The 8 most common mistakes designers make
Designers make mistakes at some point in their career. Even though making mistakes is part of learning and becoming the best designer you can be, that doesn’t mean that you should continue to make them.
Here is a quote to inspire you.
All men make mistakes, but only wise men learn from their mistakes. – Winston Churchill
What are some of the most common mistakes designers make? I will get straight to the point and not waste any more time.
Uncertain about the brief
As a designer, the biggest mistake you can make is to miss the entire point of the design, so it is imperative you ask questions and make sure you understand the brief. You may end up giving the client something that is completely different from what they wanted if you don’t understand the brief.
Trying to do too much
You have a design brief with many details, and you’re trying to figure out how to put all the information in a design that looks good; the design danger of trying to cram too much information into a design – especially one that’s supposed to be informative is that it may come out looking tacky. All you have to do is give enough information rather than giving it all at once. You don’t have to do it all at once.
Typographical mistakes
It is possible to download free fonts from a variety of sources, but be aware of the potential pitfalls in terms of legalities and usage rights, which may force you to restart your work. Paying for professionally designed fonts is not a bad idea if you’re working professionally.
In addition to deciding where to get your fonts from, your typography choices are equally important; both amateurs and experienced designers make mistakes here.
Using too many different fonts
Too many typefaces can look cluttered and confusing; ideally, a project should contain no more than two fonts; more than two fonts are considered an error. You want your type to look consistent, so don’t confuse the viewer by layering your page with lots of varied typefaces.
Ignoring proofreading
Failing to proofread can be a major problem. Using the spellchecker is great for finding misspelt words within your work but it won’t catch correctly spelt words in the wrong context. For example, if you use the word “is” instead of “are’ in a sentence, spellcheck may not be able to help you with that. This is just one reason why you must always proofread every piece of your work; it is also advisable to sometimes get someone to help you proofread your work; poorly written grammar in your project may need to be redone if you fail to proofread.
Working destructively
‘Working destructively’ means making permanent adjustments to the pixels within your projects without being able to go back and re-edit things later.
To avoid this situation; use alternative tools that will allow you to make corrections easily in the future. For example, use layer masks instead of the eraser tool, become comfortable using smart objects rather than rasterized layers, take advantage of adjustments layers, and try to ignore the standard adjustments from the Image drop-down menu in the toolbar.
Taking criticism personally
Always take criticism in good faith, as criticism is part of the job, and it will help you become a better graphic designer; it is better to learn from the criticism than to let it become a problem by taking what was said as a personal attack.
As a graphic designer, you need to be explicit and deliberate about your career goals and what success means to you; if you’re just beginning in graphic design, you should get a perfect laptop for graphic design. For your branding, UI-UX design and other graphic design needs, contact us at Prime Expression Services at info@primeexpression.com.
Please leave a comment about any other mistakes you think designers make.
