Overcoming "Oh, I'll never be THAT good!"

ORIGINAL UGLY DESIGN!

NOT SO UGLY DESIGN (Which took a LOT of trial and error to get to)

I think it's pretty safe to say we've all had a moment in our lives where we've looked at something and said "wow...I'll never be THAT good". I thought this at practically every moment I saw an awesome graphic and it sucked.

That extremely ugly design up top was one of my first ever design work ideas, yep, it was THAT bad. I have no idea how I even thought that may work but lucky for me, I quickly decided that "shit, this is damn ugly". That's always the first step;

Teaching yourself what works and what doesn't, this doesn't just apply to design but all mediums. Look at other peoples work and learn, have an opinion on their work too. I mean surely there are gonna be designs that you don't like, so why not improve on them? think of ways to improve and give back. This to me is called 'Moving forward'.


I'd also say, teach yourself. There really aren't any shortcuts... if you wanna be good, do the time and push yourself.

Pushing yourself is key, I often find with myself that stick to a comfort zone that will get me a decent result but nothing AMAZING. I make it my goal to have people say "woah" when they see my work, most times I fail at achieving this but it's what pushes me to learn that bit further.

Practice! Practice! Practice! I cannot stress this enough. Too many times I've heard people say they wanna do this and do that and how they'll never get to a certain level, well obviously you're not gonna get there if you sit on your arse playing Destiny all day.

Don't get let down when your work doesn't look like the work of Spielberg. Honestly, the amount of times I've completely dropped a project because it doesn't look good is uncountable. Even to this day I try to avoid doing it and still end up with the same habit. This often happens when I try push myself and fail. What I fail to realise in that state of stupidity is that I haven't failed, I've just found a way not to get to my goal. So you pick yourself up and try again, start again completely if that helps.

This is a strange one but I'd say take some time off when you can, gather some inspiration... this is what is gonna separate you from other designers, the more you can create using your imagination and inspiration the more unique you become. Seriously the amount of times I've come up with stuff that no one else has done while i've taken time off is crazy. The more you see, the more you can put into your imagination for later. THERE IS AN IDEA IN EVERYTHING YOU SEE.

Even still, I don't see myself as a great motion designer but I feel like I'm learning and am indeed improving. Don't be too hard on yourself either, I mean no one can run before they can walk except maybe Bruce Lee but y'know what I mean. It sounds corny as hell but you seriously can achieve greatness just by putting in the work and effort.

Alright guys,
Stay Inspired, Stay Caffeinated.
Adeel