5 Lessons My Lengthy Redesign Taught Me
When I started Slate Four Studio three years ago, I didn’t imagine going as far as I’ve gone. S4S started as a way for me to promote myself as a budding graphic designer who was looking to make a career pivot into the world of Graphic Design. Since the beginning of S4S, I’ve solidified myself as a creative designer (as I do more than just design graphics), gained hands-on agency experience, and worked with some very interesting clients freelancing.
I began my redesign hoping it would take at most two months to refresh, restructure, and reintroduce Slate Four Studio. However, when I got into the thick of it all, there were small details I realized that I never addressed, missing gears in a system that was quickly tossed together as I went in the earlier days, and understanding the creative burnout I was experiencing. Through the ten months that I took to restructure and redesign my creative studio, these are the five most valuable lessons that I took away from the overall experience.
Patience is a virtue:
Allowing myself time to reassess my vision helped me stop pressuring myself to meet a deadline that I was underestimating. There were gears in my system that were missing and I hadn’t realized with me being caught in a cycle of always being on the go. Slowing down and taking the time to really assess what was needed and missing helped me make better choices across the board and correct the broken gears in my systems.
Experiment until something sticks:
Before and after clarifying Slate Four Studio’s structure, I experimented a lot while reworking my visual identity. (You can see my redesign process here). Your visual identity is just as important as your marketing strategies and business plan, as your visuals can reinforce your brand’s identity and make your brand more recognizable with your audience.
Go Out Of Office:
Take a trip, create purely for fun, try a hobby different than your creative moneymaker, or just take an overall break! Working at the pace of agency is different than the pace that you set as a freelancer and I got caught in the agency pacing. It’s great to be able to go between both, but if you keep going without pause, you’re going to run out of gas and be forced to stop. Whether you’re burnt out because of the way the creative landscape is changing, you feel like you haven’t had a good idea in a minute or you just keep hitting that wall. Forcing yourself to keep at something can do more harm than good for your mental and physical health. Never underestimate what a change of scenery, a good documentary, or trying something new can do for you.
The key is 3:
In a world with endless options, it can become very easy to get decision fatigue or end up with too many options. I began building out no more than 3 mood boards for whatever creative work I curated, including my clients and I. Limiting myself to three allows for me to really focus on the overall goals, creating a truly different style for each mood board and seeing what works and doesn’t work for my clients and I.
Upskilling is not only beneficial but rewarding:
I’ve never been one to shy away from brushing up on topics or continued learning. Regardless of your career, field, niche, or job, you’re going to have complete a required training on a subject or learn a new skill. In this day and age, where you can get online and search for anything and get an answer in seconds or endless lists of results that give you answers and various perspectives is a big win. The creative landscape is constantly evolving with the rise of AI and new applications. It can start to feel like you’re constantly having to learn something new or expand your skillset, but it ultimately boils down to perspective.
Taking a step back from my redesign, assessing the weak points in my systems, and removing the invisible weight of an unforgivable time crunch helped me significantly as a freelance creative. What once felt like too long for me doesn’t feel long at all, knowing that I have restructured my site, repaired my systems, and picked up better habits as a creative.