5 Tips to Improve Your Work as a Graphic Designer

As a graphic designer, three things are pretty darn important when it comes to your work: efficiency, quality, and creativity. Yeah, yeah, you've had that pounded into your head since Graphic Design 101.

But when you're working on 15 different projects at once, it's a juggling act to balance those three, with deadlines creeping up your neck and expectations from supervisors breathing down it. So what's a designer to do?

The answer: develop your own organizational system. There is no golden, tried-and-true, one-size-fits-all method of doing it—your unique personality will determine what works best for you.

Here are some handy tips that might help keep you from developing a stress tic:

1. Print or digital?

Back in the stone age, it used to be universal: you keep a pocket calendar for appointments, write reminders on Post-its, take notes on paper, send memos internally. Enter: computers. Now it's the norm to receive dozens of e-mails daily between co-workers, or to keep your calendar synced between desktop, tablet, and smartphone (though when you think about it, wouldn't carrying a pocket calendar take up less space than those three?).
Decide what helps you keep track of information best. Is it a spreadsheet? A notepad you keep next to you on your desk? Those tried and true Post-it notes? Maybe you like keeping physical to-do lists on your desk, but prefer keeping a digital calendar.

It's not important to be a purist and stick to one or the other. Develop your own "blend" that helps you work the most efficiently and stay informed.

2. Know your resources.

There are about 287301 sites out there that are dedicated solely to design resources. I'll save my favorites for a separate post in the near future.
Do you need inspiration? Free vector downloads? Tutorials? The internet has piles and piles of it all.
But don't get so enchanted with the web you forget about print (perhaps I'm a bit biased, being a print designer). There are dozens of high-quality books and design magazines that put the best of the best at your fingertips, literally. The One Show is a yearly compilation of the world's best advertisements, Design Index has color, layout, and idea books that are life-saving quick references (plus is comes in a nifty box). But I digress.

When you hit a design block, step over it with ease with your handy-dandy favorites. It'll save you time, and boost your creative eye.

3. Bookmark it, baby.

I loves me a good bookmark. Forget fancy programs or sites that store sites for reading later, I like seeing my favorites across the top of my browser smiling back at me.
Bookmarks definitely help with efficiency while you're working, but they also remind you of your resources (see #2). When you have an extra 10 minutes to spare, instead of twiddling your digital thumbs, get them browsing the latest news in graphic design software, or inspire your peepers with other designers' creativity. Hey, at least it's SFW.

4. Use folders.

Folders, both physical and digital, are your best friends when you're handling multiple projects. Keep both a digital file on your desktop (or your server, depending on your type of work) and a physical file easily within reach.
When you get an e-mail, print it out. I'm going to raise Cain by saying that, but I'll gladly defend my position on paper if need be. Just trust me—I'm a print designer. I work with paper. Paper companies are not evil.
But that's beside the point. Print out physical copies of whatever you're designing if you're sending proofs back and forth between project managers and/or clients. Label each printout with the date and version of that proof so minute changes don't slow you down when you're shuffling through the file.
Speaking of that...

5. Develop a file naming system (and keep it consistent!).

If you haven't already, start naming files on your computer consistently. If it's the first round of proofs on a project, save it with "p1" tacked on the end. When you make edits later, DON'T overwrite your first proof!! Do a new "Save As" with "p2" tacked on the end. I can't tell you how many times this has saved my butt—clients are notorious for flip-flopping, and if they decide to go back to an earlier version, you've got it at hand. It may take up more space on your computer initially, but when the project is complete, just save the final version and dispose of the earlier versions.

The same goes for editing photos—always keep the original photo and save a new version of the edited one. That way if something goes wrong with the new file (like the client loathing it), you can start over without sheepishly asking for a new copy of the image from the client.

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There you have it: 5 ways to improve your work as a graphic designer. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to comment below. I hope this helped!

♥