Hi Andrew

I would even go that far and say that growing my beard is the only thing I'm truly talented at. Therefore, my beard is not only instrumental, but probably the only thing I have! (because I'm a terrible designer)

Besides that - I do not see myself at the peak of the design community, just look at my karma points on my profile. Horrible...Horrible...

PS: Loving your questions!

Yes me too! Great question.

Hi Matthew

That's a pretty good question, especially because I ask this myself a lot.

When I started as a designer I was always a perfectionist, I had a hard time finishing projects and wanted to refine it till it's dead.

Today I see things a little bit differently, and for some reason my focus has shifted over the years. I often reflect on that myself, because I'm unsure if it's a good or bad thing.

While I still value great design, and I still value delight in every detail that makes great design, I'm obsessed with shipping fast and learning along the way.

For me it's just a matter of priorities. I often have to force myself with fake deadlines to finish something, even if it's not perfect. In reality, it will never be finished anyway.

I have high respect for people who build things, ship them, and earn money with it from day one. A designer/entrepreneur who has a product out there, even if just 10 people are paying for it, is in my opinion way ahead of those who are still posting concept shots on Dribbble.

I think at some point in my career I changed my mindset to: "It's good enough, let's fix it later". Of course this highly depends on the product itself, but often times what you believe is good enough, is pretty good for everyone else. So only you see the difference, and I expect you/me to continue refining it anyway.

So in general, I like to launch early but still want to make sure the experience is great. You can always cut down on scope & features while still maintaining what some might call "the minimum lovable product". And I know, this is difficult because it goes against your perfectionism and probably against the design community who will slap you for not making things pixel perfect.

I think the one thing that makes designers great (perfectionism) is also the thing that makes them the worst people to work with.

For me, entrepreneur inside me has taken over more and more over the last couple years I would say.

Hope that answered your question Matthew! (: It's a good one, I keep asking this myself everyday!

Oh my god I want to know this too. I've been saying Toe-bye-us.

Hey Andrew

Your questions are sugar! So, the correct way would be Toe-Bee-Us - That's how it works in Germany.

Usually though, when I'm introducing myself in the United States I introduce myself as Toe-bye-us. Based on data I've gathered in A/B tests for many years, I can tell you that every time I introduce myself as "Toe-bye-us" chances are by 83% higher than usual that new connections will remember my name.

Therefore, even if "Toe-bye-us" is not the correct pronunciation, it clearly performs better in all aspects.

Hi Miguel

Nice to meet you! And YEAH! Finally some beard questions, YES!

1. My current beard in my current state and length I have for about 2 years max. I'm trimming it around every 4 weeks so it doesn't get much longer. I like the length of it right now and everything longer gets a little annoying.

2. The biggest lesson I learned is that no one has figured it out. We're very much at the beginning. I see this as something positive, exciting and motivating. We're all in this together, equally able to ask questions.

Hi Kevin

Wow, that's an open ended question, but here are my essentials:

1. Be Curious, never stop asking. Always be curious, never settle and think you have arrived. You will hopefully never arrive, and that's the best part about it.

2. Fuck the process. Love the process. All eyes on the cake at all times. This is how we get shit done. Never focus on the process for the sake of the process, that's how politics work. Focus on the cake, and once you have it, appreciate the process because the process is what you will remember, and what will help you grow as a person.

The process is evil while you haven't reached the goal, it's easy to fall in love with the process and never finish anything. But then again you should and will value the process after you went through it. I know, it's confusing.

1. Nothing will happen overnight Keep on moving, keep staying busy and get good work done. There is no shortcut. As Kevin Durant already said “Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.”

Magic happens when hard work & preparation meets opportunities. Both is in your control.

Happy Tuesday Kevin!

Hi Saxon!

