We’re not huge fans of listicles in this house.

You know, those “17 Celebrities Who Had a Weird Pet Growing Up” posts that you open to quickly scan over the names of the celebrities because you must know who and what weird pet they had…

Only to find out at the end that most of those pets weren’t that weird.

And that most of those celebrities were not celebrities at all.

And that everything written in that post is meant to fill the page so you know you won’t miss anything vital if you only read the big headlines.

Well, this is not that kind of post.

Yes. It is a list, and you should know that I risked my editorial credibility in this house coming up with it.

But I think every word in this article is actually worth reading. Especially if you’re wondering wether graphic design is for you.

The tweet that sparked it all

A couple months ago I stumbled upon this tweet and I felt very identified with it.

"If you can't figure out what kind of work you like, pay attention to what's easy to concentrate on and gives you energy vs. what makes you tune out and feel tired"

sounds obvious but remains some of the best advice I ever got.

— Sam Altman (@sama) January 30, 2022

I spent the first years of my career having a hard time calling myself a designer, just because I didn’t study design formally.

Sounds silly when I think about it now, 12 years later.

I was already working in design, having worked with many clients and done tons of projects.

Most of my days was spent designing. And yet, I used to define myself by my formal education title, which wasn’t “Designer”.

Impostor syndrome, anyone?

Anyway, can’t help but think that if I’ve stumbled upon this tweet back then I would’ve realized that there’s no doubt I’m a designer.

Design was always what I found easy to concentrate on. I could spend hours without even noticing I’ve missed lunch (and believe me, I’m not a lunch-skipper!).

That would’ve saved me years of self-doubting. I think. Maybe.

Now, let’s talk about you.

If you’re here, you’re probably considering graphic design as your career path. Or perhaps evaluating a career change. In any case, I get it, there’s a lot to think about…

What’s really the job of a designer?
Where can I study design?
How long will it take me to become a designer?
Do I need any special talents?
Will I be able to make a living out of it?

But more importantly, you’re most likely wondering:
Is graphic design for me or not?

Graphic design is certainly not for everyone.

But it could be for you.

So, I’m gonna do my best to clarify a few concepts about graphic design while I try to come up with the key questions that, in my opinion, will help you understand whether design could be for you or not.

Let’s break it down.

7 Questions to Ask Yourself

“Is graphic design for me?” it’s too vague of a question. And also way too intimidating if you’re trying to figure out your next career path.

I mean, how can you know if something is for you if you’ve never tried it?

So instead of trying to answer that big overwhelm of a question, I came up with 7 smaller questions, much cuter and less scary.

It is 7 yes-or-no questions that -for me- are key to figuring out whether graphic design could be something you’d enjoy or not.

I don’t expect you to answer “Yes” to all of these questions, far less a confident YES!. But if most of these are close to a positive answer…

Then, my dear friend, graphic design is waiting for you.

With arms wide open!

Let’s get started:

When you go out to a restaurant, do you ever pay attention to the menu’s design?

Do you recall finding yourself ever thinking about a company’s logo?

Did you ever think “OMG, that font is ugly” when looking at your local store’s signs? (We love you, local stores!)

If a musician lives in the auditive world, then the world of a graphic designer is no doubt the visual one.

As a graphic designer you’ll be working with typography, colors, layouts, visual principles like balance, hierarchy, composition.

These and many many more will be your day-to-day ingredients.

The visual world will be your playground.

If you answered yes to the questions above, then that’s an indicator that you find the visual world somewhat appealing.

And –being totally unbiased– it truly is fascinating 🤓

For me, being a designer means that I can make ideas come to life.

It’s like having a superpower.

As much as I like reading, and studying, and researching… there is this moment where an internal urge emerges and tells me that I need to do something, to create something.

You know that feeling?

That’s ultimately what a designer does. We create stuff.

Websites, ads, cards, restaurant menus, stationery, posters, banners, flyers, brochures, books, apps, products, guides, logos, packaging, interfaces…

We make them happen.

Our whole job is to make ideas come to life. Make them tangible and adorable and magical, and whatnot.

If you like creating, you’ll like designing just as much.

Next question:

If you’re planning to start a career as a designer, I’d join the gym on the same day 😅.

