1. Stress and Burnout Always pushing yourself to improve can lead to a lot of stress and eventually burnout.This constant pressure to get better can make it hard to take breaks and relax because it leads to feeling unproductive or being left behind. But having time to relax and just have a break is important … Read More
Author: Andy Villegas
Key personal and career development learnings from the past year
Reflecting on the 6 – 12 months there has been a whirlwind of challenges, learnings, and unexpected joys. It’s been a journey of pushing boundaries, both professionally and personally. I’ve gathered a wealth of insights along the way, and it feels only right to share some of these with others who might find themselves on … Read More
How I Create My Personal Development Plan
Every year, I’m faced with the challenge of setting goals to push myself to grow not just in my career but aligns in my broader life vision. In the past few years, I’ve been trying to take a structured yet flexible (in case I need a lazy day..) approach in creating my personal development plan. … Read More
Skills to learn that could help you grow as a designer
As designers, we are well-versed in creating great visuals and user-friendly UI. These skills can only take us so far in the work environment if we aim to create more impact and be more valuable in a business. Below I will outline some additional skills designers could learn to add more value in a business … Read More
Circle of Security vs Leadership – Random thoughts and ideas.
As part of my goal to be a better father to my kids, I have been reading the book “Raising a Secure Child” and studying more about the concept of the circle of security. The circle of security is a model that helps parents strengthen their bonds with their children, promoting security and development. It … Read More
Be an extra-ordinary designer
More than likely I will get a lot of backlash on this. Recently in design, there is a big drive to get into big successful extraordinary tech companies like Google, Facebook or start-ups that suppose to be changing the world. Considered great career prestige to get into one of these companies. This career path has … Read More
5 Tips on improving your designer-developer collaboration
Differences between designer and developer. If you are reading this you should already know the difference but for keyword’s sake and to oversimplify for an introduction A designer’s job is to create an appealing and functional design for a website or application. Developers are responsible for creating the code that will power the design that … Read More
Weekly Thought #2: Motivating your team
Hesitant to share this as my team is here and will call me out ?. But I think every manager or leader encounters issues around motivating their team. Here are a few things I believe help motivate my team. Well, I thought so anyway. My team will tell you if I thought wrong. ? Be an … Read More
7 Helpful Design Resources for New Designers
Below is a collated website resource that I have found with important fundamental design knowledge and a great source for useful design inspiration. These websites, I wish I had known about these when I was still studying, and these helped me move up in my knowledge and skills. Design Kit The website provides resources focusing … Read More
Learnings from the Creativity Course on Interaction Org
To help my team tackle this issue of creativity as they handled more problems in marketing and design, I decided to complete a Creative Method Course in Interaction Org. I hoped to help the team and potentially speed up the creative process if possible. These are the key learnings I got from completing the course: … Read More
Weekly Thought #1: How I plan my to-do list
I have continuously iterated and improved my daily to-do-list. To ensure I was focused, productive and felt good at the end of the day. What currently works for me is the following layout. The focus for the day: This is the highest/most complex pay-off task in my backlog of tasks and is one thing that must … Read More
Daily #9: Switching to weekly thoughts
We sometimes have to admit there are some things that are not feasible. Considering my busy schedule and the website going down for about a week It gave me the perspective that my daily thoughts may not be possible. Also, I dont think I have daily thoughts that would be good to share. Starting this … Read More
Daily #8: It’s OK to do nothing
We live right now where there are multiple opportunities to learn, create and just keep doing something productive. Also creating the hustle culture of “if you are not doing something to make sure life is better, you are wasting time.” (I prefer if you are not doing something to grow, you could miss opportunities). I … Read More
Daily #7: Hustle
Whether you are a full-time internal designer or freelancer, you need side hustles. Side hustles are a source of extra income. More importantly, it allows you to explore ideas and get outside of your comfort zone. Side hustles can be starting an e-commerce store, selling templates online or investing. Whatever pretty much tickles your fancy. … Read More
Daily #6: Never Stop Learning
I don’t think what I have to say will ever be replaced as probably the most important advice I can give to any new designer or current designer. “Never get complacent, Never stop learning, Never stop practising” One of the biggest mistakes I did was, I stopped learning and expanding my skill set. This mistake … Read More
Daily #5: Awwwards and CSS Awards
A quick tip when looking for inspiration for designs or creating a solution that is related to business. Looking at websites like Awwwards and CSS awards are great for design inspiration but also be wary that this is a resource where uniqueness and creativity at the greatest spectrum are encouraged. Some may not be viable … Read More