Exercise 4.2: Design Training Plan

Brief

What you will be doing 10 years from now is largely determined by the choices you make today and each day that follows.
Start by reverse-planning your career goals. What will your title or achievements be? What will your professional work/portfolio look like? How did you achieve this position? What journey did you take to get there? What work did you create along the way?

Determine the end goal.
Divide the end goal into supporting goals.
Define targets for each supporting goal.
Detail the actions required to achieve each supporting goal.

Next, think about the daily, weekly, monthly or yearly steps you can take towards your design career goals. If your goal was to play professional tennis you would have a very tangible and specific training plan. For example you might get a coach and train every day, you might challenge yourself to play a new opponent every week and perhaps enter a tournament once every couple months. The steps to becoming a professional designer can be laid out in much the same way. Write these out and sort them, for example by frequency (how often each occurs) or by dependency (which step depends on another being completed).
Finally, design a timeline to illustrate the next ten years. The timeline can take any form – digital or analogue. For example, it can be a poster you will keep next to your desk that illustrates the design training plan from a single perspective, it can be a website that allows you to zoom in and out to various degrees of detail, or you can design a personal planner or diary that includes the key milestones for you to check off along the way.

Reverse-Planning my Career Goals

Step 1: Determine the End Goal

Title/Achievements: visualising my dream role and accomplishments. Example: Creative Director at a design agency; published design book; award-winning portfolio.
Professional Work/Portfolio:
Example: Innovative branding projects, a signature design style, collaborations with global clients.

Step 2: Divide the End Goal into Supporting Goals

Skill Development: Master advanced design tools, typography, motion graphics, etc.
Network Building: Establish connections with mentors, peers, and industry leaders.
Portfolio Creation: Develop a standout portfolio showcasing diverse, high-quality projects.
Career Milestones: Progress through roles (e.g., Junior Designer → Senior Designer → Lead Designer).
Recognition: Enter competitions, speak at conferences, and publish articles.

Step 3: Define Targets for Each Supporting Goal

Set clear and measurable targets for each goal.

Skill Development: Learn Adobe After Effects by Year 2; Master 3D design by Year 5.
Network Building: Attend 3 conferences/year; Join a local design meetup; Gain 2 industry mentors.
Portfolio Creation: Complete 10 high-quality personal projects by Year 3; Rebrand a local business by Year 4.
Career Milestones: Junior Designer by Year 2; Senior Designer by Year 5; Lead Designer by Year 7.
Recognition: Win a design competition by Year 6; Publish a design book by Year 10.

Step 4: Detail Actions Required to Achieve Each Supporting Goal

Create actionable steps for each target.

Skill Development: Enroll in online courses, schedule daily practice, find project-based learning.
Network Building: Use LinkedIn to connect weekly
Portfolio Creation: Dedicate weekends to side projects, request feedback, showcase work on Behance/Dribbble.
Career Milestones: Seek promotions based on performance, volunteer for challenging projects.
Recognition: Research competitions yearly, draft book outline, pitch publishers or self-publish.

Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and Yearly Steps

Daily: Practice design skills, update work logs.
Weekly: Network with peers, review goals, explore inspiration.
Monthly: Complete a project milestone, attend a workshop.
Yearly: Reassess career goals, refresh portfolio, attend a major design conference.

Analysing examples

Thumbnails

Colour palette

Using the word ambition on Adobe Color, I chose my colour palette.

Typefaces

For my typefaces, I aimed to combine a funky style for the years with a modern aesthetic for the other text. Using Adobe Fonts, I explored various options and ultimately selected Milka for its playful vibe and Futura PT for its sleek, contemporary look.

Timeline

Year 1-2:

Join a design agency.
Build foundational skills.
Start personal branding projects.

Year 3-4:

Complete advanced certifications.
Establish a diverse, high-quality portfolio.
Gain recognition in local design networks.

Year 5-6:

Transition to Senior Designer.
Win a design competition.
Begin writing or teaching about design.

Year 7-8:

Lead large-scale design projects.
Speak at design conferences.
Start groundwork for a design book.

Year 9-10:

Achieve Creative Director role.
Publish a book, launch a personal studio.
Mentor young designers.

Design process

Final design – Timeline

Self – reflection

In this exercise, I illustrated my aspirations for where I hope my design skills will be in 10 years, breaking it down into 2-year segments. My timeline design is based on my initial thumbnails, aiming to highlight the hurdles I anticipate and the progression I plan to achieve over the coming years. The typeface choices were inspired by a desire to convey a funky yet modern aesthetic, while the colour palette reflects a sense of ambition and forward-thinking.

Reference

Behance (2025). Timeline. Available at: https://www.behance.net/search/projects/timeline?tracking_source=typeahead_search_direct. (Accessed: 2 January 2025)