Boost Your Designer Skills: 8 Strategies to Cultivate Confidence!

Do you feel shy, and hesitant to draw to show your idea?
You may wonder how to build your confidence?

I am pretty excited to share with you something only a few know about...
It matters more than anything (even more than your sketching skills) to succeed:
Build your Self-Confidence.

Let’s cover this today in the 8 Tips to Become a Confident designer!
These tips are not just about mastering your sketching skills but also about fostering a mindset that will propel you towards success.

Are you ready to boost your designer’s skills? This article is for you!

8 Ways to Build Your Confidence as a Designer

With solid confidence, you’ll “beat” stronger designers than you.

“If you don’t believe it, you can’t achieve it.”
(It refers to the tortoise and the hare story)

We often hear about self-made success in the business world,
people who succeeded from scratch, and their sweat.

They are seen as heroes!
Standing ovation!
Clap clap clap!!

They succeed thanks to their sweat and effort!

However,
in the domain of art and creation – we think success is due to innate talent or magic power.

FALSE!
Success in sketching is about Passion and Dedication.

A great sketcher looks like a magician on the surface.

• He can draw stuff coming from nowhere other than his imagination.
  Yes. it really looks magic! And that’s actually amazing!
• But this is what scares beginners to start learning.
• They get intimidated and it paralyzes them from drawing.
• Remember, it’s just the tip of the iceberg.
• And whatever is below, is doable by anyone passionate. 

To help you unlock this toxic feeling, 
let me share with you 8 ways that will make you stronger
so you will achieve more drawings every day.

I’ll show you that you can keep pushing your limits yet be confident and happy! 

1. Learn from the beginning

At the start, we often try to copy others, and sometimes, what you draw looks good! That’s great!

• However, when you draw your own sketches, it suddenly looks like crap.
• So your confidence gets super low.
• You may fall into the trap of copying others – giving you the illusion of having skills. 

It’s a natural phenomenon for beginners that I went through myself when I started. Reproducing a drawing is so much easier than creating something new. As a designer, you can’t only copy existing things, but create your own.

All you need is to get started learning your fundamentals of perspective and seeing things in transparency. This is where you can start building your first volumes – then you will start to visualize and draw them from multiple angles!

• In a few words, to increase your confidence don’t burn the steps.
• Start from the basics, and soon you will draw your own creation!

If you are new to the blog, I invite you to download the Designer Starter Kit! 

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2. Level up your body posture!

As a designer, you will travel the world taking inspiration from new cultures but also visiting factories and suppliers. The outside world is full of discoveries!

However, you might spend most of your time sitting behind your desk drawing with your Wacom graphic tablet pen, markers, and paper.

• After a while, your session of drawing will bring you into a bubble of creativity – where there is “only you in the world”. You will be so absorbed that nothing can disturb you.
• Except for one thing: your body fatigue.
• A common mistake in drawing is to forget about your body posture.
• If you want to last long and be in good health, you got to draw with the right posture.

So your body won’t surrender before your brain’s creativity.

QUICK TIP: Feel free to take some quick break of stretching! Stand up, adjust your posture like you are chest up like Superman! And walk a few steps.

Haha it’s a pretty fun exercise to do!

Your confident posture will make you feel stronger!
You would be surprised how much your body posture can affect positvely (or negatively) your mindset. 

An other example:

Smile!

Smile, and your brain get a quick shoot of positivity. Mimic a sad face, and your mind will do so.
You can control your feelings from your face expression. (Discovery from Charles Darwin in 1872).

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3. Focus on One Thing

I realize that I can’t multitask.
I can’t have multiple projects in my mind that are farfetched from each other.

• If you want to succeed at something, focus on one thing only.
• This is how you get exponential growth. Create an obsession with it, and you’ll build a strong desire for progress.

In case you tend to give yourself a lot of projects, ask yourself if you are not actually procrastinating. Don’t fall in: “Ho I have so many projects, I am so busy that I can’t handle anything anymore!”.

Focus on one thing and start learning by making baby steps.

Soon, you will be able to walk, run and jump!
It’s a great feeling of progress you’ll get, and I can tell you it’s pretty addictive – soon your ascension will be exponential.

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4. Don’t worry, be happy!

You may think that to succeed you got to be serious and give hard work. Of course, it’s true!

• There is no magic wand!
• We got to sweat and make some sacrifices to excel in our passion.
• But it doesn’t have to be full of pain.
• You can work and study with pleasure and happiness.

To do so, you got to forget about your years of school of assessment.
Remember?  
Whenever you did wrong, you lost a point and it was a bad thing.

In the end, education is to me not about earning or losing points.
Some will be slower than others to grow, it doesn’t matter.

If you study with good method and passion, you will succeed anyway.