Is that your real name? Because it's a pretty sweet name. Thanks so much for your kind words, it's highly appreciated (:

For the first question, I hope you're ok with me copying this from above:

1. I admit, I have horrible time management. I approach my projects the same way as I approach reading a book. If I'm stuck at one, I will put it away and continue on the other. (that's why I read 3 at a time) If daily or weekly sprints happen, then only because of coincidence. The moment I experience "flow" I will stay in one project until the point I will lose "flow".

This usually helps me to stay inspired, stay fresh and keep myself busy. Of course, depending on the problems you are solving on a particular project, I sometimes force myself to stick with it for a little longer. But then again, if you're stuck and you have other projects sitting around, why not rotate when you can? (:

1. Time management in terms of life: I consider my work to be my life, I have so much fun with it that I rarely do anything else. I don't watch TV, I very rarely play computer games, and the last time I went out partying was years ago.

I love working and make no difference between job/life. It's all one thing, of course balanced out as good as I can. But I don't see work & enjoyment as two opposites. (I think we, most of us here, are lucky to have the opportunity to see it that way)

1. I stay motivated by trying to keep up the momentum. I'm a very lazy person. If you would know how much I sleep and procrastinate, you wouldn't believe me. Thats very dangerous for me. Keeping up the momentum and always have my desk full of projects helps me to keep running.

The moment I finish something, the moment I slow down, I can almost feel this big black hole of laziness eating me up. Then I start running again, and things are fine.

PS: I also wrote this article about "The Inspiration Lie" a while ago which you might enjoy reading.

Yay, Tobias

Hi Katja

Nice to see you here! Let's get right to your questions:

1. Oddly enough I don't. I got into design mostly for practical reasons. I was an engineer and just wanted to make my interfaces more useable & better looking. At that time I did not know much about the design community.

Along the way I remember I had a few hero that influenced & motivated me, most of them around the flash era. Robert Lindström from North Kingdom, 2Advanced, Tokyoplastic and so on. That was early 2000.

Since then I mostly get motivated by other people outside of the design industry, ranging from Elon Musk to Tim Ferris or even people who are not alive anymore (: I'm inspired by makers, rebels and people who just get shit done. I love reading about business, psychology & art.

1. I don't mind it at all! I even appreciate it and always try to get back to everyone as good as I can!

Thanks for being awesome Katja! You keep it up as well!

Hi Dan

Haha, you're amazing! So you can grow a good mustache but not a beard? That is actually pretty awesome.

Growing a mustache comes with benefits, but also great responsibilities.

Here some points:

1. Your partner has to approve, a mustache is like wearing cowboy boots. If you do it the right way, it can actually look pretty good. If you do it wrong, you look like a creep.

2. If it's a nice compact "turkish mustache" you are fine. They are easy to maintain, and besides drinking milk out of big cups you do not need to fear anything.

3. Combining a nice and tidy mustache with a 3 day beard is actually pretty awesome, especially if you have a dark or grey beard. You can wear it like Nick Wooster

So in short: DO IT DAN! (:

Hi Gabriel

Yes, I did skip everything but high school which I dropped out of with the age of 15. I hope you don't mind if I paste an answer from another question here, it's pretty much the same.

I don't think a design degree is needed in the design industry, there are many who don't have one who would agree with that. But that said, it doesn't make it easier to not have one, quite the opposite.

When I dropped out, I tried to study but had trouble getting accepted at universities. I would have probably studied if I would have allowed to. At first, I had some feeling of regret. That's normal because literally everyone else tells you that you NEED to study, especially if you grow up in a small city where everyone just blindly follows each other. Social pressure, for sure.

In general, I would recommend everyone to get a degree in design. I see it as follows:

Studying design puts you in a place with 30 other like minded people. All are as confused (or focused) than you. It's a fantastic social environment to learn & grow with others.

Being self-taught, it's just you alone in a room. You have to put yourself out there at the same time, there are no teachers, mentors or colleagues around you.

Studying introduces you to a great network of teachers & mentors from the beginning. That's what you pay for, it's a safety net.

