no. 1 Speak & Write Well

I know I harp on these skills sometimes, but speaking is the most sought-after skill in business. Don’t worry if you aren’t a proficient speaker or articulator of ideas, it takes practice and patience (I’m certainly not there myself yet either). Blogging is a surefire to help you build a reputation and will give you economic benefit in the long run. It also is a great way to help yourself develop by expanding your knowledge bank and can help sell yourself to clients with verifiable credentials.

no. 2 Dress Well

Our demeanour and the way we present ourself can be an asset. Subconsciously, everyone judges you by how you look. As shallow as that may sound, clients and employers want you to appear trustworthy – for many obvious reasons. Investing money into good clothing should never be a second-thought because we should take pride in ourselves and the work we provide. If we take care of our appearance, it translates into “I can take care of your business.”

no. 3 Save 20-30% of your income

This means before expenditures. It’s amazing how much money can acure over time by following this simple rule. Allocating this passive income into several different streams such as personal projects, investments such as real estate and stocks or back into society (however you feel appropriate) will help compound your money in less time than most people think.

Being a student, I understand how hard it is to save money when you aren’t making money. Debt is probably an unwelcoming reality for many college students (especially for you Americans), where tuition costs are through the roof. The average graduate leaves post-secondary with $25,000+ in student loans (read more here).

Eliminate unnecessary debt
School loans, car payments and mortgage payments are reasonable debt. This doesn’t mean to let these liabilities pile up. Live within your means and pay these expenses off efficiently. The real problem is unnecessary debts like personal/leisure expenditures. Sometimes cutting back in one aspect of your life can be enough.

Never pay the minimum on your debt payments
This is how banks win. Don’t let yourself get into the rat race of only paying the minimum. If you can, pay off all your debt monthly. This not only looks good on your credit score, but it will help you have more peace of mind knowing you don’t have a load of debt if business ever gets tough.

Educate yourself
The financial illiteracy among young people is startling. Don’t use the excuse no one ever told us. Educate yourself and prepare for your future. If you ever want to be a freelancer full-time, these financial skills are crucial to running a business by yourself.

no. 4 Spend 10% on personal development

These expenses will eventually pay for themselves many times over. As a web designer, we have to be flexible with the ever changing environment – and designers who have been in the industry for any length of time know this. Ask anyone who has ever been prosperous in their fields and they know that investing time and money into yourself proves to be one of the valuable contributions to their success.

no. 5 Find a Mentor

There is always someone better than you. This doesn’t mean that you can’t succeed, it means that these people represent a learning opportunity. Seeking someone who has been in the field awhile and has a job you would one day like to obtain is important. These mentors will be able to give you honest feedback, point you in the right direction with big decisions and hopefully put in the good word for you when looking for a job.

If you can, help others. This article by Sean Wes puts things into perspective about how if we “believe it or not, regardless of where we are, you are an inspiration to someone.”

My advice for anyone starting out fresh with responsive web design is to keep it simple! If you are patient with the learning curve of mastering responsive web design, you will be implementing many of these new techniques into your project workflow in no time.

Reading Material

1. A Beginner’s Guide to Responsive Web Design by Think Vitamin

This is a great article about the basics of responsive web design, what it is and how it is changing the future of web design. Learn about the basics of fluid grids, media queries and how responsive web design isn’t really a technology in itself, but rather a series of techniques and ideas that form a whole.

2. Responsive Web Design by Ethan Marcotte

The creator of responsive web design discusses the key ideas that form responsive design and how you can become more adaptable to the ever changing mediums that we need to design sites for.

3. How to Design a Mobile Responsive Website by UX Booth

A straight-forward article about the process of designing, planning and executing a responsive website. Goes in depth about researching, wire framing, style and development.

Putting it into Practice

1. Create a Responsive Web Design Template by One Extra Pixel

A simple tutorial on creating a responsive website from desktop down to mobile.

2. Responsive Web Design with HTML5 and the Less Framework by Site Point

A good tutorial using the Less framework (which you can download below) on how to use a responsive technique to create a simple website.

3. Responsive Design in 3 Steps by Web Designer Wall

Nick La breaks down responsive design into three easy steps that you can implement into your websites.

4. Create an Adaptable Website Layout with CSS3 Media Queries by Cats Who Code

A nice tutorial on how to use CSS3 to develop an adaptable layout. Gives you a demo and the ability to download all the source files for future reference.

Grids

1. 1140px CSS Grid System

A responsive framework that fits perfectly to a 1280 monitor and scales and adapts to others as they become smaller.

2. Less Framework

A framework that you can use with the tutorial posted above. It contains 4 layouts and 3 sets of typography presets on a single grid.

Free Responsive WordPress Themes

If you use WordPress as your main CMS, I highly recommend you download some of these free themes and play around with the code.

