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 I N T R O D U C T I O N

What makes a successful designer? How do they stay on top of things? What keeps them going?

Do you ever feel like some designers have just got it sorted? They don’t simply get by in life,
they constantly raise the stakes to create bigger and better designs. Their client base is always
growing and yet they always manage to keep ahead of their workload. What’s their secret?

This eBook can finally give you an answer!

We surveyed graphic designers from a range of different industries – not-for-profit,

entertainment, retail etc. – to learn about their work habits. We wanted to see if there are
any common trends that could shed some light on what makes a successful designer.

Thankfully, our survey produced some rather interesting results

which we’re excited to share with you today.

Read on as we count down the top seven habits of a highly effective designer.
From constantly searching for inspiration, to asking your clients the right questions,
discover what it takes for your freelance design business to thrive.

03
“Always look for inspiration everywhere. Take lots of pictures
and relax about coming up with new ideas.”

Marty Furgal, ABC Creative Group

04
A
ny creative individual will tell you,
inspiration is essential to producing
good work. Working without inspiration
is like playing cards and persistently
getting dealt bad hands – you’re in an
uphill battle to make any sort of progress.
Rather than searching for inspiration for each
59% of respondents said they look for
inspiration online
41% said they find inspiration offline,
such as in nature, magazines, and books
Of that 41%, 20% said that they find
inspiration from other designers
100%

individual project, it can be more effective to

top up your inspiration bank as and when
ideas hit you.
59%
50%
41%
95%
of designers in our survey said
that they look for inspiration
more than once a week 0%

Inspiration can come from the most The most common online sources named by
unexpected sources - that’s why it’s important our survey respondents included: Pinterest,
to remain open to it, to take note of the Creative Bloq, Instagram and Behance.
things which impress you and make you feel Interestingly, when we refine the results to
amazed. Sometimes, however, you do have to those with the job title “Owner”, the percentage
go looking for it. of people who search online jumps to 87.5%. 

05
“Be open to change. You can’t be precious about your work. It’s a tough world out there
for designers but by putting your client’s interests first you’ll be likely to succeed. Be
patient and take on board negative feedback and move forward positively from it.”

Karrie Brown, Karrie Brown Design

06
W
ith design work, the odds are you’re
never going to get it right first time.
This is especially true when you’re
trying to please a client, but while
it might not feel great to hear your
work criticised, it’s very important that you do.
Getting feedback obviously means that you’ll
be able to meet your client’s brief better but
that’s not all it’s good for. Listening to and
accommodating feedback makes you think
about things from a different perspective and
lets you learn from others.
Being able to hear negative criticism without
taking it personally, is a great skill for a
designer. The only way to learn it, though, is
to regularly send your work to be reviewed. If
you don’t have any graphic design buddies to
help you out, there are websites you can use
to get your work reviewed.
Also, if you struggle to take negative comments
well, try these simple tips.
Take a deep breath and don’t immediately
jump to defend your work

57%
Clarify what exactly it is that they don’t
of all respondents think that
like about your design
you shouldn’t allow negative
feedback to affect you Ask solution-focused questions to find an

88%
answer
of business owners think that
you shouldn’t allow negative
feedback to affect you.

07
“Apply what you have learnt, sketch every idea you have, even if it’s dreamy.”

Elizabeth Arostegui, Coloripop

08
Y
ou can often divide designers into
two camps; those who sketch and
those who jump straight on the
computer.
There seems to be a general opinion that
sketching is faster and allows a more natural
flow of ideas than a computer. With a pen and
paper, you don’t have to be precise and you’re
not limited by what your software can create.

48% of respondents prefer to use a pen
and paper when generating ideas
36% prefer designing straight onto a
computer
15% prefer to use a mix and say that both
have a place within design
Sketching also means you don’t have to go all
in on one idea straight away. Instead, you can
hedge your bets by coming up with several
ideas quickly and figuring out which designs
aren’t worth pursuing. In the end, this could
actually save you a lot of time.

So it would seem that using a pen and paper

is the ultimate winner with our designers.
When we asked why they preferred a
pen and paper, the same words and
phrases kept coming up in their answers
(see diagram).

09
“Constantly read, look, watch and learn anything and everything.”

Tom Buttle, Tom Buttle Ltd.

10
C
ontinued learning is one of the best
things you can do for your portfolio
and, as we all know, a great portfolio
is the only sure-fire way to keep the
chips rolling in.
S T U D Y I N G C A N M E A N ;
Learning a new skill that you don’t
currently offer your clients
Skill development has so many benefits for
you and your business. For one, it allows
you to keep up with industry trends so that
you always remain one step ahead of the
competition. Also, it means you can fill any
skill gaps so that you know, no matter what
your clients ask of you, you can provide the
goods.

Honing an existing skill so that you

become an expert in that area

Reminding yourself of a particular

technique that you haven’t used in a while

You don’t necessarily have to sign on to a

formal course to learn a new skill – it could be
enough to watch a couple of tutorials online.
As long as you’re challenging yourself in some See here for suggestions on how you could
way, you’re learning. expand your portfolio.