Being self-taught is the opposite. While you have great freedom, you also have great pressure to network the shit out of your time.

In general, the main difference between studying design and being self-taught is the social component that provides you with mentorship, emotional support and a little kick in the ass here and there.

It depends what kind of personality you are. There is no clear answer to this question, but it depends on you as a person. For some people, the format of a university is beneficial for them, for some it's destructive.

So in general, I wouldn't recommend dropping out unless you are a 100% sure (or at least 99%) that you can bring the motivation be on your own.

Hi Mihai

That's a fantastic question! Let me get right into it:

1. I don't think a design degree is needed in the design industry, there are many who don't have one who would agree with that. But that said, it doesn't make it easier to not have one, quite the opposite.

2. When I dropped out, I tried to study but had trouble getting accepted at universities. I would have probably studied if I would have allowed to. At first, I had some feeling of regret. That's normal because literally everyone else tells you that you NEED to study, especially if you grow up in a small city where everyone just blindly follows each other. Social pressure, for sure.

3. In general, I would recommend everyone to get a degree in design. I see it as follows:

• Studying design puts you in a place with 30 other like minded people. All are as confused (or focused) than you. It's a fantastic social environment to learn & grow with others.

• Being self-taught, it's just you alone in a room. You have to put yourself out there at the same time, there are no teachers, mentors or colleagues around you.

• Studying introduces you to a great network of teachers & mentors from the beginning. That's what you pay for, it's a safety net.

• Being self-taught is the opposite. While you have great freedom, you also have great pressure to network the shit out of your time.

In general, the main difference between studying design and being self-taught is the social component that provides you with mentorship, emotional support and a little kick in the ass here and there.

I think I would have liked it (:

Hi Ali

Great question, especially because I'm the worst morning person ever. I rarely do design research, only when I need to do it for a new project.

Most of my time is spend doing: Meetings, Emails, New product thinking, testing, bookkeeping, shipping, handling feedback etc.

Research is usually mostly involved once I have a new project on my plate where I have to get deep into the details. Other than that, I read a book every night for at least 1-2h which I would consider research (:

Hi Mahad

Oh wow, I might be the wrong to ask this question. If people would find out how I organize my files and naming techniques I would probably get banned from Designernews immediately.

Hi Emman

Nice to meet you! Yes, I find it very hard. Luckily I will stay as a consultant and good friend of the team. Leaving a team that you really enjoyed working is always painful, but for some reason I don't feel like I'm really leaving - I'm just not there full-time anymore.

Being a designer at Spotify is amazing. It's easily the best team I ever worked with. I'm not sure how to describe it exactly, but it is very rare that you feel like you REALLY liked & connected with every single designer on the team. The team is thoughtful, friendly and very sensible.

It's rare to work in a team that has absolutely no egos involved. It's refreshing, especially in our industry. As you can imagine, focusing on the right culture fit has high impact on the process since there is a lot of openness, involvement and transparency while working with the team.

Hey Ben

Yeah, I know right? We hopefully never stop learning. To keep this as short as I can, I actually wrote an article on this topic just a couple days ago.

I titled it with "The Day You Became A Better Designer". Of course, this is seen from my perspective and is certainly a reflection of myself and my learning habits.

This is probably the best way I can answer this question.

Stay awesome Ben

Tobias

Hi Alessia

Thanks so much for your kind words! <3 That's a fantastic question, makes me think. There are probably a couple points, but lets stay true to your question and just name one:

Nr.1 - Ignore everyone & Don't take things too seriously.

Let me explain: When I started, I always thought that there must a be RIGHT way to do things in design. Only after many years I discovered that there are not only many ways to be right, but also that challenging the status quo is actually what good design is about.

When I started out I was always too afraid to make mistakes, trying to minimize risk and read a lot into "How to do things right."

Looking back, I would tell myself to be more relaxed. Design, especially what we now know as digital design is such a young field that literally no one has figured it out. It either means that we're all right, or we're all wrong.

