Designer's tools and relevance

Design is an intellectual labor, so thinking is more important than the tool. But design is also a craft, so you can't really do anything without a tool at all. It must be up-to-date, you need to maintain it in decent shape as well as your skills of using it.

And in general, this is the easiest and fastest way to start earning — to learn software and techniques. It's really not complicated. A designer in the 00-ies was someone who knew Photoshop and some filters in it. Now it's exactly the same with AI — it is enough to be one step ahead of the mainstream professional industry curve to solve problems that others cannot. And this can be monetized. Indeed, instrumental level is not about thinking yet it is the basis of any work.

And here is another holivar theme — I think that it's more important for a designer to make a beautiful and useful design, rather than "selling" but ugly. Marketing will defend business and sales, but who will stand behind beauty, user values and culture? Only the designer.

Sad is the fate of designers who "I can work in russian-localized Photoshop 2020". It's slow, outdated and inefficient. I instantly lose my temper if the technique is slower than I realize, imagine the feeling if I even begin working with an outdated instrument.

So how to maintain your design skills and increase market value?

• Subscribe to official sources of information. Got an update to figma or indesign/illustrator? Read the change log, patch notes and watch basic tutorials. It's hygiene and tool maintenance.
• Follow the industry — watch conferences of Figma, Adobe, Webflow. Figma conference has passed — check what was new there. Then look at Adobe Max, etc. Then you might notice where the trends of development are going and be one step ahead in the future.
• With each task that's bumping into the inconvenience of the solution, look if you can do better. The skill bar can be raised regularly and almost daily, the whole internet is at your service with tips, lessons and courses. It's skills upgrade and self-development.
• At the beginning of your career, pump up the knowledge of one tool to an expert level, then carefully add complementary tools to it, taking into account the strategic career goal.

Of course, you should not make a cult of methods and tools, it is already extreme. A tool is not a work in itself, it's just a means. But it does affect how design decisions are realized and at what speed — and that's critical.

Given the number of juniors on the market and the low threshold of entry into the profession, the one who has a better tool proficiency will win.