020. Tips on Becoming a Junior Designer with Luke (Interview)

We spoke to Luke about his tips on becoming a Junior Designer.

Becoming a Junior Designer

What advice would you give young designers trying to get into the industry?

I would advise young designers to try to be as active as possible in making a gateway happen, as the worst approach is to be passive or to wait for an opportunity to find you. To get into the industry you have to get noticed by people within it, whether it be designing concept work which displays your strengths and talents and sharing it across various platforms or approaching potential clients to work for little money or for free, building a portfolio of work is the only way people can give you a chance. Aside from applying for jobs, you should network as much as possible also. The more people that know about you and your talents, the more chance there is of an opportunity arising through someone you know. In a competitive industry, word of mouth is a tool that can get you ahead.

What can a designer expect when coming into the industry as a junior designer?

Coming into a new role as a junior designer, you can expect to be surprised how much there is to learn as there are lessons that come with being a professional designer in an agency which you wouldn’t have encountered in any previous experience – e.g University, small freelance work. A junior should expect to adapt their styles by ditching some previous approaches to their design work in favour of new approaches which can be learnt from more experienced designers in order to grow and improve, while still maintaining their key design strengths which make them unique.

What design trends are you predicting for 2019?

The main trend which looks likely for 2019 is more minimalism and simplification of branding. For example, many high-end brands are rebranding their vintage, classy and decorative logos for minimalistic and strong stand-alone typography in order to look more contemporary and slick. Typical high-contrast serif fonts which have previously been used for high-end branding are on their way out for something more simple but with more personality. Trends within this area often translate into other sectors such as fashion brands and consumer markets so this is likely to be a trend.

We all know designing logos can be difficult, what’s your top tip?

My approach to logos is to always rationalise and strategise a logo based on the project, but at the same time to get down onto a piece of paper or document every idea that pops into your head. Most will seem like they are a bit rubbish and far from a possible avenue but the process of continuously flushing out ideas and toying with them can often reveal an idea that you seemingly couldn’t have come up with without the process. Just keep playing around with every possible way you can communicate a brand or project through its logo. Often, a well thought out and visualised logo without any prior experimentation can look underwhelming once realised, though the process described can reveal something better.

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