Design Tips

By

Peter AssentorpDesign Engineer

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Hi. I'm Peter. I've worked as a designer in an advertising agency, a startup and as a freelancer. Here's all my tips and tricks that I've used to become a better designer over the years. I don't have a design education or background. I have learned most of what I know online.

1. The design tool mostly doesn't matter

The design tool is not what makes you a better designer. Use what you feel your most comfortable with. Pick a tool, learn the basics, start designing. People constantly fight over what design tool is the best but in reality they are more or less the same. A designer in Figma can make a design just as horrible as someone in Photoshop or Illustrator.

2. Learn the shortcuts

When you have decided on a design tool to use. Then spend some time to learn the shortcuts. Shortcuts make you faster and makes it easier for you to iterate on a design. Pointing with the mouse is much slower than using the keyboard. Shortcuts wont make you a better designer but it will make you a faster designer.

3. Validate your design/idea fast.

You can spend hours going back an forth on a design without knowing if you are creating the right thing. Don't be afraid to validate your design or an idea you have fast. The sooner the better. Getting different opinions and feedback on your design is a gift. Don't always think you know better. That's the biggest mistake I made as a designer in the beginning of my career.

More coming soon...