

The secret to hiring a designer - waxman
http://waxman.me/the-secret-to-hiring-a-designer

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tomelders
If I may: Design is how something works, not how it looks.

My view is that if you pick a _designer_ with a _style_ , you're gambling.
I've seen an alarming increase in designers with styles over the past 10 years
and I don't like it. It flies in the face of what I think a good designer
should _be_ and _do_. That is, they should be able to look at a project, any
project and come up with the best design _for that project_.

~~~
waxman
This applies to different types of design/designers.

If you're looking for graphic design, then find a designer whose graphic
design you love. If you're looking for a UI design, then find a UI designer
whose UI you love.

~~~
msutherl
Prior to the distinction between UI and UX, you had (and still have) all sorts
of graphic designers whose work fits into different ranges on the spectrum
between function and form.

Poster designers are concerned with catching the public's eye and delivering
the necessary information, but catching the public's eye is arguably more
important. Other designers exclusively do branding, which is all about 'look'
and hardly about 'function'.

In reply to the original point, I would say that, on one hand, how something
looks is _part of_ how it works, if you consider the entire user experience as
the _function_ of the product.

On the other hand, I think what you're saying is that you're reluctant to hire
designers who only do a particular style well. I agree that a good designer
should aspire to broaden their pallet, but I see no reason to condemn those
who for whatever reason are not capable of or interested in that.

For comparison, consider that some fine arts produce work in the same style
for their entire career (i.e. James Turrell) while others explore a broad
territory (i.e. Gerhard Richter).

~~~
tomelders
Branding is definitely about function, but the way branding functions is very
esoteric and generally intended to be subliminal. But when you're working on
branding, good designers work to a plan. They know what the client wants to
say and they say it. Bad designers (like those with a style) post rationalise
their work, and that's a dishonest and ineffective approach to design, in my
opinion of course.

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harlanlewis
I hate getting pedantic on subjects like these, but it's kind of important if
the subject is how to hire a designer.

The article doesn't at any point mention what kind of designer they're
attempting to hire. It seems they were looking for some combination of
graphic, brand, interface, and... probably a few others. I don't think they
were looking for a product or experience designer, but it's not entirely
clear.

Design is often a failed effort at organizations, especially those with broad
aspirations and significant size, because it must deliver collateral,
interactions, and experiences that are emotional, consistent, powerful,
scalable, and understandable while communicating brand.

This is hard, and made harder if you can't describe or define the design work
you need to execute across all its surfaces.

Hacker News comments & articles generally draw a single line between aesthetic
and interaction design, with a tenuous acknowledgement that uniting multiple
interactions in a consistent, comprehensible manner is a distinct discipline.

Companies will continue having difficulty hiring appropriate designers until
designers better define the work they do and value they add.

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crazygringo
Important: this is good advice for hiring a _graphic_ designer. After all,
that's one of the main reasons they have a portfolio.

But hiring a _UX designer_ is a completely different process, which needs to
show their deep, deep understanding of product, user stories, etc.

And too many companies think that graphic designers are UX designers too. It's
very rare to find designers that do both really well. And this article doesn't
even mention the distinction.

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ajaymehta
We just had a similarly great experience with redesigning FamilyLeaf's
homepage. We weren't sure exactly what we wanted except for the general style,
and we picked an awesome illustrator and let him run free.

Folyo (<http://folyo.me>) was also a great resource that helped us find our
designer Paddy (<http://lefft.com>).

~~~
vlad
Your site is really nice. You should link to it instead of Folyo.
<https://familyleaf.com/>

~~~
ajaymehta
Wow, thank you Vlad! Much appreciated.

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asianexpress
> Make sure you like the designer’s style so much that you would trust them to
> create a design for you without any input.

This concept extends beyond design -- you want anyone you work with to be
someone you trust to do their job.

~~~
patdryburgh
If a client ever approached me without having some sort of direction or plan
or strategy in mind, I would never work for them. I want clients who know what
they want, who I can partner with and provide appropriate guidance and input,
and who will fight me if and when I make a decision that doesn't align with
their goals (though, obviously I do my research and work to avoid such a
situation).

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huhtenberg
> _We just rebranded and redesigned the entire Grouper site in about 3 weeks._

Read this ^ , clicked the link and didn't really like the site. It's just...
boring, from the palette to the layout, to @font-face of choice looking clumsy
on Windows, to the logo, to the illustration and icons style. I don't mean to
sound like an ass, but that's not a design that grabs attention and prompts to
stay and explore. Perhaps it's an improvement over what they had originally,
but that's not very good either.

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Smudge
I once hired a designer to put together the cover art for a CD, based on the
fact that he was nearby, affordable, and had a limited but decent portfolio
online. (The project had a small budget, so we weren't shooting for the stars
or anything.)

Little did I know, his expertise was in building ambigrams, and we spent an
entire round of drafting + feedback moving away from an ambigram concept.
Everything worked out in the end, but the initial miscommunication was
probably our own fault. We hadn't done our research, and we probably weren't
the best of clients to begin with, as we had no idea what we really wanted and
thought we were safe leaving the direction up to him (with hardly any input on
our part).

So, ultimately, we trusted him more than we probably should have, given how
little we actually examined his style and areas of expertise.

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spiredigital
Great post. As a guy with almost no gift for design, I've struggled with how
to hire a designer and work with them effectively, and this help a lot.

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AtTheLast
Every designer has their style and if they are given free range to develop
something in that style then both parties win. The designer will be more
excited about the project and they will get the project done faster.

This is great advice for finding a designer. Dribble for a designer is like
viewing a developers code in github. You gain insight into what they can do
and what they like to do.

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activedecay
This is painfully obvious.

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ChrisNorstrom
So true. Maybe the same can be said of designers wondering if they should take
on a client? The pay might be good but if the style the client wants is
different from the designers style it might be a good idea to not take on the
client.

Since I work alone so often, I always assumed that other designers could do-
it-all and mesh with any style the client wants but after a few years I'm
starting to realize the opposite is true. Designers have their own unique
style that they replicate over and over. We have certain theming and placement
of elements that we stick with throughout numerous projects.

Perhaps showcasing our style is more important than showcasing clients in our
portfolio? (which I badly need to update)

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dsolomon
Provide clear requirements - No Provide realistic schedule - No. Provide
decent pay - No.

"Make sure you like the designer’s style so much that you would trust them to
create a design for you without any input."

Right, just make sure they be stylin' yo!

