Frontline Perspectives

This is a little tale about the influences in my life and my choice to become a designer.

First off, neither of my parents are designers, but they both work with their hands, and have an acquired skill set and have taught me a lot about being creative. My mom was a hairdresser whose salon was a little place my dad built for her — yes, with his own hands. When I’d come home from school or on the weekends I would pop into the shop, say hello to the ladies and start sweeping up, washing hair and making tea. My parents taught me about humility, creativity, business and people skills.

My mom was successful because she was a talented stylist — personable, well known and liked. My dad was a wonderful problem solver, a hard worker and very driven. He was always proud of his work and would redo it if he wasn’t satisfied. So as I take a look at my career choice, one that is hard to break into and very competitive, there are a several things I keep in mind when I think of my influences.

1. Not everyone can cut hair. I have an aunt who can verify this. She thought since I spent so much time in the salon, I would have picked up a thing or two… After a slight undercut incident and a haircut rescue she and I both learned our lessons. (Note: I was 14 at the time.) So what does this mean to me as a designer? Not everyone can design. You may own a pair of scissors, but it does not mean you can or should cut hair. People who find their path as a hair stylist more often than not choose that path because that was their calling and that is what they are passionate about. They start off washing hair and sweeping up; they aren’t handed a pair of scissors. Learning a skill takes time, but if you’re passionate about it, in the end you’re doing something you love to do and it can be very rewarding. But remember, we have to crawl before we can run. Your design ability may be excellent but we start at the bottom and work our way up for a reason. Be patient. There is a lot to be learned along the way.
2. Not every stylist listens. I am not a very picky customer. If something goes wrong, I know it isn’t a big deal. It is going to grow back – unless it’s an ear. So when I go to a new stylist, there are a few things I convey. “I am a mom and want something I can manage with ease and little maintenance. I don’t have a lot of time in the morning so I won’t have time to style it or fluff it. When it grows out, I want it to grow out well, without having to come back in four weeks because it’s growing out weird. Most of all, I want something that suits me, but I am open to your suggestions.” As a designer, you need to have a conversation and understand your client. And although your client may not know what they want, you can’t just think you know what they need or what you think would be cool to do for them. If they hand you something and say, this is what I want, and you don’t believe it will suit them, you need to have the language to explain why. And not just, “I don’t think it will work.” You’re not Don Draper of Mad Men. You need to be able to factor in product, market, target audience, culture and message. You need to see where they came from and where they want to go.
3. A stylist needs to know their profession. Understanding coloring, cutting, curls, highlights is necessary for a good stylist. You can’t cut a person who has curly hair without understanding how it will look after it bounces back up. And you can’t just put bleach in dark hair without knowing how long it is supposed to stay there and if it won’t come out green. So for a designer, understanding how things will work across platforms and mediums is also essential. Even though I may not be the one doing the back-end web development, I need to understand how it works for when I do the front-end design. Knowing your limitations and skills is just as important as developing them and learning new ones. You no longer just design for a computer screen, you also design for mobile devices. You can buy books and / or ebooks. There are more and cheaper options for printing now than there were 10 years ago, and things that stopped being popular like letterpress have once again become popular. Web designers are becoming print designers and vice versa. Not everyone can create a beautiful font like Jessica Hische, or a vibrant illustration like Tad Carpenter, some people know their place in design from the get go and for others it takes awhile to figure it out.

So to round it up, design like photography, engineering or hairdressing is a vocation. It is an essential tool in marketing and advertising a product. It isn’t just some pretty images and letters on a page; it’s purposeful and thought out. It is created to engage people and to evoke a reaction. It takes a particular skill set and understanding. It is a culture unto itself. To quote my lecturer on the first day of college in Waterford, Ireland, “Kiss your life goodbye. From now on you will eat, breathe and sleep design. It will become part of who you are.”