Well, staying active is ALWAYS a good idea. By the way, I’ve been doing this flexibility program and I l-o-v-e it (this is not sponsored, I truly recommend it!).

But I digress…

Back to our question, being a designer means you’ll probably spend most of your working time at your computer.

There are tasks that you can of course do without your computer, and there’s always research, and books, and all that… but most of the time it’ll be you, a cup of tea and the little pixels on your screen.

And you’ll come to both love them and hate them! It becomes a pretty intense person-pixels relationship.

If you’re someone who doesn’t especially enjoy computers or prefers a more physical kind of job, I’d give this a serious thought…

So let’s talk about the day to day job.

Whether you end up working as a freelancer, as an employee, or running your own agency… the work of a designer is mostly based on projects.

Each project has its starting point and its finishing line. And then another project begins.

Most of the times, this happens simultaneously with multiple projects at once.

Some projects are shorter, others take more time, but all in all the feeling is of a full immersive experience where you give yourself to that project.

I actually like that very much.

I like having my mind fully focused on one problem: researching about it, brainstorming, looking for inspiration, sketching, looking for the perfect typography, then looking some more :)…

Even dreaming about it. It’s fun.

Then finishing that project, letting it see the light, and going right away to immerse myself in a new one.

Design is never boring. It’s never the same.

Unlike the popular opinion, design is not just an aesthetic discipline, it’s a problem-solving job.

(That’s why I will argue with anyone that says that design is an art. Oh don’t you come to me and tell me design is an art. That’s my trigger!)

Of course we look for beauty, and we aim to make our designs pleasant and enjoyable… but the ultimate goal and what will guide the aesthetic side of our work is solving a problem that our clients have.

More specifically, a communication or marketing problem.

Think of it like this:

A new bakery opens up in town. They call you and ask you to design a flyer for them.

“Cool, what color you’d like it to be?” should not be your answer.

Your answer should start with “Why?”.

Let’s re-write that conversation:

— Hey! We just opened up our store and would like you to design a flyer for us.
— That’s cool. Tell me a little more about it. Why do you need a flyer? What are you trying to achieve with it?
— (They answer…)
— Ok, that’s a great goal. Who’s your audience? Who are the people you’re trying to attract?
— (They answer…)
— Perfect, I get it. And are we sure a flyer will help us make that goal happen? Wouldn’t it be better if we create an online campaign to reach those people?

This is just an example of course. What I’m trying to show you is that design is the means to accomplish a goal.

Every new job is like a riddle you need to figure out.

Once you know what the goal is, you’ll put your mind and your skills into creating a design that can help getting there.

And that’s always challenging.

There’s nothing like a client emailing you that what you did for them got them a new sale. Or made their leads list grow. Or helped them get featured on a podcast.

We have a little dance we do over here every time we get one of those emails.

(Yeah, this gif doesn’t even begin to make justice to our moves)

As a designer, you’ll take on projects that you’ll treat like your own. Whether you work with big companies, small businesses, organizations, artists, coaches, solopreneurs, influencers…

What you do will have a significant influence on them.

You can help them build awareness, you can help them connect with their audience, sell more, attract more donations, create new opportunities.

A designer is there to help someone or something become better.

And as long as you do it, they’ll come back asking for more.

How does this sound to you?

Most designers who stand out and make good work after another, are designers who won’t settle.

When you know that somebody’s business is in your hands you try to make the best you can for them.

Whether that means to keep working on something until it’s perfect, or re-do the entire thing because you decided to try a different direction.

There’s this important idea in design which is called iteration. Great designs don’t just happen overnight and so good designers don’t settle on the first try.

More so, that not-settling attitude goes beyond any specific design.

Good designers keep improving their skills in general. They keep learning. They keep pushing their limits.

And that takes them far.

---

What now?

Design might not be for everybody, but I’m confident it is for everyone who wants it.

So listen to this:

You don’t need any previous knowledge or “special skills” to become a designer. You don’t need expensive hardware or software to get started. You don’t have to know what you’ll specialize in or what kind of job you want.

You can start from zero.

If it becomes something that you find “easy to concentrate and gives you energy”, then you’ll probably get far 🚀

And let me tell you, it’s a wonderful journey, and a wonderful profession.

So… see you on this side of Graphic Design?

Let me know in the comments if there’s anything you’d like to know about being a designer 👇