Alexandria — Issue #009 : Permission to Struggle
A bi-weekly newsletter dedicated to bringing you the best content related to design, technology, and entrepreneurship.
This edition’s feature comes from the infamous global design agency, IDEO. CEO Sandy Speicher discusses the “mood meter” that was developed internally to describe the emotional levels present throughout the design process (Spoiler: the messy middle is the hardest). Be sure to give it a look as you delve into what it means to give yourself “permission to struggle”.
Next, we dive into a few mindsets and approaches to practically apply principles of inclusivity throughout the design process, learn from the best for how to transition from designer to design leader (manager), and discuss if a typeface is ever finished.
The second half opens with the importance of trusting in your team, continues with a fantastic guide for working from home, and finishes with two articles related to the interview process. Hope this helps any of you actively looking for work!
For resources, first up is a repository of illustrations that are fully editable and ready to go, an image resizing tool that values your privacy, and an interesting website for easily saving and sharing links (articles, shopping, videos, etc.).
Thanks so much for reading!
Adam
Featured Article
The Best Business Breakthroughs Come From Moments of Doubt
There is a belief out there that designers are constantly optimistic and confident, but that hasn’t been my experience. Creativity isn’t all about fun. Acknowledging that allows us to design better environments and processes that support the profound vulnerability necessary to develop creative solutions.
More Amazing Reads
Four Mindsets That Help Ensure You’re Designing for Diverse Audiences
www.invisionapp.com
It’s easy to pay lip service to the ideal of inclusive design, but what happens when designers actually sit down to create, how can we work better, smarter, and more empathetically when it comes to diversity? Especially in a world where one digital product can quickly be seen by millions?
How to Transition to Design Leader
www.linkedin.com
Most designers, when presented with a leadership opportunity, jump into the role enthusiastically, unaware of the challenges ahead. But not Andy Law, who before making the leap from designer to design leader at Netflix, did his homework by talking to others who had made the same transition. He discovered that most designers struggle with the new duties required of them as leaders. They quickly realize that their talents as an individual contributor don’t translate into management.
How Do You Know When a Typeface is Truly Finished?
eyeondesign.aiga.org
How does a designer know when to stick a fork in it? Frere-Jones doesn’t have any explicit plans to keep going at this point. “David Berlow of Font Bureau liked to say typefaces are never really done, they’re just released. There’s always something to go back to, revise, adjust, add, or expand,” he says. “Every foundry periodically issues updates to their families, the same as software companies release new versions. Typefaces are similar in that there’s always the potential to do more, or polish things a bit further.”
Teams Need Trust To Be Brilliantly Successful
medium.com
In this article, we’ll explore what trust looks like in a team and ways that we can build and strengthen it. We’ll also touch on ways to re-earn trust in the unfortunate case that trust has been lost. After all, trust increases innovation, fuels creativity and accelerates productivity amongst teams.
Working From Home: A Beginner’s Guide
On its surface, working from home is the dream. You can’t beat the commute, and can (in theory) save countless hours otherwise wasted on small talk, pointless meetings, or any of the million other distractions that pervade office life. The reality is more complicated. For nearly every upside — of which there are many, including no traffic or subway delays — there is a corresponding downside, such as the lack of a clear divide between work and home life. Below are work-from-home tips I’ve learned since leaving my office job nearly two years ago, along with advice from fellow freelancers and remote workers about what it takes to get stuff done outside the traditional confines of an office.
How to Answer ‘Why Are You Interested in This Position?’ in a Job Interview
www.thecut.com
Sit down for any job interview and one of the first questions you’re likely to be asked is, “Why are you interested in this position?” If you think that’s a softball question, to some extent you’re right. For most interviewers, it’s a way of easing into the conversation that hopefully won’t feel too high pressure. But depending on what you say, your answer can also trigger concerns for the interviewer — sometimes serious ones. So you shouldn’t just wing your answer. You should think it through ahead of time and make sure you’re conveying what you want to say. Here’s how to answer this question well.
The 3 Follow-up Emails You Should Send After Job Interviews + Templates
A good follow-up email after interviews shows that you’re courteous, considerate, and professional. And in a field of strong candidates, it helps you stand out from the crowd. The numbers prove this too. A SaaS company offering email follow-up automation software, studied more than 20 million emails they sent out. They discovered: the average reply rate to an opening email is 9% — but just one followup email bounces that up to 13%.
Resources
Stories Illustrations Kit
Stories is a set of 11 exciting stories. Your content will never be boring with trendy and stylish illustrations. Stories made for Adobe Illustrator and any program working with SVG files. All illustrations are fully editable.
EZResize — Image Resize Tool
There are plenty of image resize tools online, but do you really know where your file goes once you upload? With EZResize, you can resize your image and save locally on your hard drive or cloud service — encrypted, private and for your eyes only.
Share.Link
Forget about copy/pasting full links! share.link lets you collect, organize and share links with ease. It’s perfect for teams, friends, and individuals.
