Design Taste VS. Design Skill
“Just because you like design, doesn’t mean you’re good at it.”
And before you click away, this isn’t a jab. It’s a reflection most of us have to make somewhere along the creative path. I know I sure as hell did. Because when you’re starting out (and honestly, even years in), it’s really easy to blur the line between taste and skill. And for the longest time as a designer, creative person or business owner, your skills don’t quite match the level of your taste.
Let’s dig into this one a little more.
What is taste?
Taste is your eye. It’s that instinctive “yep, that’s it” or “something’s not quite right” feeling you get when you see creative work. Be it design, photography, anything visual really. It’s the Pinterest board you keep updating, the brands you obsess over, the posts that stop your doom scroll.
Taste is what first pulls you toward design. It’s the reason you can tell that a campaign feels tight, or that something about this damn restaurant menu layout is just off. It’s what helps you see patterns, recognise trends, and understand what “good” feels like to you.
But here’s the catch that I suffered through for years: having good taste doesn’t automatically mean you can create what you love.
Taste gives you direction, but working on your skills is what helps you actually execute.
What is skill?
Skill is the muscle. It’s the hours behind the screen or putting pen to paper. The bad logos. The colour palettes that didn’t work. The “something’s not quite right” files that have never seen the light of day.
It’s technical ability, repetition, and failing forward. It’s the unglamorous part of design. The constant refining, tweaking, reworking until what’s in your head actually shows up on the screen or on paper the way you want it to.
Or more than likely, get’s close enough, and you’re on a deadline so send it off, and let’s try again tomorrow.
A lot of designers spend years feeling stuck in “The Gap.” That frustrating space where your taste is good enough to know your work isn’t there yet, but your skill hasn’t quite caught up. Honestly, I feel like I’m just getting out of the gap 8+ years in. And some days, I’m feel like I’m right back in it.
But, I have enough experience now to know that it’s not a sign I’m a “bad” designer. It’s a sign I’m still developing, and that’s what we should all be striving for when it comes to creative work. The worst thing you can do is quit in the gap. The best thing you can do is keep on making.
So how do you close that gap between taste and skill?
You practice. You study the brands that move you and make you feel something. You recreate things for personal use (not to copy, but to understand how to get closer to the style you’re inspired by). You push through the frustration of knowing you’re not there yet.
And slowly, your hands start catching up with your head.
The key is to realise that taste gives you your direction, and skill gives you your craft (although I do have a bit of a distaste for that word) You gotta have both to make something that really connects, and lasts.
I think that the designers and the brands that will last, especially in this age of automation, are the ones who know how to balance the two. They keep their taste sharp and evolving. Through art, film, nature, books, travel, fashion, whatever lights you up, but they also stay humble enough to keep learning the technical side.
Because the design world isn’t static, again, especially these days. The tools change overnight. The mediums change just as quickly. But I think the people who stay connected with both their taste and skill will be the ones who can keep making work that is gonna stick around.
So what’s the takeaway?
If you’re early in your creative career, don’t stress if your work doesn’t yet match your taste. It’s just the natural order my friend. Keep on keeping on.
If you’re a seasoned pro (and this is a reminder to myself too) don’t stop refining. Keep feeding your taste, stay curious, and remember that experience doesn’t mean you’re done learning.
And if you’re not a designer at all, but you work with them? Now you know the difference between someone with an eye and someone with skills. My advice to you is hire the ones who have both.
TL:DR
Good taste doesn’t make you a good designer, it just gives you the direction. Skill is what gets you there. Taste is instinct, skill is sweat. When starting out, a lot of creatives live in “the gap” between the two, where your eye knows what’s good but your hands can’t quite pull it off yet. That ain’t failure, it’s growth. Keep making, keep learning, and your hands will catch up to your head. And if you’re hiring a designer? Pick the one who’s got both. The eye and the skills to execute.
Rory
