24 Sep How to become a successful designer

What is success?

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I received these wise words from Dimitri (Jim) Antonopoulos, Managing Director at Tank in Sydney, via his weekly journal of creative leadership. Each week, he finds/makes/materialises the time to write an email to his mailing list of creative people around the world. Somehow, every week, he taps into the collective consciousness and knows exactly what I need to hear on that day.

How does he know what I’m pondering? Is it because we’re around the same age? Life-stage? Is there a collective consciousness among designers that we can all tap into? Or is he just brave enough to say what’s on his mind, knowing that we’re all simply human and all probably thinking the same things in an endless loop in our heads?

There’s a power in trusting your instincts and being brave, It’s something I’ve learned to lean into more as I’ve grown but still forget to practise daily. Our instincts often speak louder than logic when we’re paying attention but more often than not we go with what’s logical. We don’t say what we think. We hold our tongue. I imagine there’s a kind of flow that begins to happen if you give yourself over to them – as if you’re tapping into something deeper, something primal that cuts through all the noise and uncertainty.

Then the logic in me tells me right now that way danger lies! Always second guessing.

Is it intuition or simply experience that gives us the confidence? Whatever it is, I think the biggest moments of growth in my life have come from when I stopped overthinking and started acting independently and trusting myself.

There’ will always be doubt.

I have doubts about the direction the design industry has taken, about the values that get rewarded, and whether any of this aligns with what truly matters.

Agencies, these days, seem more focused on chasing awards and recognition rather than building genuine relationships. There’s this tug of war between wanting to market yourself and just wanting to do the work that feels authentic.

But in a world where clients expect polished portfolios full of shiny accolades, it’s easy to lose sight of why we got into this industry in the first place. Design is supposed to solve problems, to communicate, to connect people, and, ultimately, to improve lives. So when the focus shifts too far toward self-promotion, it makes you wonder: what are we really in this for?

Social media is full of clips of designers overacting and showing you a neat trick in illustrator. In a way they are still making stuff – so thats admirable. But is the stuff they are making more interesting than the craft? than solving real, worthwhile, problems?

At the end of the day, what matters most is not the accolades we collect but the impact we leave behind.

We’re all trying to make our mark, but the real success, as Jim reminds us, is not in achieving career accolades, but in the small, quiet victories. It’s in the relationships we build, the lives we touch, and the moments when we use our craft to make the world a little better, even if just for one person. And maybe that’s the key—trusting that by staying true to our passion, by focusing on doing good work, the rest will fall into place.