Reframing Past Lessons
A designer’s own history can be the biggest obstacle to a standout project. Years of solving the same problems condition us to stick to patterns that have already worked, even when a project begs for something different. The first step is to catch those habits in the moment and challenge their validity. Ask: “Am I stopping short creatively because I have always gone this far?” or “Am I holding back because of an assumed response from a past client?”
Consider a common scenario: cards are required in nearly every website build, and an inner voice insists, “I’ve designed cards thousands of times. Therefore, there are only so many ways you can do it.” That belief limits output to what is already familiar. A more productive reframe is:
“I’ve designed cards thousands of times, so let me take what I’ve learned, do some more exploration, and iterate on what could push these cards further for this particular project.”
The Crazy 8’s exercise—sketching eight variations in eight minutes—is one useful tool for pushing past the expected. It forces rapid idea generation from multiple angles before settling on a single solution.
A client whose site was comprised entirely of cards of mixed content and complexity provided a real test of this mindset. Rather than falling back on a single card style, the challenge was to create a tiered system that gave each content type a distinct presence. The solution assigned prominence through size, imagery, color, and motion. A Featured Card was tied directly to the brand through a cutout image mask and a subtle glass effect referencing their science background. A Stacked Card introduced a hover effect that shifted color based on the card’s position within the grid. A Horizontal Card balanced image and text equally, designed to stand alone even without a visual.
The result was not a novel invention of the card format, but a deliberate visual language unique to the client—one that only surfaced by refusing to take the short path.
Speed Versus Exploration
Another recurring constraint is the belief that speed is always the priority: “Fast is better. Clients and project teams want me to be fast, so it’s okay if I cut down on exploration.” While budget and timelines are real, treating speed as the primary goal often suppresses better outcomes. A healthier mental model is:
“I like to work fast because I want the team to be successful. In addition, I want to make sure I have not only produced high-quality work but also explored whether this is the best and most creative solution for the project.”
Knowing the project’s budget and timeline constraints allows you to judge when to explore and when to dial in a solution.
This was demonstrated on a project for Cleveland Public Library. The wireframes called for a content-heavy hero section, but the client responded favorably to a dramatically simpler design created during initial exploration. The obvious move was to discard the wireframe direction to save hours for later work. However, slowing down revealed that the client did not want either extreme. The final, approved hero married the breadth of their offerings with the visual boldness of the simple design.
Reframing takes practice to become instinctive. Even veterans need reminders to pause and reconsider what they are about to accept.
Finding New Connections
While unlearning some past experiences is useful, there are other experiences worth mining for creative fuel. Designers carry a full history of interests, skills, and relationships that can be drawn upon to strengthen a project. These Connection Paths fall into three categories:
- Direct Path: You share overlapping interests with the client’s industry or work—for example, a gamer designing for a video game studio, where you might propose easter eggs or site tie-ins to their games.
- Cross Path: Your experience intersects at a single point—a former restaurant worker applying an understanding of restaurant culture to suggest CTAs or staff-facing graphics for a major chain.
- Network Path: You know someone in the client’s space—a family member who works in engineering can be consulted about the right user experience for a redesigned industry site.
When none of these paths align, a relevant skill can still bridge the gap. Outside expertise—such as copy editing—could be applied to refine messaging or emphasize a client’s goals, demonstrating extra care beyond the formal scope.
These paths are not theoretical. During the design of Comics Kingdom, a youthful ambition to draw manga provided a direct connection to a client serving comic readers and creators. Despite it falling outside the original scope, that passion justified spending time hand-sketching illustrations in Procreate—pieces tied to the joy that comics generate. A deeper layer came from adapting nawa-ami, a traditional cross-hatching style used to suggest deep thought in manga, into a background pattern mingled with fingerprints, representing the artist’s mark on their own work.
The level of involvement led to stronger collaboration, a successful launch, and an invitation to speak on the client’s podcast—proof that connecting on a deeper level can build partnerships, not just projects.
Taking Up Space With Your Design Decisions
Beyond refining how you frame problems or connect with your background, the most significant lever you can pull is how you position yourself in conversations about your work. That means occupying the space where design decisions are explained and defended — not by overpowering others, but by being vocal about the reasoning behind your choices.
Many designers find this uncomfortable. Perhaps you were never given room to practice it as a junior, or a more senior voice tends to dominate, or you simply assume someone else is better suited to speak to a given point. Whatever the origin, retreating from that space weakens your position as the expert in the room.
Don’t Retreat When Feedback Arrives
A common reflex during feedback sessions is to concede. When a client or colleague asks for a change you disagree with, going along with it seems easier than standing behind your work or probing their reasoning. But if you disagree with a request, do you really need to execute it just because of who made it?
There is another option: stay in the discomfort and use it as an opportunity to solidify your expertise. Stating that you don’t agree and explaining why marks you as a confident decision-maker. The key is tying your pushback back to why you made the original decision. Hiding your reasoning or yielding to every whim doesn’t demonstrate the knowledge needed to make sound project recommendations.
This doesn’t mean you must always disagree to prove a point. There are moments to lean into your expertise and moments to collaborate. Inviting coworkers and clients into the “why” behind your choices gives them visibility into your process — a move that builds trust without requiring confrontation.
A Typography Example
Say a client questions a font size, calling it too large or out of place. You have two options:
- Agree and make it smaller.
- Dig deeper before responding.
The second path is the stronger one. Instead of changing the size, ask what specifically feels off. Is the hierarchy between the heading and body text the problem? Would the size feel large in other contexts — and since this is an H2, would a change ripple across the whole site? Bring up the data-informed UX, accessibility, brand, or storytelling reasons behind the choice. If the client still wants the change after that conversation, you’ve shown you didn’t decide thoughtlessly; you weighed multiple factors. Over time that behavior builds credibility.
A Real-World Stand
On a Hilton Stories project in collaboration with Wicked, a client asked to remove a page-loading animation, preferring to place more branded elements elsewhere. Most of the team was ready to comply. Instead of conceding, the design team read between the lines: the client’s real concern wasn’t the animation itself but brand visibility. The solution was to add clear collaboration verbiage to the loading animation itself, plus logos and a video spot on interior pages.
That stand preserved a key piece of the design while addressing the client’s underlying goal. The project launched successfully — with the animation intact.
Try This Next Time
When you receive feedback, pause. Take in what is being said, ask clarifying questions, then respond. Decide whether the request genuinely makes sense against your design decisions. If it doesn’t, say so and explain why. Open that dialogue and see where it lands. It will feel awkward at first, but the practice smooths out with repetition.
Remember, you made your decisions for a reason. Now is the time to back up your design work and ultimately back up yourself and your decisions. So, take up your own space unapologetically.
Start small as you advocate for your work, and always tie your position back to the reasoning that shaped it. That habit — more than any single design skill — is what earns the trust of clients and team members alike. As Robin Williams put it in Dead Poets Society: “No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world.” For now, applying that to your workplace is enough.
