Episode 68: Finding Your Way as a Graduate Designer

Show Notes for This Episode:

[1:00] Today we are joined by a Design Cuts team member – the very talented Allie Toney
[1:45] Allie is a recent graduate of the University of South Alabama
[2:30] We celebrated Tom’s birthday last week on May 16th
[3:40] Allie shares her design experience and how she got started with design
[4:15] She was always passionate about photography
[4:50] Allie studied under Diane Gibbs at the university and fell in love with design
[5:20] She loves being able to help visually translate a client’s message into a design
[5:45] Diane connected Allie with Design Cuts and this was her first job out of college
[7:00] Diane helps connect a lot of young designers with people who need help
[7:35] She also has her own live podcast called Design Recharge
[9:20] Allie enjoys being able to work remotely for Design Cuts, despite the time difference challenge
[10:00] She feared the Design Cuts job wouldn’t work out and questioned her design experience
[11:15] In time Allie learned what the Design Cuts expectations and design style were
[13:30] Being able to chat/video call with the Design Cuts team made a huge difference for Allie
[14:15] Also setting up a Trello board has been incredibly helpful
[15:20] The Slack conversations make Allie feel she is part of the Design Cuts team
[16:40] Tom feels bad for never having the time to offer Allie guidance with the design work
[17:00] When managing a remote designer, it’s also your responsibility to help them get better
[18:30] The importance of a young designer working under the guidance of an experienced designer
[19:30] Tom did a lot of contracting work back in the day with little learning focus
[21:20] There are website where an employee can add a review of the company they work for
[22:00] The difference between finding work as graduate graphic designer and graduates from other industries
[22:30] Ian worked as a sale assistant after finishing university
[23:20] Tom asks Allie how is the landscape for other graduate designers
[24:30] Your first job as a graduate might not be what you want
[25:15] Smaller communities and the benefit of knowing people
[26:30] Preparing yourself for when opportunity comes knocking on the door
[27:15] Finding how to get in front of people and getting your portfolio ready
[28:00] It’s important to find a company that is a good fit for you
[28:30] Allie had a look at Design Cuts and added graphics that we would be interested in her portfolio
[29:15] Job applicants not tailoring their CV and sending the same to all companies
[30:15] For a job application Tom redesigned the company’s website
[32:00] Companies doing longer more in-depth interviews
[33:40] Lisa finding a designer who told her what she can do for her
[34:20] Thinking what you can give to the company
[36:00] Allie’s positive attitude in her work at Design Cuts
[37:20] The importance of having a positive attitude and wanting to learn
[38:20] Respecting the designer’s feedback and being willing to make changes
[39:30] Allie prefers giving a few different options for her work
[40:30] Graphic design is a process and it usually doesn’t come out right on the first time
[41:30] Allie has a few graphic designer friends who are not happy with their jobs
[42:50] Dustin quit a job because he was scared of his boss
[44:20] Integrating yourself into a community of people with similar interests
[45:10] Interacting with people you admire
[46:30] Allie has lot of variety in her design project
[48:00] The benefit of being a jack of all trades in design
[50:00] Niching down brought a lot of work for Ian
[51:00] Have something unique and stand out
[52:00] Think where you want to be in the future and if your current work fits into that
[53:00] Niching down is not a good fit for everyone
[54:00] Give yourself time to figure out what you want to do
[55:00] Ian suggesting setting up a YouTube channel to show your work process
[56:40] Recording your design process in college and showing this to potential employers
[57:10] Allie re-did all our tutorial YouTube covers
[59:00] The perspective and the mindset of going into a project
[59:40] Seeing the effects of your work
[1:00:30] Think of redesigning as spring cleaning
[1:01:10] Doing work for free and showing the testimonial of the benefits
[1:03:20] Tom suggest the hosts should mentor young people
[1:04:20] He wonders what are the common conversation college students are having
[1:05:00] A lot of conversations are about projects and surviving
[1:05:40] Leaving the college bubble and going out in the real world
[1:06:15] Not having the road map for finding a job once you leave college
[1:07:00] Allie looks at the different paths her friends took with their design work
[1:08:20] The danger of comparing yourselves with more experienced designers
[1:09:20] The grass is always greener on the other side
[1:10:30] The different experiences of design graduates and non-graduates
[1:11:15] All designers sharing the common self-doubt trait
[1:12:30] Allie wanted different things in college than what she wants now
[1:13:40] She asks the hosts how they dealt with self-doubt and what brought them back to design
[1:14:10] Lisa knew her she was getting experience and the job was just a stepping stone
[1:15:00] Ian almost became an electrician half-way through
[1:15:40] He made a like/dislike column for all different types of design work
[1:16:10] This helped him focus on the things he liked
[1:17:00] Getting to your end goal is not a straight line from A to B
[1:18:15] Feeling a lot more confident as you grow older
[1:19:00] Tom gradually moving towards community building
[1:19:45] It’s a journey and you shouldn’t be stressed by it
[1:21:00] There’s plenty of time and there are so many opportunities coming your way
[1:21:40] Do more, try more
[1:22:20] What would the hosts recommend to people not happy with their work
[1:22:50] Tom recommends expressing themselves creatively on the side
[1:23:20] Looking at the good side of the job is Lisa’s suggestion
[1:24:10] Jobs that are helping you in finding what you don’t want to do
[1:24:50] The importance of having a source of passive income
[1:25:45] This will help with transitioning from one job to the other
[1:26:30] The 2 avenues: money and passion income
[1:28:20] No matter how lost you feel, it’s all going to be okay
[1:29:30] Everyone struggles with something
[1:30:00] It was lovely to have Allie on the show
[1:30:30] Thanks so much for listening to this week’s episode