← The Angry Designer Graphic Design, Freelancing, Branding & Creative Business Podcast
The Angry Designer Graphic Design, Freelancing, Branding & Creative Business Podcast
Your Outdated Graphic Design Mindset Is Holding You Back & How to Shift It
00:15:10
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- [00:00]
A
You clicked on this video because being a designer lately feels harder than it should. Clients want more, budgets want less. AI is everywhere, and the stuff that used to work just isn't hitting the same. And here's the thing that nobody's talking about. Designers are actually trying to succeed with mindsets that stopped working years ago. I mean, they're grinding harder, but they're not getting further. And they have no idea why. But what if I told you that the real reason designers are getting stuck can be fixed with just 5 shifts? 5.5shifts that separate the designers who are killing it versus designers who are just making it. In this episode of the Angry Designer podcast, powered by Wick Studio, I'm walking you through the exact shifts I'm drilling into my own design team. Shifts that'll move a design career in and attract better clients and make you impossible to ignore. Because if there's one thing I've learned for running my agency for, like, ever, skills don't separate designers, shifts do. And the ones who refuse to shift get left behind every single time. Let's go. Everything I just laid out for you, the panic, the noise, the distractions, it all comes down to one thing. Design isn't getting harder. The industry is just shifting. And most designers aren't shifting with it. And this is where designers get stuck. Because they keep fighting today's problems, but with yesterday's mindset and habits. And that's exactly why this first shift matters. So much change from doing to thinking. The industry has enough frickin doers, it's drowning in them. I mean, we have more designers, more people claiming to be designed now than any point that I've remembered in the past two and a half decades. And that's the problem. Design execution is becoming cheap, it's accessible. Anybody with a computer now is calling themselves a designer. The future is going to separate past pixel pushers from thinkers. And I know that sounds a little harsh, but come on, you've had to seen it too many times. Decisions are made with no thinking behind them, just thin surface level effort. And yeah, while I can totally appreciate a well designed piece of work, it's not going to cut it anymore if it doesn't actually work for the customer. Clients can get cool literally anywhere. I mean, teenagers with Canva can make cool and AI can make it in like literally seconds. But what clients can't get from teenagers or Canva or AI is the thinking behind the work. The thinking is invaluable. Think about the. Ask a bit, ask better questions. Connect the dots that you Find out and figure out what the actual, real problem is. This way, once you understand their problem, you can then walk them through your decisions with confidence. Clients don't fall in love with just looks. They fall in love with the logic behind the looks. And your decisions are going to matter more than your deliverables, because clear, critical thinking is the one thing that clients can't buy anywhere else. And that's the value that you bring above making something pretty. Thinking leads the design, and that leads us right into this whole next shift, because this next one is where thinking stops being optional and starts being essential. Strategy versus decoration. All right, I know they sound a little bit similar, but hear me out. Design without strategy is just decoration, and decoration is disposable. Designers have to stop acting like make it pretty machines. The thing is, clients don't hire designers for their aesthetics. They hire them to help with business outcomes. Every industry is feeling pressure right now. Technology, competition, shrinking budgets is coming for everybody. And your clients aren't looking for pretty. They're looking for help with their business. And pretty has never sold anything on its own. Aesthetics matters. Design matters. Good design principles absolutely matter. But if your design doesn't actually help the customer, it doesn't mean anything. And that's why strategy is so important. And when I say strategy, I'm not talking about, like, a 200 slide deck with all this buzzword bullshit. I'm talking about understanding, okay? Understanding what the brand actually stands for, who the real audience is, what motivates them, what problem is the business trying to solve, and how you're proposing that your design solution will actually help resolve it. That's strategy. When you understand branding, messaging, positioning, customer journeys, you know, your design stops being decoration, and it moves people to actually do something. That's what graphic design is supposed to do. And when you don't, your design becomes wallpaper. And nobody's paying for wallpaper. Strategic designers, right now, they're not struggling. They. They're surviving this. And they're the ones who are killing it. They're the ones who clients trust and look to as experts and pay dearly for. And remember, this strategy is the part of the design process that fiverr and templates and cheap labor even AI can't replicate. And now a word from our sponsor.
- [05:01]
B
All right, designers, let's cut the bowl. How many times have you had a killer website design only to watch it fall apart because of code or developer telling you no, no, no. Or maybe you've held back from web design altogether, thinking it's just too complicated? And too technical or totally out of your wheelhouse. Either way, it's time for a change. Wix Studio is designed for designers, removing the barriers that limits your designs. Whether you're tired of developers watering down your ideas or too intimidated by the technical side of web, Wix Studio puts the creative power back in your hands. No code required. With a drag and drop interface that feels designer intuitive. Plus no code, animations and even AI powered tools, you can create fully custom websites that match your vision. Every pixel, every detail.
- [05:58]
A
And if you're worried about the learning curve, don't be.
- [06:01]
B
Wick Studio is designed to feel as intuitive as your favorite design tools. Some designers here even say more. So that means you can jump right in and focus on what you do best. Designing badass brand aligned websites that'll take your business to the next level. So whether you've had enough of developers.
