The Top DESK Articles of 2018
Published
Yes, another roundup article for you to read this year. I love these not because they highlight our best work, but because they tell us what you most enjoy reading so we can write more of it in the coming year. And apparently, we should write a lot more about portfolios.
With this blog I aim to challenge and inspire the creative community. But looking back on the past year, I'm happy to see that DESK is also used as a resource.
I care a lot about helping designers do and share their work in the best possible way. It’s the foundation of my business. So as we tallied up our top articles and saw nearly 100% of them are about portfolios and growing as a designer, we made a note of it.
I love writing about everything from psychology to productivity and will continue to do so, but in 2019 we’re putting renewed energy toward the theme many of us have in common: design.
1. The Truth About Design Titles
The writing I personally enjoy most is the kind that makes me smile or laugh. So I’m happy to see this article hold strong at #1 this year. It’s a silly little piece I wrote poking fun at the very serious design titles we give ourselves. Glad to see we can all still laugh at ourselves.
2. How to Write Portfolio Case Studies
Semplice, my portfolio system for designers, is built around creating beautiful project pages to showcase your work. In this article I shared some tips on how to write project case studies that people actually want to read.
3. How to Make a UX Design Portfolio
Truthfully, most UX design portfolios I see make me tired. UX designers can’t just lean on beautiful images for their portfolio. They have to tell a story. And it’s a story that involves a lot of thinking, planning and small details. With the popularity of UX design right now, it’s even more important to stand out with your portfolio. This article explains how to do so without making your reader fall asleep on their keyboard.
4. Design in China ?? featuring A Black Cover Design
Fun fact: Readers from China make up 15% of our audience, second on the list after the United States. But it wasn’t only our Chinese readers who appreciated this interview with A Black Cover Design studio. That’s why we love our Design Around the World series. It’s opening the door between design communities and connecting us to creatives outside our own little bubble.
This interview with ABCD is one of my favorites in the series. Guang Yu and Nod Young didn’t hesitate to say what they think and we learned a lot from their candid answers. Plus, ABCD’s work is just fantastic.
5. How to Quickly Refresh Your Design Portfolio
Updating your portfolio doesn’t have to be this big, daunting task you always push to the bottom of your to-do list. Especially if you’re using Semplice, you can do these small things to keep your portfolio fresh whenever you have a few free minutes.
6. How to Get a Job at KISKA
This is one of the most unusual interviews in our How to Get a Job at X series, so I was surprised to see it at the top of the list. In contrast to the standard design studio or tech company, KISKA designs products like motorcycles, sporting goods and prosthetics. Their work is beautiful and their team is incredibly talented – I know I’d want to work there.
7. Should I Follow Design Trends?
We published this one at the beginning of the year in response to people asking me to predict design trends for 2018. I feel the same way about trends now as I did then. Read to find out.
8. How to Get a Job at InVision
No surprise here. InVision has been one of the top tools in our industry, and the InVision team is small and fully remote. Sounds like a pretty ideal gig to me.
9. How to Build a Design Portfolio as a Student
Making a portfolio when you’re young or new in your career can be difficult. You don’t have much work to show yet, but you need a solid portfolio to get the work in the first place. Here we share a few tips for building up your design portfolio and setting yourself up for success from the start.
10. How to Make a Portfolio When Your Work Can’t Be Shared
I hear from designers now and then who say it’s impossible for them to create a portfolio, since most of their work is under an NDA, hasn’t launched yet or doesn’t work well in the typical visual format. I agree it’s difficult to make a portfolio in this case, but it’s still possible. In this article, I collected a few tips and examples from designers who made it work.
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Here’s to another year of challenging ourselves and helping each other do better. And for me, more writing. If you’d like me to write about a specific topic, please do send me a tweet about it.
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