1. WordPress Theme with Responsive Layout: Yoko by Smashing Magazine

2. Responsive Twenty Ten

3. Origin Responsive WordPress Theme

Tools

1. Responsive Web Design Sketch Sheets

A great download for the sketching part of the creative process. These responsive sketch sheets makes it easier for you to envision how your website will appear on smaller resolutions.

2. A Better Photoshop Grid for Responsive Web Design

Elliott Jay Stocks suggests using a 1000px grid for responsive design because it makes for easier calculations for percentage-based widths.

Examples of Simple Responsive Web Designs

Design Woop

Eleventh Edition

Splendid

Web Design Yorkshire

Thrive Solo

Pelican Fly

Deutsche and Japaner

“Potential”. It’s something many people have told me already as a designer. “You’re so young, your work is so good for still being in college,” or “I love your style.” Although I appreciate these comments and am genuinly humbled when being compared to more established and seasoned designers, I can’t see it. To be honest, when I look at my work, I can’t even describe a “style” that might be associated with my work because I feel like when I’m designing, I should always be producing the best work – and I feel like I’m not delivering. Maybe it’s a female thing:

“I didn’t work on anything I was especially proud of, I didn’t write anything I feel really good about. I had plenty of treasured moments with my friends and family, but all in all, I’d been living without direction. I don’t want to anymore.” – Meagan Fisher

This quote by Meagan seems absurd to me because Meagan is one of my design idols. I adore everything she designs, writes and talks about. Maybe that’s just her perspective. Just like how I have my own perspective of my work. As designers, it’s a constant battle with our inner critic.

I see such young designers, some of whom I have the privelage of calling my friends, such as Tyler Galpin, Collin Henderson, Rachel Shillcock, Hillary Hopper and Iain MacDonald… people who are SO talented and seem to be so confident in their work for being so young. I feel like I still have so much to learn and that I’m not particularly excelling at anything.

Rachel recently tweeted an article by James Young titled You’re Not at the Cutting Edge, and That’s Fine. This article was a literal sigh of relief for me – to know that I was not the only one feeling overwhelmed.

“There’s a new framework or grid system released every week, some are useful and some aren’t. You don’t have to use them. Guess what, it’s still entirely possible to make a website with a text editor and your brain. These tools are here to potentially make your life easier but if you try and keep up with everything you’re going to feel swamped and lost.” – James Young

I don’t know how to do the latest and greatest in CSS, nor Illustrator. Heck, I’m still trying to find the best way to work in Photoshop. It’s a learning curve, yet it still proves to be continually frustrating trying to teach myself these skills when something bigger and better always keeps coming along.

Keeping up to pace with the design industry is a daunting task that proves to be time-consuming. I’ve lost relationships in my past, some people who I’ve greatly admired and connected with, because I have placed so much emphasis on my work. This is something that I’m not proud of and looking back, I feel like these relationships could of been salvaged. So, there comes a point where you have to ask yourself: “What do I want? For my career, I say I want to make and write and speak. But this leads me to ask: What do I really have to say? What can I make that’s actually meaningful?”

Expectations is a word that also scares me. I’m often frightened by what people think I should be doing, rather than what I feel is right. Expectations are placed on us from parents, friends, co-workers, significant others and more, and in the design industry it can be hard when people place expectations on you without really knowing who you are. I feel that since I have gained a bit of exposure through Twitter, people almost expect you to be “an expert” at what you do. In no way is this the case and at times it can prove to be overwhelming to live up to what others are expecting, whether that be in your design work or other aspects of your career.

Going deeper into finding out why designers such as myself feel this way is important. What is more important, is that these experiences, thoughts and emotions be published – vulnerable and in plain sight for everyone to see. Blogging helps establish our voice, strengthen our confidence and ultimately, helps us become better designers.

If you’re interested in what other people are writing about for the “Ideas of March,” you can follow the Twitter search #ideasofmarch.

We live in a society that promotes mediocrity – to play it safe. I see many of my fellow students do this everyday and it baffles me how content they are with just scrapping by and only doing the bare minimum. If we don’t take risks, how are we going to ever grow and develop as a better person and designer? People would rather wish failure upon others than to work hard for success.

One of my prof’s this semester, used the metaphor of how sand and diamonds are developed and how it can be applied to our personal development as humans. Sand is made from the break down of rocks by erosion such as water over long periods of time, whereas diamonds are formed from intense heat and pressure. Would you rather let external forces break you down and wither into sand? Or withstand the heat and pressure and develop into a diamond?

In a culture where being social and outgoing are prized above all else, it can be difficult, even shameful, to be an introvert. But, as Susan Cain argues in this passionate talk, introverts bring extraordinary talents and abilities to the world, and should be encouraged and celebrated.

“There’s zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas.”