I’ve come to the conclusion that design is 30% technical skill and 70% having a good eye. There are 1,000 different avenues you can take to create the same result in software like photoshop, meaning you can learn techniques over and over until your fingers bleed. But having an eye for design? That’s something you refine over time—when you look back on your early designs, you’ll cringe at the placement and color choice.
So in an attempt to spare you the embarrassment I’ve faced as a self-taught graphic designer, I am here to bear it all to you: the classic young-designer mistakes that I swear to never make again.
1. Using Colors Without Enough Contrast
Understanding the design principle of contrast is key to making a design that is not only pleasing to the eye but also functional. Contrast can inform viewers where to focus their attention, create excitement, or simply make the design legible. As a young designer, I was overtly missing that final piece: make the design legible!
Text should be readable from far away to accommodate people with low vision or color blindness. As I tell you I made designs with dark yellow text on a royal blue background, it’s causing me embarrassment just to write it out. Designs with colored text with low contrast (like a dark yellow on a royal blue background) become less visually appealing and less functional.
I overcame this rookie mistake by remembering that black and white are always an option, even if they are not in the brand’s style guide.
2. Making Overly Complex Designs
Learning about the Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) method upped my design game more than I’d like to admit. Canva templates will lead you to believe that you need a large amount of bells and whistles—but that will undoubtedly make your designs look messy and novice.
Of course, if you’ve been directed to go for maximalism, don’t let this deter you, but be mindful of it. In design, less is often more.
This finally got through to my young designer brain when I took a course on UX/UI design. A large section of the course was dedicated to accessibility, and they really hammered in that your designs should be usable by all people. To me, this meant less bells and whistles and more form and function. My design work has been cleaner and more professional ever since.
3. Over or Under Kerning
For those unfamiliar with the term, kerning is the spacing between characters in text. And a telltale sign of a novice designer is unbalanced kerning in their designs. I will blame Canva again for this one, because a lot of templates utilize very loose kerning, which isn’t needed for every situation. Understanding kerning is a must for creating something visually pleasing and legible. There are resources you can use to find typical kerning ratios, but honestly, it usually just comes down to eye.
Truth be told, I still have a preference for an overly tight kerning. I guess I just haven’t learned my lesson yet. But I’m working on it!
Stay the Course and Keep Learning
As a designer you are always refining, always improving. I hope to keep adding to this list as I grow and continue to get better every day!
Over to You: What design challenges are you struggling with? Please share what you’d love to see me add to my list!
