over 4 years ago from Adam Koniuszewski, Head of User Experience
For me as a designer, the biggest daily challenge is to try to detach from my personal taste and preferences when working on a new project. Is it even possible? How do you deal with it?
Not completely. A good designer will create a design in function of the brand they want to represent and the audience they want to reach, that is always the most important guiding principle in erms of aesthetics. But within these constraints, your taste will always play a part, so even if you're creating something that is not "your style" you'll still be using your taste in your choice of colors, fonts, layout, etc, so it will still have some of you in it. And that's as is should be.
This exactly what I think and I would like to add one more.
I don't think having a distinct personal style is a bad thing, in fact, it's a good thing. What I believe having different tastes is like spice for the dish. In a good amount and harmony, it ends up with distinct and unique results. But the amount is extremely important. If you can't adjust the spice could taste like a burnt croissant.
and yes, it's possible. you can completely detach from your personal taste but it'll be boring and demotivating for the individual. For me, when do such a thing, even financial excel sheets become more fun rather than designing.
How do you deal with it?
Lean in to it. Taste is a good thing. :D
Yeah I think it makes for a much happier work life when you embrace what you do and let people come to you for it. Of course that takes time but it's very satisfying when someone comes looking for what you would be fighting yourself to not do.
Somewhat disagree with what others are saying.
Yeah - sure, I find it easy, actually. Doesn't mean I'm technically diverse enough to accomplish any style I want. Because there's plenty stuff I can't do.
But can I take on someone's shitty art style? Yeah of course. It's all about consistency. Easy.
Have a look at my Dribbble profile, tell me what you think.
https://dribbble.com/AboutaDirk
Is that diverse? Do you see a common style? Sure, some are repeated styles because they're from similar projects... but it's not like they're all clearly by the same person?
Anyway, just my opinion of course. It's something I've tried to focus on during my career so far: producing as many styles as possible.
I'm actually with you Dirk.
It's great to have your own tastes, your own style, and your own opinions on your work. But at the same time, if you're wanting to be a creative professional you need to be flexible enough to adapt to the needs and wishes of your client.
For sure, sometimes you get hired due to your personal style. But often you are hired for your skillset, and especially with corporates you need to be able to detach and build the thing that's been scoped. I.e. try producing work for a client that's already spent half a million on a style guide, but use your style instead of theirs... See how that goes down.
Like everything though, it takes practice. The longer you spend in the industry, the easier it gets.
Right?
Kinda feels like that should be our most sell-able skill?
Yep, well when I hired the guy to lay the cement pad for my house, I paid him to do it to my architect's design and not his own creation based on his own "style". Same deal in my opinion haha.
Exactly!
Imagine bringing your Toyota to the garage and you come back to pick it up and it suddenly looks like a Ferrari!!
... wait never mind, bad analogy.
I don't know, I'd be unimpressed if I went to the garage and ended up driving home in a 330 GT Navarro 
... I'd ask for my toyota back :P
Yeah those go for $400.000. Where would you like me to leave my keys?
.edit: if you say Perth, you can go right to hell. lol
Haha, nah just leave them at Disappointment Hill just outside of Leonora :)
https://uniteddesigners.chat/ come join us, good sir :]
done and done
You'll learn to do this if you ever work in advertising because the clients change so often you're just forced to learn it.
This is a tricky one, though I don't think you should frame it as detachment.
You're a human with an individual perspective based on your history and your chemistry. You work on projects with other humans, each with their own histories and chemistries and perspectives.
This isn't a bug, it's a feature. Your taste is an element of your creativity, it doesn't only inform the look of your output, it informs where you get your influences from. As a collaborator your perspective is valuable to the people you're working with because you see the common problem in a way that they don't.
In terms of working with a brand I think of my personal tastes as an athlete and the constraints of a brand as the rules of the sport were playing. Within the confines of a game of tennis the rules of that game doesn't stop an athlete from performing great and innovative feats.
Use a brand as a platform on top of which to be creative instead of seeing it as a wall that is in opposition to your creativity.
Illustrators market style and get hired specifically for their style. Designers need to adapt to the needs of a client.
If you are doing one specific style for everything you are basically an artist or illustrator.
The best solution I've found is to dive into a style that isn't definitively mine. I do this with tools like Niiice or Pinterest. The goal is to become the brand you are working on, and shape your work based on the needs to the project.
If we dig deeper into personal taste - wouldn't that be a culmination of user insights, learnings experienced, industry best practice, and own aesthetic? If so, why aim to detach?
I think it is difficult. Because everything you learn as a designer will influence what you see and do. You will always have your perspective on things.
The best is to establish a way to see things like the user. Try to see things the way the user/target group is seeing it. This comes only with experience.
The best way is to talk to your target group, understand their perspective on things and you will understand why this or that might or might not work.
Tony Fadell the Designer of the iPod and Founder of Nest describes it really good how to get a new perspective on things and what to do with it.
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