These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Five Things I’m Grateful for as a Designer

Halloween is over, Chicago has had its first snow, and my soon-to-be 5-year-old is following me around reciting his hopes and dreams for his birthday AND Christmas. (Pour one out for your friends who have kids born in December). Through the chaos of holiday stress, wrapping up client work before the end of the year, and *gestures broadly* the world, I wanted to take some time and tell you about five things I’m grateful for as a designer.

1. ADOBE SHORTCUTS

Oh, shortcuts, what can I say? I love them. Not only do I look super cool creating beautiful designs with just a few strokes of my keyboard, I’m also increasing my productivity. Keyboard shortcuts help me work faster and more efficiently. Plus, the less I have to move my wrists, switching back and forth between my keyboard and mouse, the less my carpal tunnel flares. (See our blog about pain for more information on that).

A few of my favorite shortcuts in Illustrator include:

• Y: equips the wand tool for quick selection of colors and objects
• Cmd + Shift + P: allows you to import an image
• Spacebar: Quick hand tool, lets you roam about your workspace quickly
• Shoutout to my custom keyboard command
  5: Opens the smooth tool to smooth out my lines

2. OPEN-MINDED CLIENTS

Now this isn’t a dig at anyone, but I am SO grateful for clients that let us play outside the box for a project. Rest assured, we will always deliver a product that works towards your vision and goals. You want a simple chart that lists out information? Great, but what about a beautifully illustrated infographic? You need a graphic to promote your next line of products? No problem, but have you considered a 3-part comic that takes inspiration from Nordic folktales posted to your social accounts weekly?

We’re a creative agency, let us be creative!

3. PINTEREST

Shhhh I know, I KNOW. I can’t count how many times I’ve worked with someone who started the convo with “So I saw this on Pinterest…”. I swear I can hear the eye twitch of a thousand designers.

Pinterest, however, is a much more productive place to doom scroll than, say, Instagram. At least I’m feeding my brain with cool projects, art, and recipes I’ll most likely never make. Although purists don’t like to admit it, Pinterest is a fountain of inspiration, and there’s nothing wrong with looking to it when your brain is drawing a blank.

4. YOUTUBE TUTORIALS

I’m grateful to live in the age of information. Before, the only way to learn how to do something in a design program was through trial and error or through a college course that set you back thousands. Now, learning the latest design technique is as easy as typing “How do I…” into YouTube and voila, tutorials to choose from!

Knowledge is power, and it’s never been easier to access.

5. MY CREATIVE TEAM

Ok so they aren’t MY creative team, but I am incredibly grateful to be part of a team of creatives who are reliable, funny, and incredibly talented. My career before BatesMeron was that of a solo designer, so being able to lean on others has been wonderful.

Let’s get cheesy:

1. Thank you to my fellow designers for your support and our shared brain cell
2. Thank you, dear copywriter, for your wit, your skill with prose, and for making me sound much more polished than I am
3. Thank you, account managers, for guiding us through client requests and pushing us to get the best product possible
4. Thank you to BatesMeron for bringing me into this team

And finally, thank YOU, the reader, for enabling us to continue creating and crafting.

If you’re looking to refresh your brand, update your messaging, or bring some extra sparkle to your next endeavor, be sure to call us for all your branding and marketing needs.