Recently I’ve been trying to evaluate where I’m at with my design work and where I want to go. As a part of that, I’ve been working on pinpointing some of the things I could have done better so I don’t make the same mistakes again. Being honest and open about where you’ve gone wrong is key, I think, to getting better and growing as a person and as an artist*. I thought I’d share 5 of those mistakes with you now so that you can avoid them and to hold myself accountable to not making them again.

NOT STARTING SOONER/BEING SCARED

This is the mistake I wanted to share the most because I think it’s the one that other people will benefit from the most. I should have started sooner. I knew I loved design, and I didn’t just jump in. I hesitated and worried and then hesitated some more. Trying to freelance hasn’t been easy, and neither has starting up this blog. But now that I’ve started I wish I’d had the guts to do so earlier. If there’s something you want to do just have a go at it. The worst thing that can happen is that you’re not very good at it – I know that sometimes that is the WORST thing if you’re not very good at failing or if you’ve pinned your dream on something, but if you’re not very good work at it, get better, or combine it with something you are good at.

NOT NETWORKING

I’m an anxious introvert so networking isn’t something I naturally want to do, but it’s definitely something I should have tried harder at. A lot of my work has come from referrals and I could have worked harder to keep those connections branching out by meeting people in person and asking for introductions. I also should have been more proactive in reaching out to people I want to collaborate with. I was really good at reaching out to people for interviews when I was writing on behalf of The Oxford Student, but less so when I wanted to reach out to someone just as myself. I’m starting to do that more now, and honestly, everyone has been so lovely and I don’t know what I was so scared about.

NOT SPEAKING UP

There are some projects I worked on which I know could have been done better if I’d spoken up a bit more about their direction and their execution. While my job was just to design, I should have been better at the start about making everything I worked on the best it could be as a consultant as well as just as a maker.

NOT DEFINING MY “BRAND”

I realise now I should have put even more thought into what I wanted this blog to be, what I wanted it to say and how I wanted it to benefit other people. I’m still in the process of working that out, and I definitely think some of this comes from doing. But I could and should have defined my direction more before I started because it would have helped this site feel more cohesive and helped my channel my ideas more.

NOT TAKING MORE CLASSES

Everything that I can do digitally I taught myself, and I’m quite proud of that fact. But I think I would have benefited from taking more classes and really pushing myself rather than just getting by on what I could work out myself with a minimal amount of googling. I’m not saying I should have gone to design school (although I do sometimes think about it) I think I should have taken better advantage of resources like Skillshare. But it’s never too late, right?

What mistakes are you learning from? What do you wish you could tell your younger self about now that you’re a bit older, a bit wiser, and a bit further ahead?

*super uncomfortable with even kind of referring to myself as an artist

Everyone wants to think more creatively, but it’s not something you can do overnight. However, there are a number of exercises you can do to try and stimulate your lateral thinking and your creative instincts when you’re trying to generate ideas. These are just a few of the things that I do when I’m struggling to come up with an idea for design projects and in my day job.

DESCRIBE WHATEVER YOU’RE WORKING ON ALOUD, WITHOUT USING THE LETTER E.

Either explain the problem you’re working on or describe the product you’re designing without using the letter e to yourself, or to someone else who’s around you. In doing this you not only have to be able to summarise and clarify your thoughts to be able to put together an explanation, you also have to do it using different words, which can help you reframe your thinking and lead to some new ideas. It’s also just a silly challenge.

PUT YOUR WORK IN A BOX.

This might sound counter to the idea of thinking outside of the box, but sometimes a blank page can just be too intimidating, and by putting some constraints on your project you can come up with ideas more easily. Create some arbitrary constraints of size, or shape, or use, or audience, or really anything, on whatever you’re working on and then try and work to those standards. Even if what you come up with isn’t the final idea, having a starting idea to work from should help get the ball rolling.

TRY SOME OF THESE QUESTIONS, TO GET YOUR LATERAL THINKING GOING.

Lateral thinking problems have been proven to help you think creatively. There are loads out there on the web that you can try for free to strengthen your creative thinking muscles.

TEST SOME RANDOM COMBINATIONS.

There are no truly new ideas. Creativity is all about creating connections between things that other people might not have seen or thought of before. To get your connection juices flowing try and create connections between whatever you’re working on and something completely unrelated. What is similar about the two things? What could they do together? How can you link them?

DO SOMETHING ELSE.

Taking a step away from a problem can help you get a fresh perspective and sort out any existing thoughts. Personally, I like to do something physical like baking, because it engages completely different bits of my brain and allows me to subconsciously ruminate as I make something really delicious.

IMAGINE THE THING YOU’RE WORKING ON DOESN’T EXIST, WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?

One of my favourite quotes is Henry Ford on his invention of the car: “If I had asked my customers what they wanted they would have said a faster horse”. The solution to just making faster horses is to think about the problem rather than the product, what are you trying to do? If nothing already existed how would you fill the gap?

