Philip VanDusen - 7 Things They Don't Teach You in Design School

10/25/21 • 34 min

Do you think your design degree prepared you enough to survive in this creative economy? Can you confidently say that you have all the tools and knowledge you need to thrive as a creative professional?

In this episode, I talk about 7 things they don’t (but really should!) teach you in design school.

1. Time Management
● They don’t teach how to manage your time working, being accountable to a schedule, and how to have good work/life balance.
● My advice: Use time management apps to organize your day and work on your schedule because if it doesn’t get scheduled, it doesn’t get done.

2. Financial Stuff
● There are no lessons on how to do pricing so you’re profitable, how to manage your finances, or even maintain a budget for your operational expenses.
● My advice: Do budget projections so you know what targets need to be hit and maximize available tools to get your finances organized.

3. How to Get a Job
● It’s frustrating how they don’t cover interview skills, types of design jobs out there, and the nuances between different creative professions.
● My advice: Work on your communication and presentation skills because your work will not speak for itself.

4. How to Market and Position Yourself
● Students aren’t taught how to sell themselves internally for a job promotion or externally in order to be equipped to build their own agency.
● My advice: Zero in on your strengths and come up with solid positioning that makes you marketable on social media for future roles and projects.

5. Navigating Corporate and Agency Life
● There are important soft skills like negotiating and navigating office politics that aren’t covered at all which leave students unable to figure out the best moves to advance their career.
● My advice: Position yourself in a way that you’re always ripe for growth and learn how to manage up so you communicate with superiors as effectively as you communicate with junior colleagues.

6. How to Find Clients
● This is the #1 question I get asked and also the area where I think design schools have failed their students the most.
● My advice: Follow the examples of more seasoned creative professionals who share their process online, look up business development practices, and learn how to leverage your networks for referrals.

7. How to Build Partnerships or Networks
● There are no lessons on the importance of building strong partnerships and networks when these are a goldmine for clients and projects.
● My advice: Build partnerships and networks everywhere, even outside the design department because networks turn into referrals and that’s exactly how you’ll land your next client.

It doesn’t matter if you just graduated or you’ve been out of school for a while. These are stuff they don’t teach and stuff you’re not prepared for but really need to know to survive in this creative economy. So it’s incumbent upon you to achieve a level of knowledge on these non-negotiable skills.

Mentioned in this episode:
My Brand Design Masters Facebook group: https://web.facebook.com/groups/branddesignmasters
My Brand Design Masters Guild: www.philipvandusen.com/mastermind
Basecamp Project Management: https://basecamp.com/
Calendly Scheduling Software: https://calendly.com/
Freshbooks Accounting Software: https://www.freshbooks.com/
Google Calendar: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/r
Hubspot CRM Platform: https://www.hubspot.com/
LegalZoom: https://www.legalzoom.com/
Linkedin learning: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/
Quickbooks Accounting Software: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/
Skillshare Online Learning Platform: https://www.skillshare.com/
Toggl Time Tracker: https://toggl.com/track/
Trello Project Management: https://trello.com/
Zero Financial Management App: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/zero/id1147308193

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode of the podcast, head on over to the following links for more of my work and some valuable resources to get you started on your own branding initiatives. Until the next episode!

VISIT MY WEBSITE:http://www.philipvandusen.com

JOIN THE BRAND•MUSE NEWSLETTER:

In this episode, I talk about 7 things they don’t (but really should!) teach you in design school.

VISIT MY WEBSITE:http://www.philipvandusen.com

JOIN THE BRAND•MUSE NEWSLETTER:

Previous Episode

Christine Mau - Designing a Career in Design Thinking

Design and strategy are not mutually exclusive. In fact, strategy should be fuelling and influencing design. This is what Christine Mau outlines in her strong portfolio as Senior Director of Global Design at Kimberly Clark where she handled projects for Kleenex, Huggies, and Kotex. She currently sits as Vice President of Brand Strategy at Medline Healthcare Solutions.

We discuss:
● Her career trajectory and how she went from running a small illustration company to being tapped to work for Kimberly Clark
● The growth she experienced within Kimberly Clark handling everything from packaging work to branding that led to forecasting, creating campaigns, design thinking, and innovation
● How she followed her curiosity to grow through the many roles she took on
● Three things she looks for in a career
● The success of her Kotex black packaging campaign
● Her pivot from a design branding focus to healthcare and strategy
● What Medline is and how she brought her wealth of expertise to help them zoom out from their products to zero in on their customers’ pain points
● Her advice of taking every opportunity to give value despite not having the title yet
● Not being boxed by labels and allowing your other skills to open doors you never thought to knock on in the first place
● Her definition of design thinking, why rapid prototyping is effective, and what it means to “test to learn” VS “test to validate”
● Her experience of being asked if a Designer can be a Strategist
● Her venn diagram of parts that make up good design in her standards
● Challenges she faced in her career, needing nudges to assert herself at the start, and building confidence
● The importance of surrounding yourself with a community where you build a network of learning and knowledge exchange
● How she stays inspired by traveling and trying new things
● Her personal manifesto on always doing your best and asking yourself where you want to be in five years

Mentioned in this epsiode:
Michele Ronsen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michele-ronsen-0a55233

To connect with Christine, head on over to her channels:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinemau
Website: https://www.christinemau.com/

VISIT MY WEBSITE:
http://www.philipvandusen.com

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____________________________

The Brand Design Masters Podcast is targeted to entrepreneurs, designers, creative professionals and anyone interested in brand strategy, business planning, graphic design, personal branding, trends and marketing.

Philip VanDusen is the owner of Verhaal Brand Design, a brand strategy and design agency based in New Jersey. Philip is a highly accomplished creative executive and expert in brand strategy, graphic design, marketing and creative management. Philip provides design, branding, marketing, career and business advice to creative professionals, entrepreneurs and companies on how to build successful brands for themselves and for the clients and customers they serve.

Next Episode

Jozelle Tech - Rolling Into Success as a Creative Entrepreneur

Joining me in this episode is Jozelle Tech, CEO of The Rolling Media, with her inspiring life story of how her disability motivated her to rise up and roll into the world of brand strategy and creative entrepreneurship.

We talk about:
● Dedicating a decade of her life working remotely from Manila
● Hitting rock bottom and getting up back on her feet for the reset chapter of her life
● Gaining the courage to show up to the world by joining conferences and communities and realizing she’s not alone in the freelancing world
● How in a short span of 5 years, she went from being at square one to building an her company that handles branding, design, strategy content marketing, and more
● The story of how we first connected and how I became her mentor-client
● Why persistence and dedication are vital in learning more than what you’re good at
● How she built The Rolling Media, what it represents, and a little bit about her squad
● The importance of letting go of control in unlocking a level of growth in business
● How she lands clients and continually works for them
● Her mantra that keeps her driven to go on despite any challenges in life.

To connect with Jozelle, head on over to her channels:
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jozelletech
The Rolling Media Website: www.therollingmedia.com
Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode of the podcast, head on over to the following links for more of my work and some valuable resources to get you started on your own branding initiatives. Until the next episode!