11
“Always review your work, always try to see your design through customer’s eyes.”

Martin Vinař, Design Channel

12
W
hen creating a design, one of your
first considerations should be the
target audience. Unfortunately, this
can easily be forgotten – especially
when the target audience is not, in
fact, your client.
Of course, you have to please your immediate
client and ensure that the design is branded
to their business. However, making sure
that the end-user, your client’s customer,
receives the design well is essential for the
campaign’s success.
Not understanding the target audience is one
of the main reasons marketing campaigns
fail. Instead of asking “How can I sell this?”, ask
“Who am I trying to sell to and why might they
need this?”
C A S E S T U D Y :
Bic once created a range of pens ‘for her’
which were exactly the same as the pens
they already sold except they came in pastel
colours and had ‘for her’
written on the packaging.

79%
Instead of thinking
of designers asked consider
about things from their
themselves “successful”
audience’s perspective,
The most common reason given for they only thought about
this was that they were able to fully what they wanted to sell
understand their clients’ needs and meet and ended up offending
their briefs their buyers.

13
“Ask enough questions and you won’t have to look for so many answers.”

Jon Tarrant, Jon Tarrant Creative Services

14
I
t might seem obvious to some
but you’d be surprised how many
designers take a brief without
discussing it first. If it’s a detailed
brief, that might work out fine but
if you’re unsure on something, why take a
gamble when you could just ask your client?
Sometimes, it can be hard to speak up in a client
meeting. If your client has lots of their own
ideas, they may be more interested in telling you
about them rather than hearing your opinion.
As the designer, however, you are the one
who will be turning these ideas into a physical
form so you need to fully understand what is
being asked of you. Asking questions lets you
find the information you need if a client is
being vague at all.

63% Keep these tips in mind when asking your

client about their brief;

Ask open-ended questions

Ask about the end-user’s needs

37%
of respondents said that
Avoid using design jargon
asking clients questions is the
most important habit to have as a designer Use sketches to explain what words can’t

15
“Don’t be so hard on yourself, no-one gets it right first time. Design is always a process, a constant trial and
error situation. You’ll get better in time. We live and we learn, don’t be afraid to ask for help for no man is an
island. Lastly, make a lot of mistakes, tons and tons, for life is all about learning and with this you’ll be able
to pass it on and teach and inspire others about your journey and they too will create a meaningful life.”

Klarence Tolosa, a Freelance Graphic and Brand Identity Designer

16
F
inally, we have arrived at the number
one habit for a successful designer! It
may seem cliché but it’s true – if you
want to be successful at anything, the
first thing you need to do is believe
you can do it.
If ever you’re wondering if you’ve done the
right thing, remember that you are the expert
here. You have trained to do this and there’s
a reason your clients have chosen to come to
you.

15%
of respondents said that if
they could give themselves
one piece of advice when they started out, it
would be to believe in themselves.

Making decisions with conviction can be hard

when clients start questioning you. While you
do need to be open to feedback (see habit no.
6), sometimes you also need to have faith in
your own skills as a designer.

17
OTHER
FACTS YOU
MAY LIKE
Although our survey was designed to find the
top seven habits of successful designers, we
did find some other interesting statistics and
habits that you might find useful.
WHAT COUNTS AS SUCCESSFUL?
80%
of designers who have been
working for less than a year
do not consider themselves to be successful.
The reasons given for this included
lack of experience, still learning, being
a beginner, and just starting to build a
portfolio and client list.
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TRY TO LEAVE SOME WHITE SPACE
White space has been celebrated throughout
the design industry for its ability to draw the eye,
add emphasis, and create a balanced design. It
certainly seems like our respondents agree!
97%
of designers think that white
space in a design makes it
more effective.
FOLLOW UP WITH CLIENTS
If you’re wanting to improve your business,
it’s often a good idea to see what your current
customers think of your work – our respondents
were pretty clear on this point.
99% of designers who have been working
for 9 years or more try to check in with their
clients after a project has been finished.
 89%
HOW MANY IDEAS DO YOU NEED? of respondents leave a
creative task at the end of the
Surely the number of ideas you present day so that they can jump straight back into
depends on the number of ideas that come their creative flow the next morning.
to you. We thought it might be good to have
a target to aim for so we asked our designers REVIEW YOUR WORK
how many they try and come up with.
In almost any line of work, it’s a good idea to
The majority of respondents try to come look back over your past work and see what
up with 3 or 4 ideas during idea generation. could have been done better, design is no
different.
Most designers are against only coming
up with 1 or 2 ideas with the exception of
those who have been working for 9 years
8%
or more (see here for why some designers
only come up with one idea).

LEAVE YOURSELF A TASK FOR TOMORROW

“Try and end your day part-way through a task so

you can quickly get on with work in the morning

92%
without being stuck wondering ‘what am I going of respondents review their
to do today?’” – James Martin, Route One Print work

19
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0114 294 5026 | sales@route1print.co.uk | www.route1print.co.uk