PRETEND TO BE SOMEONE ELSE.

Imagine you’re your grandma or your nephew or Beyoncé what would they think of what you’re working on? How would they use it? How would they solve the problem? Getting out of your own head not only helps you try and think about a problem differently it can also be a great tool for seeing whether or not your product will cater to its audience. If you’re not very good at pretending, and even if you are, actually call or speak to someone else about the problem too for exactly the same reasons.

WRITE DOWN, OR MIND MAP, ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING YOU KNOW OR THINK ABOUT THE SUBJECT.

When you’re generating ideas, sometimes it’s about quantity over quality. You’ve got to go through a few, or five-hundred, bad ideas before you can get to a good one sometimes so why not get started by just writing down everything you can think of. If you’re lucky something will jump out at you or start forming as you go. If you’re not, you can refine down everything you’ve written to pull out the key elements of the work that you want to focus on.

I was reminiscing about GCSE Graphics, the last time I formally studied graphic design, the other day and I decided to redo a piece I did all those years ago, using the skills I have now. So, this the updated version of the 12 Elements of Graphic Design poster I did when I was 16, now as a set of shareable graphics.

LINE

Use lines to divide spaces, direct the eye, suggest movement, or create emphasis.

COLOUR

Using distinct colour palettes consistently brings continuity to your work.

SHAPE

You should think about shape not just when drawing but when composing your piece to create an underlying structure.

NEGATIVE SPACE

The space between elements can be just as important as the elements themselves. Use negative space to order and balance the objects in your design, or to create an image of their own.

TEXTURE

Texture can give tactility and depth to designs, but use it sparingly.

TYPOGRAPHY

The typeface you choose can affect the how people interpret your text, and the overall tone of your piece: sans serif fonts are easier to read online, and serif fonts work better in large blocks of print. When you’re varying font-types, try to pick ones with similar proportions.

SCALE

Vairy scale to give weight to certain elements and add interest to a page.

HIERARCHY

Creating a hierarchy in your piece, especially when it’s informational helps viewers navigate your design by signalling importance or narrative.

EMPHASIS

Emphasise elements by varying colour, shape, texture, scale or framing them, but don’t overdo it. If you have too many focal points on a page, it will end up doing the opposite of the desired effect.

HARMONY

Create harmony in a piece by co-ordinating the proximity, similarity, or continuation of elements, or by using repetition.

BALANCE

While asymmetry can sometimes create emphasis or an unsettling composition, most designs aim for balance by using varying levels of symmetry (it doesn’t have to look like a butterfly) and structured composition styles such as a radial composition.

CONTRAST

Create contrast to bring dynamics to your work through the use of light and dark, complimentary colours, or varying line or textures.

I put all of these images into a little poster which you can see here too!

Starting a new project, or business is a super exciting time, and it’s easy to get swept up and want to get started with the creative work as soon as possible. But it’s really important to sit down and work out what it is you want from your project and put it into a fully formed creative brief that will not only help you clarify your vision but also help your creative team deliver something that does what you want.

A creative brief is a kind of roadmap for your project. It lays out the background of your company, your aims and your audience and then paves the way for where you want to be going in the future. A good creative brief will outline a project’s aims, audience and expected deliverables.

These are my tips as someone who receives creative briefs as a designer, and also as someone who has had to write them in my day job working in marketing and communications.

WHERE SHOULD YOU START?

So, you have a great idea, right? Have you tested it? Do other people think it’s a great idea, and more importantly is it something people want or need? Before you even start writing your brief make sure you’ve done your research. Knowing the market and your idea is going to help you so much when you get down to writing your brief.

Then spend some time evaluating what it is you want from this project. If there are other people working in your team, sit down with them and see what they think and come to a conclusion together so you’re at least all starting from the same point.

Before you start a creative brief you need to know what other people think of your idea, and more importantly what you think about it.

SO, YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT, WHAT SHOULD YOU INCLUDE IN THE BRIEF?

• A quick bit of background to your company
• A paragraph about your project’s objectives
• A short paragraph about who your audience are, include any demographic information you have and any insights about what their wants and needs are.
• Your core message a few points about why it benefits to your audience
• The themes or images you imagine the creative work including and how important/literal that inclusion needs to be.
• The primary call-to-action or takeaway message you want to be included in the campaign
• Any examples of projects you’ve done in the past which have been successful or you’ve liked, and any projects you’ve seen and want the creative team to be inspired by.
• Brand and copy style guidelines (the master doc of fonts, colours, logos, copy tone, grammar guides and other elements that your brand uses). You don’t need to type all of this out in the brief, you can either attach alongside the brief, or give clear instructions on where to find it.
• Links or access to any background research and assets (e.g. photos of your products) the creatives might need or find useful.
• The specifications for the final product: file types, sizes, formats, etc. as well as where they need to be sent.
• All of your contact information, including your preferred means of contact, and an alternative contact in case you are away.
• The full list of things you need making. If it’s a long list, put them in priority order.
• Clear information about both launch dates and due dates for drafts (if these can be flexible let your team know), as well as information on how long you will take in getting draft approval back. This helps your creative team plan, and allows them to come up with ideas that will fit the timescale you have.
• You might also want to include what you’re hoping to achieve in terms of a return for the campaign, and whether that’s revenue, or views, or awareness etc.
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This might seem like quite a long list, but it’s best to be explicit about your expectations – there’s nothing worse than getting halfway through a project and someone saying “oh but I had imagined it would include ducks, it really needs to have a duck in there somewhere” and nowhere in the brief is there a mention of a mallard.

