On today’s episode of Design Life we’re talking about design education. Listeners often ask us “should I go to design school?” but the answer varies depending on where you are in your career, how you learn best and what goals you have. In this episode we discuss the question we think you should ask instead and how to figure out the best way to develop your design skills.
Your approach to learning design theory and design skills depends on the kind of person and learner you are. Figure out how you learn best.
Instead of asking yourself should I go to design school, ask yourself how best can I develop my design skills. This is a question with a much broader array of possible answers.
To help you decide on whether or not design school is for you, consider your goal. Ultimtely what are you trying to achieve? When you apply for a job, a potential employer wants to see your experience. Do whatever you can to get that experience, for some people that might be starting with design school, for others it might be self directed study or a design bootcamp. Studying design at a school and following a course gives you a structured format with direct access to mentors and classmates to learn alongside.
If you are trying to choose a bootcamp ask for recommendations from past students of that course. Ask if they got good value for money and if they felt the course was well taught and well paced. Learning from other student’s experience will help you to figure out if the bootcamp is the right fit for you.
Whether you decide to begin a four year degree course in design or an online bootcamp, you cannot rely on just one source or person to give you your training. Your own process will develop based on what you learn from others be it through a course, a video, a podcast or the other designers you collaborate with.
06.53 – Today’s topic
11.22 – Consider your why
14.40 – Would we go back to design school?
16.45 – Our thoughts on bootcamps
26.14 – You know yourself best
