This year is my one-year anniversary at Pulse Marketing and what a year it’s been.

Being my first full-time graphic design job out of college, I never thought I would have learned and grown this much already.

Here are 3 things I wish I would have known a year ago, when starting this journey.

Don’t be afraid to be creative

I know this sounds like a funny tip, since I am a graphic designer, but above all, I am a total rule-following nerd. I love rules and sometimes, brand guidelines become a cage I struggle to get out of. Toward the end of this year, I began challenging myself to have more fun and to break free from that cage, while also keeping my designs well branded. This has been a process for me, but I believe I am finally naturally having more fun and exploring new ways to be creative.

Ask for feedback

Another nerdy thing about me is that I really do like getting feedback, as long as it’s put nicely. I always want to know how I can improve my designs or even myself. I know when I ask for feedback, it is coming from other unique perspectives. I personally place high value on this because everyone comes from different backgrounds and has wisdom from individual life histories.

I have always had this view, but when I started at Pulse, I was a little more nervous to ask for feedback from those with more experience. I knew they had quality wisdom to share, but I was afraid of looking like I didn’t know what I was doing. I had gone to school for graphic design, but had no real-life experience in the field yet.

What later clicked is that everyone is still learning and one thing I love about Pulse, is how willing everyone is to help each other grow. No one was judging me. This gave me confidence to start more openly asking for design feedback.

Become a life-long learner

To me, this is the most important thing that I wish I knew a year ago. Before graduating college, you have spent the last 21 years (if not more) of your life studying and learning. When I graduated, I was so excited to not be in school anymore and to just focus on designing, but no one told me how strange it would feel to not be a student anymore.

This caused me to change my perspective on post-grad life. I now look at every design project as a learning opportunity and I am more motivated to learn and grow in my own time as well. The difference now is that I get to study things I am passionate about. For example, I recently finished a HubSpot social media certification course and passed the exam at the end. Passing that exam gave me a sense of accomplishment I forgot about and craved. Now, I want to devote time to learning another language.

In summary, don’t be afraid to be creative, ask for feedback, and become a life-long learner. These are the top 3 things I wish I knew a year ago. Your top 3 may be completely different, but I challenge you to look back and evaluate where you have grown and what you wish you knew. I also challenge you to look at my top 3 and ask yourself if they are relevant to you and how you can apply them in your life.

Written for Pulse Marketing December 2018

This is a consistent question I have been asked and have asked myself. In pursuing a career in this field, there is no right or wrong answer, only opinions. My opinion is that the 4-year degree is well worth the time and money. I can see why people disagree because I have personally struggled to come up with my own opinion.

Here are my answers to some questions I have been asked and have asked:

Why should I pay to take general eds when they are completely irrelevant to my end goal?

General eds may feel pointless, and for the most part are, but you take away so much more from them than expected.

Communications classes help you to better argue your point and to speak in a more educated way.

Math classes teach you how to problem solve and how to be solution driven.

I actually thought my English classes were the most irrelevant. I already know how to read and write, so why did I have to keep taking those classes?

I’ve never been one to read for fun and I never thought I would be writing again after college. Just designing. Ironically though, here I am writing my monthly Pulse Marketing blog post.

Sometimes, I even get to write a little bit of content or proof-read. I also read a lot of design related articles for inspiration, to stay up-to-date on trends, and surprisingly, to keep learning.

Therefore, you may be surprised with what non-design skills you acquire in college and keep.

Why should I study design at a university when there are so many online tutorials?

Going to college for design, you are learning from people who have years of both, life and design experience under their belts. These are the people you want to be learning from.

You are also practicing your skills in a safe, non-consequential space. You are learning theory and proper practices, but also given the space to be creative and to break design rules.

College is where many foundational skills are set. It’s where you can really learn what you like and don’t like, but you still have to practice what you don’t like.

At a university, you are made into a more well-rounded and properly equipped designer.

College is a lot of time and money, when many companies value experience over education. Shouldn’t I focus on gaining experience, networking, and learning as I go for as cheap as possible?

While attending college, you are given many opportunities to gain experiences outside of classes and to network.

By even just attending your specific university, you are accumulating connections through alumni.

And yes, most companies seem to value experience over education, but I still believe college is important for the previous reasons listed.

Again, it will set you up to be a more valuable employee for the company willing to take a shot on you.

I have a college degree now, why am I getting paid the same amount as someone who didn’t go to college?

This field is interesting because no one seems to want to hire you unless you have experience, but how do you gain experience if no one will give it to you?

If you can find a company willing to give you a chance when you have less experience, take the opportunity and run with it for a while.

It might not be a high paying job yet, but you are gaining that experience necessary to get that high paying job later.

Take advantage of your time at this company and continue to learn and grow. Think of it kind of like a master’s program.

You go to college and learn the basics and more from experienced and successful professors in your field. Then you go into the field and gain some real-world experience, which is what will make you the most valuable employee later.

The first couple years of post-college experience is important in building your foundation as a graphic designer. You learn a lot of things that you can’t quite learn in a classroom setting.

So, don’t be discouraged.

Accept that this is just a season and as you continue to learn and grow, you will get those higher paying jobs and raises.

College sets you up to be a hard-worker, graceful under pressure, and goal-oriented.

These are attributes that will make you successful.

Written for Pulse Marketing