ISSUE 13
Dear Students,
There are three words my students have heard me say hundreds of times over the years.
Trust the process.
Not because the process is magical.
Not because it's always easy.
Because the process works.
The Middle is Messy
I can't tell you how many times I've watched a student panic halfway through a project.
"I don't like it."
"I think I ruined it."
"I want to start over."
Sometimes they were only twenty minutes into a three-week assignment.
Sometimes they were halfway through.
Sometimes they had actually made good progress, but they couldn't see it yet.
So, I'd usually ask one simple question.
"Have you finished the process?"
Almost every time the answer was no.
They were judging the outcome before they had completed the work.
Graphic design isn't a straight line.
You don't start with a blank page and magically arrive at the perfect solution.
In fact, one of the best parts of design is that there usually isn't one single perfect answer.
There are many possible solutions.
The process helps you find it.
You research.
You sketch.
You experiment.
You throw ideas away.
You revise.
You get feedback.
Then you revise again.
Somewhere in the middle, almost every project feels messy.
That's normal.
In fact, I worry more about the student whose first idea feels perfect than the one who struggles through five different versions.
Because growth usually happens during the revisions.
Not before them.
Finished Isn't Always Done
I remember one student walking into my office after a critique.
"I thought it was done."
I smiled and replied,
"Just because you're finished doesn't mean you're done."
There's a difference.
Finished means you've stopped working.
Done means you've solved the problem.
Those aren't always the same thing.
The students who improved the fastest weren't necessarily the most talented.
They were the ones willing to stay in that uncomfortable middle.
The part where nothing feels quite right yet.
The part where feedback stings.
Sometimes a little.
Sometimes a lot.
The part where you wonder if you're making any progress at all.
They trusted that if they kept working the process, the solution would eventually reveal itself.
And it almost always did.
It Doesn't End After Graduation
I've seen the exact same thing outside the classroom.
Young designers panic after sending their first client presentation.
New graduates wonder why they haven't landed a job after only a handful of applications.
Professionals question themselves after receiving difficult feedback.
We all want results.
Now.
But good design...
Good careers...
Good leaders...
They all take time.
They all require repetition.
They all require patience.
And they all require trusting a process that often feels uncertain while you're living through it.
By the Time You Leave My Classroom...
By the time students leave my classroom, I hope they don't just remember assignments.
I hope they remember how to think.
I hope they still hear those little reminders in their heads.
Guide the eye.
Hierarchy first.
Simplify.
If an element doesn't have a reason for being there, get rid of it.
And maybe most importantly...
Trust the process.
Because eventually those reminders stop being my voice.
They become the way you think.
To me, that's the real goal of teaching.
Not to have students depend on me.
To help them become confident enough to think for themselves.
Final Thoughts
If you're feeling stuck right now...
Keep going.
If you're frustrated...
Keep going.
If your project doesn't look the way you imagined...
Keep going.
Don't judge the outcome before you've completed the process.
More often than not, the breakthrough comes after one more revision.
Trust the process.
It has a pretty good track record.
In design truth,
Maggie
