Creating a Unique Personal Design Style

We’re all scrambling to be different and own our own slice of the design scene. Because of trends and the type of design that we’re exposed to, we all end up consuming the same art and influenced by the same design. Thus, we end up making work that looks similar. There is hope! You harness the power to have a unique style that is a total reflection of who you are as an individual. You are complex and made of a series of interesting qualities that make a big personality unlike anyone else. There is no one in this world that has the exact same qualities, personality, and skills as you! In this lesson you’ll work to define what makes you unique, set a life’s purpose that influences and drives your work, and create a new design style unlike anyone else’s using your unique skillset and personality.

1. Step 1: Define what makes you unique

   Before you work on designs, you must first define what makes you a totally unique person. Write a list of three core personality traits, or qualities, that make you amazing and interesting. You’ll translate those into mood boards later, so do your best to choose qualities that can be represented visually. For an in-depth version of this exercise, check out my workbook and video series Full Time You! Meg’s example: I love change, I don’t take anything too seriously, I love supporting others.

2. Step 2: Create a life’s purpose

   A life’s purpose is a crucial thing to have. It should be something short that’s made just for you. Because of your unique personalities, skills, and qualities, your life’s purpose should be easy to fulfill daily by you. Your purpose should drive every career and life’s decision that you make. You should be using your life’s purpose to position your design work and style. Meg’s example: My life’s purpose is to make the world a happier place.

3. Step 3: Visualize your findings

   Make a separate mood board for each of your three personality traits or qualities. You’ll likely have to do some critical thinking to maneuver your traits into visuals. Your mood boards should include photography, design, illustration, colors, and whatever else you need to accurately represent your unique qualities. Once your mood boards are finished, take a step back and notice common visual cues that are associated with each. You’ll see that each of the mood boards are vastly different because you’re made of traits that are totally different from one another. Our goal is to combine the mood boards into one super “you” board that will be different from anyone else’s and unlike anything that exists in the world.

4. Step 4: Create your new design style

   Here comes the hard part! Create a new mood board with work entirely made by you. This super “you” board should take elements you notice from each of your individual boards and combine them to create a brand new design style that’s a reflection of the unique person you are. Say one of your boards is full of bright colors and geometric shapes, another has art deco intricate illustrations, and the third has a lot of humor. You’ll create a new style that mixes geometric boldness with intricate line work but has a hilarity to it. Catch my drift? Make sure your new design style is also fulfilling your life’s purpose and utilizing your unique set of skills. If your life’s purpose is to promote bod positivity, you can fulfill that in each piece you make! If you’re skilled at photorealistic portraits, use that! If you’re great at hilarious copy in your work, go for it! Those things are what make you amazing. In the end you’ll create a design style unlike anyone else, because you’re unlike anyone else. Your unique design skillset, life’s purpose, and qualities makes for a style unlike anyone else’s.