• Once again, your design journey won’t be like taking the bad path or the good path.
• It’s a single path with up and down. It’s like the rhythm of your heartbeat.
• As soon as you consider your down moment as a natural phenomenon, you’ll relax – and keep going with more confidence.

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5. Visualise your goals

If you fall into a boring routine and feel you are slowing down, it’s maybe because you have lost focus. To “fix” your motivation, there is nothing better than revisualising your goals to give you an instant boost!

• After a long period of procrastination, quickly review what you did during the past months.
• Sometimes, it’s pretty scary how time flies so fast, and you realize how much you can waste time in futilities.
• You realize that you are so far behind from your initial expectation.
• Get a good sense of timing, “shake” yourself when needed, and revive the dream you are pursuing. As your dream is the most important thing you need to take care of.

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6. Start a daily media diet

When I was a kid, I enjoyed watching cartoons, however, I was told that successful people should watch the news on TV. It would give me a good culture of the surrounding world.

But today, I disagree with it. I even decided to make a diet of information and filter them.

• We are every day bombarded by TV, and newspapers with bad news that affects our positivity. I consider them as interferences and noises.
• This is why I don’t have a TV at home. I don’t think that the selection of info given on TV is beneficial to my progress and positivity.
• I choose the sources where I get information – the day something huge is happening, I am pretty sure, one of my friends or relatives or else will inform me about it.
• I enjoy buying books, and always keep training to improve my skills. So I can spot and target specific points and also fix my weakness. I make sure to feed myself with info that I love and help me rise.

Some people (falling in the comfort zone) stop training or elevating themselves since they got a degree. To me, as a designer, it is a life long learning journey and discoveries. 

Loving what you do as a living gives you wings to reach higher mountains of success!
And gives you a meaning to wake up every morning happy! 🙂

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7. Take breaks

Take a break to relax your mind.

As well as during a training workout, you got to rest so muscle to let your body repair your muscle fibers and get stronger.

Stop sketching once in a while to let your brain fix the information you’ve learned.
You would be surprised how your level can increase suddenly. “Oh, I didn’t know I mastered that!”

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8. Find passionate friends like you!

Always remember that you are not alone.

There are thousands of people like you who want to improve as well.

• If you are already enrolled in a Design School, ask for support from your teachers but also your pairs!
• If you wanna build and challenge your confidence – don’t ask: “How good is my work?” instead ask: “How can I improve my work?”
• Soon you will be used to overcoming your challenges and enjoy getting positive critiques.

Hope it’s helpful and will guide you all along as it does for me.

Wrap-Up!

Building confidence as a designer is not just about mastering techniques but also nurturing your passion and mindset.

Here’s a quick recap of how to cultivate that inner strength:

• Start with the Basics: Begin with fundamentals to build a strong foundation rather than copying others, which might give you false confidence.
• Mind Your Body: Proper posture and occasional stretching can keep your creativity flowing without physical fatigue.
• Focus: Choose one project or skill to focus on, allowing for exponential growth and a strong desire for progress.
• Embrace Joy: Success doesn’t have to be a struggle. Enjoy the journey, and good methods coupled with passion will lead you to success.
• Visualize: Keep your goals in sight to boost motivation and remind yourself of what you’re working towards.
• Filter Information: Manage your media intake to stay positive and focused on what truly benefits your growth.
• Rest: Allow your mind to rest and absorb new skills, leading to unexpected leaps in your abilities.
• Community: Connect with fellow designers for support, critique, and shared passion.

Remember, every great designer started where you are now—facing doubts and challenges. Embrace the process of learning and allow yourself to grow through each sketch you create.

Celebrate your progress, no matter how small, and don’t hesitate to seek support from fellow designers who share your passion.By focusing on these tips, you’ll find that confidence will naturally follow.

Stay dedicated to your craft and believe in your unique vision. With each step you take, you’re not just honing your skills; you’re transforming into the confident designer you aspire to be.

Keep sketching, keep dreaming, and remember:the world is waiting for your creativity!

Cheers,
Chou-Tac

PS: Make sure to subscribe to the blog if you haven’t yet, and I’ll let you know more about it :). Feel free to send me any questions you have at choutac@thedesignsketchbook.com.

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I invite you to see the articles and interviews with inspiring students of the course:

Amy Riches: passionate about Design sketching
https://www.thedesignsketchbook.com/struggling-at-drawing-details-draw-them-big-tip-165/

Huang Li Chung: majored in Civil engineering and today Graphic designer
https://www.thedesignsketchbook.com/huang-47yo-majored-in-civil-engineering-but-in-love-with-design/

Leonardo Peñaranda: 3D modeller for video games
https://www.thedesignsketchbook.com/want-to-learn-faster-make-it-personal/

Lucas Hyppolite: the youngest student of the course!
https://www.thedesignsketchbook.com/before-after-3-months-of-sketch-like-the-pros-lucas-hippolyte-15-yo/

Have a wonderful day!!