Ever worried about what others think of your creative work? Ever felt the social media tumbleweed, when it feels like no one is paying attention to what you’re putting out there? Ever compared yourself to others in your field? Welcome to the world of self doubt as a designer! The good news is, you’re not alone, and there are some actionable steps you can take to improve your level of self doubt in your creative projects.
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Meet Your Hosts
The Honest Designers Show started when our founder Tom found he was regularly chatting and sharing tips with top designers; Ian Barnard, Lisa Glanz and Dustin Lee. We soon organised a weekly call where we would help each other with areas we were struggling with and try to give each other actionable feedback. Soon we realised that the collective experience of the group was proving so valuable for each of us, that we thought ‘why not share these conversations with the world?’.
And so, The Honest Designers Show was born! This podcast is an insight into how to succeed in the creative industry, as well as giving you a totally transparent, under the hood look at some of the tougher, less glamorous hurdles to overcome! We also tend to get a little goofy along the way, so this is a chance to get to know each of us a little better :). We’ve loved recording this show for you, and we hope that you find value and enjoyment in listening to it.
SHOW NOTES
In this episode we talk all about self doubt, something that all designers seem to experience at some stage! Learn how to manage this self doubt and instead focus on enjoying the creative process.
[1.00] How all creatives experience self doubt
[1.50] Why there is no A to B straight line for designers
[2.30] Why creating is like making cookies!
[3.00] Why you feel like you ARE what you create
[4.00] Lisa’s potential for a children’s book
[4.55] Why creatives are insecure, but not psychos!
[5.30] Creatives are intense and passionate people (the perfect storm for self doubt!)
[6.20] Confirming your lack of success
[7.05] Social media leading to self doubt
[8.00] Why comments matter most
[8.45] The dreaded tumbleweed!
[9.30] Why to expect tumbleweeds early on (and why this is ok)
[10.10] Audit yourself in terms of what you engage with
[11.20] Why you should engage with other’s work
[12.40] Why social media is ego driven
[13.00] Client feedback leading to self doubt
[14.15] You won’t please everyone
[15.00] Why the client is usually right
[16.20] Staying motivated if your work is mediocre
[17.45] Why we are aware that our work isn’t great yet
[18.45] The important of a higher purpose
[19.40] Getting out of your head, and being less ‘me, me, me!’
[21.00] What is the work we do that doesn’t feel like work?
[22.45] Ian loving the idea stage
[24.45] Ideas can take a while to come to fruition
[25.20] Why challenging yourself results in self doubt
[26.00] How passion can reduce self doubt
[27.00] When people struggle with hitting their stride
[28.00] Why collaborations can fall into the same trap
[29.10] Lisa’s experience of self-doubt making a Design Cuts product
[29.50] Self doubt can make or break a project
[30.30] Why you shouldn’t compare yourself to others
[31.20] Dustin’s shedding of self doubt
[32.05] Forget what everyone else thinks!
[32.20] Look at the long-term trends to feel better about your journey
[34.00] Why social media can drive you to distraction
[34.40] Feeling really stressed looking at others in your space
[35.30] Why comparing to others wastes your time
[36.35] Why it’s wise to be a tortoise
[37.50] Focusing, without as many distractions
[39.00] The importance of switching off
How you can help
As this is a new show, we’d really appreciate your help spreading the word. If you enjoyed listening and found value in this first episode, you can do these two things to help us:
1. Subscribe to The Honest Designers Show in iTunes
2. Leave us an honest rating/review in iTunes
Early reviews can make the world of difference for new podcasts being discovered, and it would mean the world to us if you were able to help.
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Let Us Know What You Think
We would absolutely love to know how you enjoyed this second episode. We’ll be releasing a new episode each Wednesday, and look forward to hopefully answering many of your questions on the show.
This was a wonderful podcast, guys!
I still feel very young in my design/illustration career and was just thinking today that I wish I had some mentors to talk to – and then this podcast came along.
It was so nice to just hear all of these respected designers/illustrators talk (even laugh) about the constant self-doubt that we as creatives all deal with – no matter what stage of your career we’re in. The tips they offered to help move past self-doubt (and our cultural obsession with “Likes”) are great. Thank you so much, I’ll be looking forward to next week’s podcast!
Thank you Chris, I truly appreciate you taking the time to leave such great feedback :).
That’s wonderful that you’re able to relate to our discussions, and I can assure you – every designer/creative I know goes through the same stuff when it comes to self doubt. I hope you enjoy next week’s episode, we’ll be talking all about burn out :).
Thanks for another week of inspirational thoughts while I work away. I closed the window. Then thought about your self doubt and the missed opportunity to give a boost to YOU today. I reopened said window and am commenting. I look forward to more of your design conversations.
Taking the chance to send thanks to Tom for Design Cuts – a recent discovery on my part (any hope of a font collection sale of minted.com approved fonts!?) ; and to Lisa who’s work I adore. Looking forward to discovering more of what Ian and Dustin do b/c I haven’t heard of you prior to this show. And – now I feel just terrible b/c I don’t want to cause more self doubt either. Hmmm. I can’t win here can I? ;)
Thanks for the inspiration. Three cheers to doing what you LOVE and feeds your heart and soul inspiration. I’ve taken the leap into the world of stationary design through minted at the moment, and find so much joy with that base of work than the freelance that’s been paying the bills.
Thanks for your incredible feedback Janelle :). Honestly, comments are what motivates us more than anything, so I’m so glad you took the time to leave one. I’ll see what we can do on the font front, and don’t worry, Ian/Dustin are thick skinned fellas (sometimes!) :P.
Amen to doing what you love, always! I’m so glad to hear that you’re enjoying your foray into stationary design, it sounds like you’ve landed on what you’re truly passionate about, which is a clear sign to go after it!
Loved this podcast. Extremely timely…
Thanks!
Thanks Eric, so glad to hear that :). I hope you continue to enjoy the show.
The timing of your show is inspirational .I was just thinking this morning about how things were not coming together for me and trying to start a home business and then your show gives me so much more energy and joy .The four of you have inspired me and giving me some self-confidence and I cannot tell you or express my My thanks for your time on this show and everything you put into it. Thank you so very much for sharing the deepest part of your inspiration and sole.
Thanks so much for the amazing feedback Karen. Starting a home business is one of the scariest but most amazing decisions you can make, and we’re totally behind you with your venture :). I’m so glad this show was able to give you a little boost of joy, that’s more than we could ever ask for! Do keep us updated with how your new business takes off, and if you have any specific questions we can help to address for you, please let us know.
Absolutely loved listening to this. Spot on. There’s so many of us that feel the same and feel like we’re the only ones. We’re not islands. Thank you for the honest chat! Was having a major self-doubt day today and this popped into my inbox. Big love! P
Thanks so much for your comment Poonum, I couldn’t have said it better myself :). Part of the reason we started these weekly calls was so that we could realise we weren’t the only ones going through this stuff. I think it’s important to realise that those self-doubting days are all part of the journey, and hopefully this episode gave you some ways to get through it, and realise how normal it is at the same time :). Thanks for listening!