- [06:21]
A
Holding you back or.
- [06:22]
B
Or you're ready to finally step into web design, check out wix studio.com and take control. That's wix studio.com go and take back.
- [06:34]
A
Web design for graphic designers. Speaking about AI, there's a third shift that designers need to make for the future. See what I did there? Integrate AI into your process. Don't depend on it. The more I use AI, the more I realize what it actually can't do and the more I understand my value in the design process. AI is not the villain, but it's also definitely not the answer. Most of you have already used AI by now, whether it's directly or through a third party company like Canva or Adobe or somebody else who managed to sneak it in without telling you. And just like every other major tech ship before it, AI is now creating a designer split. There are designers who integrate AI and designers who depend on AI. And trust me, those two groups are not headed to the same future. When you depend on AI, it literally replaces you. It does the thinking that you should be doing. It becomes the creative engine and you are literally becoming the monkey that clicks. Generate again. Dance, Monkey, dance. If AI is doing 80% of your job, that's not efficiency. That's a warning sign. That's your career knocking on the door saying, hey, maybe you want to learn some design fundamentals before AI replaces your sorry as. But when you integrate AI into your process, it supercharges your abilities. It helps speed you up, it helps your research process, your brainstorming, your ideation. It gets you through those parts of the job that that you hate so you can focus more on the parts you love. It's like having a creative genius assistant who never gets tired and and never stops trying to please you. Creepy, I know. But here's the catch. You still have to think critically. You still have to be able to use your own better judgment. You still have to decide whether what it spits out is right, wrong, or completely off the rails. I mean, people who don't know any better, they take what AI gives them literally, assume is gold, but the reality is it's frickin fool's gold. AI isn't nearly as smart as people think it is. Especially if you can't think for yourself. It can't actually think, it can't strategize, and it can't problem solve in a meaningful way like designers can. And it sure can't help replace a designer who knows how to present their work. Which leads me to the next shift. Pretty good presentation skills will be the real differentiator. If you take one thing from this episode, let it be this. The designer who presents their idea best will never be without work, even if their work is subpar. And I know that sucks, and I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. Okay, I've seen mediocre work get approved instantly in meetings because the designer knew how to sell the idea. Okay, I've seen brilliant work die in other meetings because the designer couldn't explain it worth shit. Clients don't buy logos. They buy the confidence behind the person who's presenting the logos. They buy the way they walk them through the story, the problem, and guide them to the solution. Honestly, your presentation skills might matter more than your portfolio. Stories sell more than images. How many times have you shown a past project to a customer or a prospect and they were just glazing over it? But the second you started talking about the story behind the project, the challenges, the decisions, the thinking, suddenly they perked up and they started leaning in to listen. Design isn't just about what you make. It's about what you communicate and what you make others believe. You can have the best idea in the world, but if you can't explain it and sell it, it doesn't mean anything. Presentation isn't a good skill to have. Presentation is the skill to have. But even if you're the best presenter in the world, it won't matter if you have nobody to present it to. Which brings us to the final shift. Stop being invisible and be known for something. I don't care what you own. I don't care if it's a niche. You pick a niche, dominate an industry. Stack your skills. Take your personal brand to crazy levels. Just be known for something. Because the designers who get remembered are the ones who get work. Designers get terrified at the idea of committing to something. I mean, they think that it limits their work or their potential or their clients. But here's the truth. Success thrives under constraints. Not just creativity, but success. And that's not my own bs. That's actual creative research, business research, real world results. Because when you have clear positioning, you have a focused offer, and you know who your market is, everything gets easier. You know exactly who you're talking to and you know exactly why they should hire you instead of a thousand lookalikes. My agency, we focus on B2B technology companies in the broadband space. We're known as Get Shit Done agency. And our style is bold, brash, no bs. Surprise, surprise, that's pretty constrained. Yet this year alone, we just completed over 2000 projects and build well into seven figures. This isn't about restricting yourself. It's about making it insanely easy for customers to understand. What? Why you're the right choice. And I know it's scary to put yourself out there, especially because you won't be for everyone, and that's fine. But how awesome it is when you do find the people that you're actually right for. The world is massive. Clients are everywhere. And the right ones will find you if you make yourself unforgettable. So what's tomorrow going to bring? For most designers, absolutely nothing. They're going to treat it like any other day. They're going to tell themselves that they're resetting and they're finally going to get serious. And they'll convince themselves that this year it's going to be different and clients are going to get easier and projects are better and design magically becomes respected. And then the industry is going to give them a big old Batman slap because nothing's going to change if they don't. But you, you, you're here, you're listening, you're paying attention, you're good. You thinking will matter. Strategy will matter. AI integration will matter. Presentations will matter. Being known for something will matter. And the designers who double down on these shifts, they're not just going to make it, they're going to kill it and survive in the future. Don't forget to subscribe. Like Share Comment. Let's. Let's just stay connected, all right? On behalf of Sean and myself, stay creative and stay angry. Peace it, Sam. It's sa. Dense monkey dense.