Experience: The New Unfair Advantage

It’s not something you’re born with.
It’s something you must acquire.

I sometimes wonder how specific design projects ever saw the light of day. The design is unappealing, disjointed and void of any solution it aimed to address. Then, I realized the one aspect that was missing — Experience.

Yes, experience.

Today, anyone with a laptop and an internet connection can claim to be a designer. However, graphic design is about more than access to design software.

It is about being a strategist, problem solver, and storyteller. It requires critical thinking, creativity, technical skills, and experience.

When I talk about experience, I’m not just referring to the number of years spent working. It’s about the depth and breadth of work, navigating client expectations to tangible results, the variety of projects tackled, the challenges overcome, and most importantly, the lessons learned along the way. Experience is essential in building a framework of mental models for success.

My experience and deliberate practice are the foundation of my expertise. The result is the difference between a design that merely looks good and one that resonates with its intended audience and delivers on its purpose.

So, remember that experience is not just a ‘nice-to-have’ but an essential ingredient for success. Let’s value the wisdom and insights gained from experience and recognize its vital role in crafting impactful graphic design solutions.