I’m thankful for calendars that mark the passage of time. Days and weeks blur together in the busyness of life — even months, in retrospect. But you can’t ignore the end of a year. And that’s a good thing. It creates a healthy retrospection, insists you slow down and examine the past year, and helps you recalibrate, refocus and reenergize as you propel yourself into the next chapter of life. 

Jan. 1, 2014 was my first official day as a full-time freelance designer. After spending more than 9 years working as a designer, art director and creative director for a handful of agencies here in the midwest, I took the plunge. I really didn’t know what to expect — and sometimes still don’t! But that’s okay. The unknown is part of the challenge.

So in the spirit of reflection, I’d like to share 6 things I learned in my first year of being an independent designer:

Instinct is a tricky word. It can be ambiguous, fleeting, and invisible. It’s an intangible quality that you seek out, foster and proudly speak of — yet we often doubt it and sometimes dismiss it entirely. So what should we do with it?

I believe instinct is what sets apart the great from the good. Being instinctual means being yourself — how else can you set your personal brand apart within the saturated market of designers? Sure, there are styles to master, techniques to learn, growth to happen, etc. But underneath and inside of all those things is you. Your mind, your voice, your instinct.