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Dear Design Student in 2015

In March of this year, Dear Design Student launched to provide advice for designers by designers. A small, diverse group of designers with…
Dear Design Student in 2015

In March of this year, Dear Design Student launched to provide advice for designers by designers. A small, diverse group of designers with a broad range of experience and perspectives to a topic that attracts a lot of attention from people who have never designed a thing themselves. Dear Design Student is unique and given all that has gone on this year, I am glad we have this publication to help cut through all the bullshit you’ll find elsewhere.

It doesn’t seem to matter what retrospectives for 2015 you read, hear, or watch because they all seem to say the same thing, it was a big year. A lot happened, good and bad. As designers, if we’re doing our job right then we are constantly practicing empathy. It is part of who we are. Given the impact of global and national events — from elation to frustration, anger to helplessness — 2015 has been exhausting.

You’ll see these feelings reflected in many of the articles published by Dear Design Student this year. In the end we are all trying to provide common sense. Sometimes that means trying to write through the frustration of what’s going on in the world and/or the idiocy of what people try to do to our trade. Based upon the stats, I’d say Dear Design Student found a few nerves. With that in mind, below are the top ten most recommended articles of 2015.

On behalf of the 22 men and women who put this publication together, I thank you for reading, recommending, and carrying on the conversation in 2015. Thank you for your support, we look forward to publishing even more in the new year.


8 Reasons to Turn Down That Startup Job
Q: I graduated from school this year and I’ve been looking for my first job. After interviewing around, I finally got a…
In Praise of the AK-47
A: Fuck no. Fuck him. Fuck the AK-47. Fuck all guns and the people who design them, but especially fuck Mikhail…
Why is so much of design school a waste of time?
Q: My teacher hates everything I make, even though I spend all this time working on it, and gets mad even when I follow…
Dealing With Subjectivity
A: We go to Disneyland every summer. (Every designer should, by the way.) But this summer we decided to take my nephew…
Pricing
A: I have two young daughters. Charlotte, my one-year-old, is just learning to talk. She repeats everything she hears…
How To Read a Client E-mail
Q: I still get anxious whenever I get an e-mail from a client. Especially an e-mail with feedback in it. And the weird…
Stop Adopting Other People’s Anxiety
Q: I just got off the phone with a client who sounded really angry. He’s worried about the project we’re working on…
Can Design Change the World?
Q: I’ll keep it simple: can design change the world? I’ll answer just as simply: Yes. But… But not for the reasons…
Designers are Boring
There is such a thing as surface-level “how”/”hands” inspiration, certainly. That’s the kind you can look for. You see…
Why Is a Designer Using Medium?!?
A: That’s a great question. And probably one of our most-asked questions. I’ll give you the short answer first: because…

Greg Storey is a designer, writer, and occasional speaker currently serving as Design Practice Lead for IBM Design. He can be found around the cyberspace as “Brilliantcrank” and is infamous for Airbag Industries.