I am a good designer.

I know that.

And I got over it — and myself — years ago but I do have an observation or two to share.

In every designer’s career they reach a turning point. That pinnacle is the day you wake up and without conscious note, design has become a reflex. What used to be items on your to-do list transform into things you just know how to do.

The evolution is due to experience and paying attention while it accrues. Or, let me put it this way. You don’t have your head up your ass while working. You’re not just going through the motions required to whittle down that to-do list. You are present and engaged even for the most mundane tasks.

How that reflex develops is through your choosing to be involved not just employed. Opportunities to experiment and learn are found in the smallest of design tasks requiring the most basic solutions. It is the seizing of those opportunities that will build your arsenal of innovative design know-how. Can be a lot of work. But worth it because it is the fundamental learning of basics like proportion, scale, and perspective that will give your imagination and creative abilities wings. And authority…. and credibility… and confidence.

Pixels of color or wide open spaces, fonts or furniture you know what to do. And if you do not immediately know what to do, you can bet your ass (sans head) that you know how to figure it out and get it done. Solo or as part of a team.

You no longer hesitate to deliver honest critique because you know, when properly shared, your opinion can provide momentum and direction to those who have neither.

The foundation built of design principles and basic fundamentals guarantees you know what to do and how to do it. You can count on a finely-honed eye and an instinctive reaction to solve the challenge at hand. Beautifully. Tastefully. Artfully. Soulfully.

So.  Why are you still sitting there reading my blog?  Go.  Shoo.  Get up and go design something — anything.  And pay attention.