AEA15: Career Advice From a Cranky Old Man

I have the good fortune of attending the premiere conference for web designers and developers in the country - An Event Apart (this time in Austin). Some notes below from the keynote presentation from Jeffrey Zeldman. Titled "The Fault, Dear Brutus (or: Career Advice from a Cranky Old Man).

  • Our other jobs (before we became designers) give us perspective. Makes us thankful to be a designer. We are extremely lucky.
  • Work never sells itself. You have to be able to explain your design.
  • Never talk about aesthetics. Talk about the business problems you're solving.
  • Attitude trumps work in most companies (great work + bad attitude = fired).
  • In big companies, politics trumps work. Its not fair, its just how it is.
  • First impressions are forever.
  • We have met the enemy and he is us. We are the only thing standing between us and success.
  • You need a good portfolio. Use sites like Dribbble and Behance if necessary to make sure that some of the work you do can be shown.
  • Blog like nobody's reading. Blogging is how he ended up on stage today (inception joke).
  • Don't wait for someone to hand you the dream job/project. Take it. DIY (do it yourself).
About the author
Bitmoji image of author: Chuck Mallott
Chuck Mallott
chuck@mallott.me

I write about design and UX, family, religion, sports, mountain biking, and dumb observations. I'm a web, mobile, UX, and product designer living in North Carolina.