5 problems for designers

Thinking off the top of the head

Just about everybody does this from time to time, but when it goes into action, this is possibly the worst decision that you can make when it comes to doing this kind of work. Thinking off the top of your head and not getting enough content, ideas, and inspiration can be stressful for both graphic designers and the people that they work with. Sure people get away with it from time to time, but just to be real, that is only for experienced advanced designers that have been doing this kind of work for years and have already gathered enough resources in the past to do so and even then, they don't like doing that unless there is a deadline that they have to commit to.  If you aren't sure of how to do a certain project, then either ask someone or look online and search that project and see all of the other designers out there who have done it because it has more than likely been done. It's your job to put your own creative twist to it.

You see within these logos, the designers already had a foundation to work with and used certain elements from the previous ones in the new ones as well. They didn't just slap something together and give it to the company. In my opinion, they all wanted the new logos one in a way that people could still recognize the company.

Lack of creativity

A lot of people dwell on this problem. Many times people say, "I just need to get inspired." The thing about graphic design is that they have so many online references to go to for that. Google is like the number place of inspiration for anybody if you ask me but for graphic designers I want you to look at these links below and you shouldn't have a problem getting inspired again.

Graphic Design Inspiration Sites

Know your process

Whatever you do, please know what you did . Don't just throw something out there to clients if you don't know or can't remember. Write it down, take a picture, record it, keep a file or at least keep some sticky notes somewhere. If you don't, then you can guarantee you will be thinking off the top of your head on the rest of it unless you have a great memory. I'll admit to doing this repeatedly when I was starting out, until I was working in a design firm and they kept records of everything. It may be a slow process, but hey you can always go back and show people the process if you need to.

Consistency

Unless clients are just looking for various work, consistency is the key to everything. People always need to be able to recognize the company or business that you are working with, with no problem at all. If they don't then 9 times out of 10, they are just going to talk about you. People know bad design from good design and when it doesn't flow well, everyone else will know. When I started, I didn't really understand it until my Senior Year when I was forced to re brand and redesign a company. Now re branding in itself can look different from how the company was portrayed at first, but it still needs to remain consistent. Business cards, flyers, posters, books, brochures, websites, everything has to have a constant flow.

Now at the bottom, was a project I did for Consolidated Cloud Solutions through my company Rlee2 and you can find more of my work at rlee2.com. As you can see, I put the logo used the color blue just about everywhere and tried not to make too many changes at all on the design for each part. Less is more in the design industry, remember that.

Proofreading

Check your work and then after that, always use a spell checker! I still have problems remembering this from time to time. If you know someone that is pretty reliable then let them proofread it for you.
Recap

1. Stop thinking off the top of your head
2. Get creative and inspired
3. Know your process
4. Stay consistent
5. Proofread

If you take this advice and apply it, then you are ready to start designing. Peace.