When I started I was very much focused on the design, for the sake of design. Today I'm more focused on what I can do with design as a tool.

Great question, I hope my answer made any sense (: Tobias

Hey Paul

You're too kind! I am indeed always looking for front-end magicians, but usually depends on the project that is coming up. More of that will probably happen early next year. This year is is my time to take some time off and re-charge my batteries.

Lets catch up via email! Keep on rocking Paul!

Hi Darren

Nice to meet you! Ha yes, I am! I love taking pictures on the side and implementing them into my work. For Aquatilis, of course the photography wasn't made by me. I wouldn't even be able to dive that deep first of all.

All of the pictures are done by Alexander Semenov, I worked very closely with him and he was actually the partner/client on this project. So it went hand it hand, one of the best projects I worked on in a while. Lots of fun.

Love from all of us at http://www.ganpatizone.biz

Hi Nicholas, nice to meet you!

Thats a great question and I'm not even sure if I'm qualified enough to answer it. But in general, you are right.

I wouldn't say it's a blow, it's just a shift and some artists are part of the shift, and some protest against it. We all know that this is not a question about if streaming services are the future or not. I mean we all see that it is the future.

The shift hasn't been introduced by any of the current streaming services, but mostly because the fact that we now have the magical Internet as an enabler. A lot of industries are affected as the access model to content is changing.

The time during these shifts is often the most painful, because most industries (such as the music industry) run on outdated models that have been protected for many years.

The question you're really asking is: Can artists do better by embracing the Internet? Yes they can, and we see many great examples who already do it very well.

Hi Nico! Nice to meet you!

1. Mostly character first. No one wants to work with an arrogant asshole, even if he/she is crazy talented. After character fit, I look for someone who can think for herself, someone who can own projects and has a strong opinion on their work.

In general, character is the most important trait I look for. I believe that everything else can be taught, but character is something you can't really correct anymore at a certain age. (maybe you can, but it will take years)

1. When I learned most of the basic hard skills there was no Youtube. I'm not old, but that only shows how young this industry really is.

This is how I learned most of the things in my early years:

a. Looking for a client b. Client asks for a website, but I never made a website c. I don't tell the client, I just promise that I can do a website d. Oh shit, now I have to do a website e. Googling and searching on forums to find out how to do everything Done: I made a website. (you can question if it was good)

Then repeat the whole process and get better along the way.

Of course now everything is much easier, you can find tutorials of everything on YouTube, I wish I had that when I got started, but then again, I learn something new everyday. But the basic hard skills I learned by just forcing myself to finish something.

/Tobias

Hi Kris

Nice to meet you and thanks so much for your kind words (: Here are some I can think of right now:

1. Why do you consider yourself a designer?

2. When was the last time you did something for the first time?

3. What was it?

Please Kris, do not ask this questions back to me ;)

Hi Shane!

I love beard questions, glad they are being asked.

1. You are right, I usually do not use shampoo. If you rinse your beard or hair with water at least once or twice a day, your hair should never feel too greasy anyway. My experience also applies for someone who lives in a city with a "sitting in front of a computer" job.

I do sometimes use shampoo (something organic like you said) but this might happen every 6 weeks or even less. Only if I feel like I need it. Otherwise, I wash my hair once or twice a day with clear water. That keeps them clean & smooth.

1. No designers should not learn to code. Honestly, it's just about the word "should". You can, and you will be probably better off than if you don't. I respect those who do it, but there is no reason that you should code.

Having a software engineering background, I do recommend every designer to at least get familiar with how things are built. Basic front-end & backend knowledge is a big plus as a designer. It makes you a better designer because you understand how engineers work, how you can scope projects and you might be even able to hack something together real quick.

But if we say that designers should code, we should also say that they should know about business, financials, marketing, advertising, customer support, growth strategies, etc.

That would be a first...

:trollface:

Great question, Wes. Would love to hear about this too.