Get your shot of creative espresso by checking out these amazing talks about design. Sometimes, it’s really easy to lose inspiration and drive. Between the deadlines and hectic schedules – sometimes we find ourselves wayward with our creativity, these design talks give some fundamental and some excellent advice that will get you further in the industry.
01. F*ck you! Pay Me by Mike Monteiro
We’ve featured this video over at YouTheEntrepreneur and have mentioned it in a few other posts, for a really good reason. speculative work and the general apprehensions that exist to pay artists are really prevalent problems in the design industry. Mike Monteiro addresses this problem and how to combat it. The insights are really delightful and useful for anyone regardless of what their standing is in the industry.
02. Saying No by Jason Santa Maria
Creative burn out happens. We’ve all reached that point in our career where, we start falling out of love with the thing we love to do. Jason talks about having the freedom of keeping clients. It’s difficult and Jason Sta Maria gives us some advice on the causes of burn out and how to fight it. This is stand out career advice that’s hard to come by and entirely worth watching.
03. The Shape of Design by Frank Chimero
I recommend Frank Chimero at least once a month (sorry, readers and frank – he’s totally one of those people who i-can-listen-to-talk forever and one of my idols) and when I’m feeling those blips of emptiness and inspiration – I usually turn to this video and remember why it is I design and how far I’ve come as a designer. The Shape of Design is one of those talks that eclipses not the HOW but the WHY of design and gets into the gooey bits and details of areas we often forget are important.
04. Love Your Work by Simon Sinek
Simon Sinek talks about fulfillment and what that means. Simon talks about the power of giving time and energy to other people and the karmic cycle of how that goes around. How giving thought, time and effort will get people to respond to you and how little actions and words can speak volumes. It’s also about how making other people happy can give you a certain gratification and contentment that nothing else can. Sometimes, as designers it’s really important to remember that we create things for other people as much as ourselves.
05. The Top 10 Things I Wish I Knew When I Graduated College by Debbie Millman
Debbie gives some great pointers about the design industry that really doesn’t get addressed in schools. A lot of design educations (unless you went somewhere with heavy focus on the foundations) tend to focus on the more technical aspects of the work and leave this blank canvas as to what happens when you actually get out of design school. This is an excellent watch for people who are both far in and in the start of their career.
06. Let’s Talk About Clients by Micheal Beirut
Michael Beirut talks about the best kinds of people to work with and how working with good people can inject a sort of passion to the project that’s genuine. It’s about how working for the right people will open the right doors because the design process is much more enjoyable when you’re both invested in the end result.
07. Three Pipe Problems by Jason Van Lue
Jason lets us remember that sometimes we have to remember to design for the end of the screen. Design is tangible, interactive and made for other people to experience. I’m one of those people who likes to yell quite loudly that anything designed must solve a problem, or at least must convey some idea and that idea must be communicated well. This is a talk about how design plays a role in other people’s lives and what makes that important.
08. Make Ugly Things by Mig Reyes
It’s a little contradictory to the video above but at the same time, it holds a message that really shouldn’t be neglected. Mig encourages originality and creativity that is sometimes lost within the defines of design. He memorably says, “I made this, and I was damn proud of this when I made this (…) and I didn’t want it to be beautiful; I just wanted it to exist.”
09. Death to Bullsh*t by Brad Frost
This is another super quick talk that I feel stresses an important point. We have to remember to create good things because people’s attention spans are declining and their tolerance for bullsh*t is going up. When you have a good product (like Sriracha) – you can go far if you remember to focus on creating something worth getting people’s attentions.
10. Why Design is Awesome by Chris Glass
This talk on design focuses on the heart of design. Chris talks about why ‘design isn’t about you. It’s about the user’ – and the magic of design and why it continues to matter. Chris talks about the importance of building things and creating. If you’re interested in more design inspiration, you can check out this article on timeless design advice. Please feel free to show us your work! Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment below.You can also hit us up on our Facebook, Twitter and Google+ profiles. Lastly, our RSS Feeds is open for subscription so that you can stay creative!