Dedicated to Milk

翻译：Megaeraxcz2

I had a great time in design school, I was constantly learning and surrounded by lots of like minded people. However, after five years of freelancing as a graphic designer, I’ve learned many new things. The following list is the top ten things that I had to learn the hard way.
我在艺术学校过得很不错。每天如饥似渴的学习并与志同道合者交往。但从事自由图形设计5年后，我学到了很多新东西。以下列出10件我从痛苦教训中得到的经验。

1.Your diploma doesn’t help you to find a job
1. 文凭不能保证你找到工作。

But your portfolio does! Of course it’s a good thing to get a design education and a proof of it, but when it comes to get money out of their wallet clients want to see what you are capable of, not a diploma. When looking for work, I never had to show my diploma, not even once.
但你的作品集可以！有过设计教育经历并获得相关证明当然是件好事，但想要客户从口袋里掏钱靠的还是你的能力而不是学位。我从不把毕业证拿出来，一次也没有过。

2.Good design takes time, don’t set too tight deadlines
2. 好作品需要时间酝酿，不要把截稿时间定得太紧。

When you are in design school, the teacher sets the deadlines for you and tries to give you enough time. Your boss or your client will not be like your design teacher, they will try to push you to be more productive and give you too little time to get work done. All my worst designs have been created when I agreed to work with unrealistic deadlines.
在艺校时，老师会设定交稿日期，一般会保证你有足够的时间。但你的老板和客户与艺校老师不同。他们会逼你提高速度，给你太短的创作时间。我最糟糕的作品都是答应在不现实的时间内交稿后草创而成的。

3.You clients don’t think that you are an artist
3. 客户不会把你看成艺术家

They just think you should help them to sell more. This doesn’t mean you should give up on good design, it just means that you’ll have to be convincing when you want to bring a more artistic touch to a job. I’ve been very frustrated with this when I first got out of school, but I learned to deal with it by educating my clients.
他们只你想让你帮忙提高销量。但这并不意味着你就该放弃设计出好作品。只是说明如果你想给作品增添更多艺术感，就得非常有说服力。刚离开学校的时候，我一直为此灰心丧气。但之后我学会了通过说服客户来解决这个问题。

4.You must be able to handle irrelevant criticism
4. 你必须能承受外行的批评

When you are in school, you learn a lot from getting criticized by your teachers and classmates. Obviously these people all have some design skills, sometimes more than yourself. It is much harder to handle critics about your work when they come from people with no design education. You can be sure that you’ll hear some insane things and have to deal with it.
在学校的时候，老师和同学的批评能让你受益良多。他们明显都有一定程度的设计技巧，有时比你更强。要接受没有受过艺术教育的外行对你作品的批评则难多了。我保证你会听到一些不可理喻的评论，这是你必须学会面对的。

5. You should backup your data on a regular basis
5.电脑数据要经常备份

Most people learn this the hard way, the day their computer crashes. Usually it happens at the worst time, before a client meeting or something similar. If you think that this isn’t design-related, you are totally wrong.
大部分人是从电脑崩溃的惨痛教训中学到这点的。一般都发生在最关键的时候，比如与客户见面前等等。如果你认为这和设计毫无关系那就大错特错了。

6.Start networking, now!
马上开始建立关系网

Be sociable, even if you are the best designer out there, nobody will know it if people don’t get a chance to meet you. You don’t even need to attend work-related events, just join a sport team, drama group or whatever suits you, the most important thing is that you meet some like-minded people. When with people, don’t oversell and talk about your work all the time, but be sure never to miss an opportunity when you think that someone could need your skills.
多参加社交活动。如果不与人交往，再好的艺术家也会默默无闻。你没必要去进行和工作相关的活动。可以加入运动队，喜剧小组或其它适合你的团体。关键是认识志同道合的人。和人交往时不要总是自我推销和谈论工作。但发现有人用得上你本事的时，别错失良机。

7.Make sure your client signs a contract
确保客户与你签下合同

This is sometimes annoying, especially when you think that you can trust the client, but it can save you a lot of trouble. You should make it a habit to have you clients signing a simple and comprehensive contract before starting to work. If you have no clue of how to write a contract, take a look at this article by Andy Clark.
这点有时让人很恼火，特别当你觉得某个客户很可信时，但签合同能让你避免很多麻烦。你应该养成习惯在开始工作前与客户签下一份简单而全面的合同。如果不知道怎么写合同，看看这篇安迪•克拉克写的文章。

8. Learning design is an ongoing process
学艺之途无止境

Getting your diploma doesn’t mean that your design education is over, far from it. As a designer you have to stay up-to-date with the latest trends, software updates and industry news, or you’ll quickly lose touch.
拿到学位不意味着你已不需要再进行艺术教育，这还远远不够。作为设计师，你必须时刻保持在潮流最前端，不断学习新软件，通晓行业新闻。否则就会很快落伍。

9 Being a good designer is not only about talent
9.天赋不是成为优秀设计师的唯一要素

“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it”. This quote by Thomas Jefferson says it all about the importance of hard work in creative fields. As a designer, you need to read, work and experiment constantly, it is the only way to let your natural talent explode.
“我很相信运气，但我发现勤奋能带来好运”， Thomas Jefferson的这句话揭示了勤奋在创造性领域中的重要性。作为一个设计师，你必须不断阅读，工作和尝试。这是让你天赋爆发的唯一方法。

10. Your printer will stop working when you need it the most
10 打印机总在最需要的时候出毛病

Need to print your design to go meet your client? Chances are that your printer will chose that moment to die. Make sure you have some friends or working partners willing to help in these cases.
需要打印设计去见客户吗？你的打印机有可能就在那个时侯失灵。确保自己在这种情况下有朋友或同事愿意帮忙。