How I ended up in design
I didn’t start out going to college for design. I didn’t know that was my path. I grew up a creative in a small town in Kentucky and didn’t know how that creativity would translate into an adult career. I wasn’t only a painter, I was a crafter. I would figure out how to make what I wanted with the materials I had. I would make functional shoes out of duct tape, or a pilgrim costume out of a few sheets of paper and some twine. I would put on magic shows and construct the behind-the-scenes props to enhance the illusions.
I went to college for Fine Arts and an emphasis in painting. In my sophomore year, I made a last minute decision to study abroad in Germany for a semester. That semester changed my outlook on everything.
Before that trip, I was on a very formal artistic path that involved grants and fellowships and academia. After that trip I immediately signed up for my first graphic design class. You see, although I was attracted to the aspect of sitting and admiring paintings in museums and learning about ancient European architecture, the things I was taking the most photos of were the street signs and the differences in way finding in Europe compared to the USA. I was fascinated by cultural differences because I hadn’t really experienced them before growing up in Kentucky. I was flabbergasted by the efficiency of the train systems, the simplicity of the walkways and the new way of life I had for 8 months. I soaked it up and brought the energy back with me to the states.
Once I started Graphic Design classes, I know I was in the right space. I learned the foundations of design and graduated with a Bachelors Fine Arts Degree in Graphic Design.
But how does that translate to product design? It’s true, I was mostly a print designer back then. I studied printmaking, not wireframing. I studied file prep, not prototyping. And research was the farthest from my mind.
After a few different internships I transitioned into web design roles because those were the ones that were available at the time. I landed my first UX role at an unstable start-up, but there I learned the ins and outs of user research, journey mapping and web strategy.
After that ended, I was forever changed. Even flipping back to print for a short stint couldn’t change my trajectory. I ended up in a contract role at Motorola Mobility as a visual experience designer for Motorola.com and I delved into web production design that quickly changed into UX and way finding design within the navigation of the site itself. I was so proud of the work I did at Motorola. I really got hooked on wanting to ‘make a difference in the world through design.’ That’s what I got to do there.
From there the rest was history. I had various titles, some specialized in mobile or visual design, but I learned the research and UK parts along the way which led me into a more general Product Design future.
My advice for those wanting to get into product design? Know that the path isn’t always linear. Listen to your gut and get down to the core aspects of design that you enjoy and are good at. This career can be very lucrative, but you must have skin in the game and approach it with an analytical mind and a whole lotta heart.