Design Life

As designers we have very high expectations of our own portfolios. Try to take the pressure off. Don’t overthink it. Build a system so you can easily and quickly publish work and keep it up to date. Identify your own barriers and then build solutions to overcome them. The temptation to redesign your portfolio can make you lose sight of your goal. Stick with an old design if it means getting the new work up. At the end of the day, that is the most important thing. Schedule time to come back to the design at a later date. If your work is covered by an NDA, you might feel like there is no way around it - you just can’t build a portfolio. Instead of this mindset, could you consider sending a password protected link to share your work? How about blanking out information that is private? Or send through a password protected pdf. Remember your goal is to get an interview, so you need to share just enough to interest the company and give you a chance to present your portfolio in more detail at an interview. If you are really short on time, create an archive. Even if you have a portfolio, creating an archive which you can reference at a glance is a good idea. Keep it simple. The information can be sparse to begin with, the year, the project, the company and a holding image is enough. If you want to host your archive on a platform, try using Dribble.

We have both experienced the frustration of being asked to sign off on our designs only to find that either a small part of the project or a large chunk have not been developed as we had intended. In this episode of design life we discuss how to tackle implementation issues between design and development so that company goals are achieved on schedule and within budget.Join the community!

In this episode we talk about how design is more than just pushing pixels. As a designer you may find yourself completing any number of tasks - planning researching, exploring, scoping, interviewing, wire framing - we could go on and on. Sometimes this can be frustrating. This week we discuss a query from a listener about what to do when you feel that design is the last thing on your to do list.Support the show on Patreon! 

Have you ever thought about starting your own YouTube channel? In this week’s episode of Design Life we speak about our channel’s journeys, what has worked consistently and what we have done differently over time. We speak honestly about growing our channels, dealing with controversy, balancing content, monetisation and sponsorship. This episode is a must-listen for any designer who wants to start or grow a design YouTube channel.01.39 – Catch up04.15 – Gaps in the Youtube design community10.18 – Striking a content balance12.13 – Our favourite videos to make16.44 – Dealing with controversy19.06 – Growing your channel24.50 – Evergreen vs tentpole content 27.05 – Monetisation and sponsored content Femke's latest videoCharli's latest videoJoin our Patreon!

This is a very exciting time of year, a great time to evaluate 2019 and look ahead to what you want to achieve in 2020. In this episode, the first episode of the new decade, we talk about our goals and intentions for the year ahead. This has become a tradition for us on the podcast, at the start of every year we reflect on our goals and look forward to what we want to achieve next. Plan your year workbookThe Design Life Community on Patreon

Is the weight of your potential weighing you down? Potential can be both a blessing and a curse. When you feel fulfilled, you are able to focus on the task at hand and complete your best work. If you possess a greater potential than the task at hand requires, over time, completing this task will leave you feeling unfulfilled. In this week’s episode, inspired by Charli’s blog post, we go deep and talk about how fulfilled we feel right now, the weight of potential and getting unstuck.

In this episode of Design Life we have a special guest joining us, Zach Grosser. Zach joins Charli on the podcast this week as they both attended Adobe MAX 2019, Charli was an Adobe Insider this year and Zach was invited to attend by Adobe as a UX leader. Charli and Zach discuss their key takeaways from this year’s flagship creativity conference.Bézier podcast with Zach GrosserTalk to Me by Dean NelsonFull Time You by Meg Lewis 

Are you hoping to make the jump from a junior to senior role in 2020? On this episode of Design Life we discuss a query about senior and junior roles from a listener hoping to change levels. How do you know when you’re ready, how can you figure out and prove that you have the skills you need to do the job at hand? We discuss how the jump is managed at our respective companies and the idea that there is always something you can do, even if it’s not being asked of you, to demonstrate why you you’re up to the challenge. Han Bang – Toronto design YoutuberGet your design life pin!Join the community

In a change to our usual format, this week on Design Life we discuss Femke’s experience of the Within leadership retreat. The three day, design leadership retreat provided plenty for us to discuss, including leading authentically, listening to your inner critic and coaching colleagues to come up with their own solutions.Leadership CirclesWithin Retreat

How do you deal with the frustration of people not accepting your ideas? When you share an idea and people brush it off or they don’t agree that it is a good idea, how do you deal with that in such a way that your team understand your disappointment but don’t mark you as a sore loser. In this episode we talk about how we communicate our disappointment and frustrations with our teams, and how sometimes listening can reveal an unexpected solution. 01.10 – Check in04.40 – Listener’s letter11.55 – What to do if this happens to you17.34 – Accept your idea didn’t make the cut22.50 – Listen & Learn25.55 – What to do if your ideas are being shot down more often than not