been using the to enhance it. But people don’t same design for a long time. like change, especially when it This reader sums it up well with comes to a brand that has been his series of tweets: “Looks a bit by your side and looked messy and cluttered” to “Edit: familiar for 15 years.

Changed my mind, just took a small while getting used to it.”

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Ben Longdon

Be Yourself: Nuff Said

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on’t be shy with your ideas they are your ideas and no one is judging you.Put them out here and see what happens.

Don’t take on work you can’t do

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ou will burn out. This for me, as a designer who always wanted to push themselves and be the best at what they do, is the most important lesson I have learned.

Graphic Design is Mental

and having the ambition to want to do the extra work. Had I taken a step back and said to myself that it was too soon, that wouldn’t have been the worst thing in the world.

Hindsight is wonderful for that, and even though it was a bad decision to take on the project, of course, you learn things, whether it be something about yourself or a new skill.

This is not to say you shouldn’t push yourself and find your ‘discomfort-zone’, but don’t merely throw yourself into the deep end unnecessarily.

Know that your time will come to be able to take on those challenges and do them well.

Throughout my shortish career, this has manifested itself in a couple of ways. The first was when I was starting out and I The second moment was not took on a project outside of my too long ago, when I was a fully day job which was building a fledged designer, working at website for a small photography The Guardian but also juggling studio. I had built a couple side projects while teaching, of very simple websites at this all of which I could do, and point, and so I was feeling do well, for a while. As time confident! But it soon went on, and I was stretching became clear that myself too thin to the my knowledge Don’t be shy with your extent of feeling and ambition ideas, they are your ideas exhausted and were it became a and no one is judging you. chore. The misaligned.

The stress that Put them out there advice to it added to and see what happens. not work too me personally much might sound was not worth it, obvious, but sometimes, not to mention that in the if you are in any way inclined to end I had to give it up and tell get excited by creative work, the client that I couldn’t do it. I it’s really easy to say yes. don’t beat myself up for trying, 6

I believe that creative work It’s a job for some and gets inspired by other creative not for others work you are doing, and the work others are doing around have worked with some you. Although this is a natural people who think that design cycle, it’s still one to approach is design and it’s just a job, 9-5 with caution. Bear in mind that and that’s all. That is ok, and clients often don’t care too it is a job, but for others it is a much about the passion as well as a job. other stuff, Working with people I believe that and that’s who don’t share the creative work gets pressure you same energy and will feel. I inspired by other creative passion for what love taking they do can be work you are doing, and on creative frustrating as you the work others are doing don’t always feel work, but I know that around you. you can generate love for the ideas and bounce them creative work can back and forth. It’s ok that for often take precedent. You have some that it’s just a job, but find to take care of yourself, and someone you can have those your mind, to make that work ideas with and share with them.

Don’t take it personally, you the best it can be. haven’t lost your edge.

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