This week we’re talking about exactly how long it takes to get good at design. We all know the expression practice makes perfect but exactly how much practice.? And when can you qualify yourself as having mastered your craft? All this and more in today’s episode, so without further ado let’s get into the show!

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Show Notes for This Episode:

[1:00] Tom opens up the conversation on how long it takes to learn a skill
[2:00] The team talks about the 10,000 hours philosophy of skill mastery
[3:10] What does dedicating 10,000 hours to a craft look like?
[3:44] Lisa shares her take on learning your craft
[4:00] Enjoy your craft as you learn
[5:10] Dustin suggests ignoring the 10,000 rule
[5:50] Dustin questions the group on their new skill learning timelines
[6:30] How can you measure the time you need to learn a skill?
[7:20] Setting manageable goals to hit your learning target
[8:00] Choosing the right craft to pursue
[8:00] Hyper-focused niches can flop
[9:00] Work towards a more rounded creative pursuit
[10:00] Lisa talks illustration direction with Dustin
[11:15] Tom and Ian share Mike Boyd’s focused practice routines
[12:00] Practicing until you’ve got the skill down
[12:50] Quantifying the effort involved to learn your craft
[13:30] Dustin asks Lisa how long her first font took
[14:30] Quantifying your invested time on a skill can be difficult
[15:00] Lisa shares insight on creating her first font – Pillowbook
[15:40] Considering experiences you’ve collected throughout your career
[16:20] How do you applying metrics to a lifetime of learning?
[17:10] Remaining confident in your skills while continuing to learn
[18:05] Dustin inspires Lisa to dedicate time to better her hand illustrations.
[19:18] Setting powerful, achievable goals
[20:30] Practicing bad habits makes you really good at creating bad work
[21:10] Pushing past the fear of bad work and just creating
[22:00] Completing projects will show you what you enjoy
[23:15] Tom talks about a new popular item being sold
[23:50] Accelerated learning
[24:30] Tom talks about his favourite photo-realistic painter
[25:00] Breaking up the process and having a plan to find improvement.
[26:35] Ian shares how he learns through doing
[27:00] Setting a small goal and then playing to learn that goal
[28:00] Ian’s creative journey analogy
[29:30] Trying many different tasks builds a more rounded creative
[30:30] Turning a personal challenge into your own creative learning experience
[31:00] Dustin talks about Rocky Roark and Dina Rodriguez’s fun creative challenges
[32:20] The group discusses a design bucket list of exercises
[33:05] Exploring creative challenge ideas
[33:40] Leveling up your creative play
[34:50] The group starts a Level Challenge discussion
[35:30] The fruits of Dustin’s 100-Day Illustration Challenge
[36:00] Tom throws out a Level One Challenge idea
[37:00] Lisa shares a Level One Illustration exercise
[38:00] Ian talks coding as a Level One Challenge
[40:30] Color Theory
[41:00] Working with Negative Space
[42:10] Subtractive Poetry
[43:30] Illustrating blindfolded and One Line Drawings
[44:20] Using different tools for your creation.
[45:00] Stamp Making and Paper Craft
[45:30] Stop Motion and Flip Books
[46:30] Discover and photograph surface textures
[47:55] Ian shares a quote on creative play
[47:50] Play opens the mind the new creative frontiers
[48:20] Things that have transformed Ian’s business
[49:15] Ian talks about playing with code and electronic paint
[50:50] Play and learning overlap
[51:30] Post you playtime to Instagram Stories
[52:00] The question “When I have really made it?”
[53:10] Dustin thought Skillshare wasn’t his thing
[54:05] It’s the little process tips that make a world of difference
[55:00] “Stop pressuring yourself and just have fun!”


“A must for every creative freelancer (or those aspiring to freelance). Thank you for being so… honest! Such a wealth of information from people I admire who have ‘been there and done that’. Listening to the podcast every week feels like I’m among friends. Can’t wait for more episodes!”AG_GD