8. Steal but like an artist
Don't be afraid to ask. Don't be afraid to steal. But do steal like an artist. Understand the concept behind someone's successful work. Don't just copy it. Truly learn from it. Practice it. Grill it. Horn it. Tweak it. Mold it. Improvise it. Upgrade it. Tinker with it. play with it.
9. Be positive be persistent
Believe in yourself and work for your own mountain.
Law of attraction tells us that you will get what you will believe in and for what you will work for. Be positive. Re energize your attention, your focus, your intentions and your effort to the goal you want to achieve.
10. No need to learn everything
Learn according to
80/20 principle which states that if we learn the core 20% of any discipline the remaining 80% is easier to grasp based on that 20%. So don't try to learn everything. Only learn the essentials and slowly and gradually learn the advanced stuff by experimentation and exploration. If you know the fundamentals, you are good to go.
11. The real thing is how to generate Great Ideas
It is my belief that developing a website is not the problem. You have services and themes which give you an option of making websites through drag and drop. It is my guess that in the near future 5 year olds will also be able to develop websites. Now here I am not degrading coders or coding. However, I believe that developing a thing is not a problem and any decent googler can hack a decent app if he understands the fundamentals of programming. But the important thing is what to develop. The real thing is the idea. If there is a great idea then there are trillion ways to develop it but great ideas need a different kind of effort. So apart from knowing the technical knowhow, we must also focus on learning to generate great ideas as well.
12. Practice for 10,000 hours atleast
Always keep practicing. Keep observing others work. Keep creating projects even if it is for fictitious clients. The more you work the better you get. Don't forget the
10,000 hour practice rule.
13. Read one Teach one
Immediately share your knowledge because when you will explain what you have learned you will analyze those aspects of the topic at hand which you don't normally realize. This will enhance your learning and will further grill what you learn in your mind.
14. Keep it slow but consistent
It will take time. Learning takes time. Don't burn out. Don't try to swallow it all at once. Don't panic. Don't rush. Swallow what you can digest easily. Slow down. Take baby steps. Plan and think but don't over think. Be consistent. Don't be tense and don't be over-relaxed either.
The Learning Plateau is a normal process. Middle way is the best way. Have fun.
15. Do what you are passionate about
Don't just repeat random exercises for the code and skills you learn. Create a project of your choice and for which you are passionate about. Incorporate your newly learnt skills in your own projects and this way you will learn better.
16. We are all learners
Not every advice is to be taken seriously and not every advice is to be thrown away. Everyone has a point of view. God has blessed you with a brain Thank Him and use it. Judge everything, analyze and reach a conclusion. You can correct yourself later on even if you are wrong about anything. Accept it when you are wrong. Correct it. Improve. Nothing is personal here. Be cool, be nice and learn like a gentleman. Remember "We are all learners".
17. Every teacher is himself an advanced learner
Don't take your teachers' words as God's un-alterable revelation. Your teacher is nothing but an advanced learner himself. Reach to conclusions through your own experiments and observation. Your teacher can only help you if you are ready to explore unfamiliar terrain yourself.
18. Don't re-invent the wheel
There is no need to re-invent the wheel. Building from scratch projects are for only learning the foundations. Once you are strong in foundational knowledge, the fun part begins. You have so many resources on the internet in regards to Content Management Systems, themes, templates, code snippets that you can create anything. Though you must know what those designs and codes mean. However, no need to recreate that which is already there. Instead focus your energies in acquiring the skill of the good judegment i.e. when to apply what solution and how to apply it properly.
19. Be clear about what you want
Be clear on what you want to achieve. Clarity to your goal is necessary. Without it you can't achieve anything. Your subconscious will only provide you with solutions if it knows what really you want to achieve. Great designs depend on great ideas which are well understood and well executed.
20. Don't leave the Pencil
Tools are just tools. The main thing is what works best. For me analog tools for ideation and sketching is must. I use computer only for digitizing and refining my work. You don't have to have every sophisticated and expensive gadget available in the market. Pen, pencil and paper do just fine either for sketches or notes/planning.
21. Creative Process is the main thing
Watching tutorials for how to create a thing in photoshop or so and so application helps. However the real thing to learn is how to write a creative brief. How to make mood boards and when and why to use them. What are some great brainstorming techniques like mind-mapping, word-association and shape association. How to do research about the project you are creating. What to look for. Where to get inspiration from. Not only focus on How but also on Why and What?
22. Best tool for the Project
Try to achieve similar results through different apps. For instance if you see a program created in Ruby. Try to create it in Javascript or any other language. Find out what can and what can't happen. How one platform is better than other and in what area. Acquaint yourself with the tools and find out their strengths and weaknesses, so that when you indulge in real project, you choose the best tool for the project.
23. Make a todo list for your Project
Before starting a project make a list of steps you want to take like different phases and stages of the project. Similarly in coding first write a pseudo code in plain English about what you want to achieve and how you will achieve it (or how you think you are going to achieve it). After that translate it in real code.
24. From rough to polished
Before publishing an article we write it's draft, improve it and polish it. Likewise in design there has to be a storyboard, initial sketches, wireframe before properly preparing a polished design and publishing it. Nothing is perfect but through practice we keep getting better.
Learning is an ongoing process and a successful designer/developer must yearn for more. Feel free to share your comments. What you have learned along the path. Do you agree or disagree to any of my conclusions?