WHAT DO YOU DO AFTER YOU’VE WRITTEN IT?

First, you need to edit it down to around 2 sides if possible. However, amazing it might be, no one wants to read a 50 page document (sorry). Just make sure you’re not cutting out something you really want to be included in the creative work.

Then put it down for a day, or longer, and come back to it. Ask yourself is this what I really want to achieve? Is there anything I’ve missed off? Is there anything that isn’t important in the long run?

Once you’re 100% happy with it. Send it over to your creatives and have a conversation about it. That conversation is absolutely key. It will give you chance to make sure everyone is on the same page, and understands the brief in the same way, and it gives your creative team chance to ask questions and challenge the brief. Clear communication is central to a successful project that everyone is happy with in the end.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER

Writing a good brief takes time but putting the effort into nailing your project vision early in the process will save you time in the long run, and lead to a much more successful creative outcome. Use your brief to guide you, but don’t be afraid to re-evaluate it as you go if something changes, just make sure you’re communicating with everyone involved.

It’s a new year and everyone’s really keen to start taking on more projects and make a fresh start with some fresh work. But before you just dive in, take a step back and really put some consideration in when you’re writing your contracts. I’ll be honest and say that when I stated out and I was mainly just working for friends I didn’t have contracts, which wasn’t too bad. I still didn’t have them when I started working outside of that group. After a while I ended up coming across so many pain points that could have been mitigated by writing a good contract, which I’d put some thought and some conversation into. That’s why I wanted to share this checklist with you guys.

I really like resources like Bonsai for putting together professional, legally binding, contracts, without the anxiety and legal degree. But before I even look at one of those resources I make sure I know what I want to go into that contract using these 10 questions.

1. WHAT IS INCLUDED IN YOUR ESTIMATE OF COSTS?

You need to be clear about exactly what you are going to do for the cost you are charging. Work out if you’re including the costs of materials, fonts, conference call costs etc. This is also where you should put the number of redrafts or iterations you are prepared to do as part of the project. You also need to know, and let you client know, any additional fees such as rush orders or any discounts you’re giving them.

2. WHAT IS THE TIMELINE FOR THE PROJECT?

Every project needs a timeline, or at least a fixed endpoint. Your client needs to know when you’re going to deliver, and how long they can expect things to take.

3. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM THE CLIENT?

Sometimes you need your client to do some homework, either to work out exactly what they need or to find certain resources. Make these things clear in your contract so they know exactly what they need to do for you to be able to do your job, that way if there is a hold up because you’re waiting on something you know where the responsibility lies.

4. WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CLIENT?

In legal terms it’s important to spell out that you’re a freelance contractor rather than an employee. In personal terms it’s essential to make clear the relationship you’re planning on having, if you don’t take calls on weekends or after hours, or if you’re only going to work from home you need to make sure there’s no expectation you’re in office.

5. WHAT WILL BE THE PROCESS FOR FEEDBACK AND APPROVAL?

Feedback and approval is one of the main things that can slow a project down, where possible in a contract you need to highlight how long each feedback session is expected to take. Some clients require hard copies and signature to mark approval others are fine with an email chain, you need to know which your client prefers and have it in writing in your contract.

6. WHAT ARE YOUR RIGHTS?

As a freelancer having the work you’ve done in your portfolio is super important, when you’re writing your contract you need to specify that the rights of the thing you’ve produced allow that. If your client is unhappy with this, it’s best to know at the start.

7. WHAT CONFIDENTIALLY SAFEGUARDS DO YOU HAVE/NEED?

Some clients require confidentiality agreements, to protect their projects. It’s always best to be safe than sorry and check what they do and don’t require before you tweet anything that might get you in trouble.

8. WHAT KIND OF GUARANTEE ARE YOU GIVING?

Mistakes happen. If you’ve made a typo or a website breaks,

9. WHAT ARE THE TERMINATION TERMS?

You never want it to happen, but sometimes projects get cancelled and you need to know if you will get some compensation (set it up so that you do) and you need to know who owns the draft product that might have been produced up until that point.

10. WHAT HAPPENS IF THERE’S A DISPUTE?

Something else you don’t want to happen but need to have the provision for is disputes. This one becomes more important the bigger your projects are as you may need to set aside provision for third party involvement and who would pick up those fees.