Every pro designer needs a Soft Skills

To be a great designer, you need to be creative. But did you know that along with the slew of technical design skills you might already possess. you need something called ‘soft skills’?

They’re a thing! And just like knowing your way around Photoshop, they’re critical to your success.

Soft skills are more like your personal attributes and interpersonal skills. Beyond your raw talent, they’re the aspects of your personality that make people want to work with you.

The good news is that these skills are mostly already ingrained. Even if you’re a new designer, you can harness soft skills from your past life experiences and roles. Others might not come as naturally, but they can—and should—be worked on if you want to develop both professionally and personally.

1: Communicate efficiently and effectively

Design is fundamentally a form of communication—whether it’s communicating ideas through text and visuals, or solving complex problems with colors, shapes and forms.

But good design doesn’t stop at the deliverable itself. Running a freelance design business requires effective communication from start to finish, and often includes dealing with many different opinionated stakeholders. So how do the most successful designers stay cool and communicative?

It starts long before the project begins, with making sure you have a thorough understanding of the brief and your client’s needs. Know exactly what you’re delivering and when, by creating a scope document that outlines feedback milestones, due dates and any other specifications.

At the same time, you should clearly communicate your own terms and requirements. These could be anything from your regular working hours, your preferred feedback collection method, or the best ways for your client to reach you. By setting the tone and expectations up front, you’ll make it easier to troubleshoot any issues later. And, you’ll look professional. Win–win.

2: Be an amazing collaborator

We’ve all been there: difficult clients whose phone calls we dread, revision requests that appear from thin air, stakeholders coming out of the woodwork at the very last minute, and team members who don’t deliver on what they promise. However irritating other people are being, though, you want to make sure that you’re consistently professional.

There are the givens, like delivering on-brief and on time. But don’t slack on treating people with respect. Remember that collaborating across time zones and via screens is no easy feat. It takes patience, understanding and ultimately experience. And most of the time, everyone is just trying to do their best.

3: Harness your confidence responsibly

Confidence is an incredibly important soft skill for your development as a designer.

It means, above all, knowing your worth so that you can charge the prices you deserve. When unreasonable requests roll in, it’s confidence that gives you the strength to push back.

Finally, confidence enables you to push yourself out of your comfort zone and experiment within reason.

You’re being paid not just to do as you’re told, but to bring your experience and expertise to the table—so do it.

4: Give and receive valuable feedback

It can be painful when someone criticizes work you’ve spent hours on and believe passionately in—but it doesn’t always have to be. You can train yourself to welcome constructive feedback by simply shifting your thinking, and remembering that every critique is an opportunity to grow and learn.

It’s not enough to be good at absorbing feedback—you need to be comfortable with giving it, too. How about getting a group together to review design trends and ideas, outside the context of a paid project? It’s a great, low-stakes way to practice giving and receiving valuable feedback. And, it allows you to ease into discussions you might otherwise avoid, improve your design vocabulary, and build a network you trust.

At the end of the day, many of our anxieties stem from the idea that critique is either ”bad” or “good”. Don’t let this twisted thinking hold you back. Instead, remind yourself that critique is essential to making your work and future projects even better.

5: Stay curious and humble

Even the most experienced designers never stop learning. Things change, trends evolve and every project presents a different set of challenges. So go with the flow. Only when you put your ego aside can you truly open your eyes and mind to unexpected perspectives and possibilities. You never know where you’ll end up when you do.

The most important skill everyone should strive to master is to learn how to learn. No one person has all the answers in an industry that changes every day, so the ability to efficiently seek out resources, information, and solutions is vital to advancing your knowledge.”

Stay on top of the latest design trends and techniques by signing up to newsletters, reading relevant articles and maybe finding a podcast or two to listen to. If something really speaks to you, lean in. And ask questions!

It’s simple. Be open to others’ opinions and stay curious—that way, you’ll stay on your toes in an evolving industry and have fun along the way.

6: Practice resilience

Running a freelance design business is hard work. Even when you feel like you’ve reached a certain level, new challenges can spring up from seemingly nowhere. But it’s the small moments—the freedom to create and an ecstatic client at the end of the day—that make the journey worthwhile.

I think the most important skill in working with clients is patience! It pays off in the long run.

Successful freelancers acknowledge the inevitable hardships and choose to focus on the bigger picture, rather than getting beat down by each perceived setback.

How well do you bounce back from a failed design?

A crushing, and perhaps mean critique of the work? How do you handle long nights, with little to no sleep to meet a deadline? What about difficulty with tools or technology, or even vendors?

Resiliency enables you to persevere, and now as a design educator, I find myself constantly reminding students of how valuable this is.”

This may just be the most critical soft skill of them all. So take a deep breath, lean on your support systems, and keep your head up. We’ll be right here cheering you on.

How many of these soft skills do you feel confident about? Where do you see an opportunity to grow?

Reflect on what’s missing from your soft skill toolbox and seek out ways to practice so that you can become a stronger and more successful designer.