How to design anything

I hear the line “I’m not a designer” a lot.

Design, like strategy, is about making incremental choices towards a goal.

So it really helps to begin with a clear visualization of what you’re hoping to achieve.

Here’s how to start:

📌 COLLECT.
A neon sign above that one pizza restaurant down the street or a series of posters on Behance, capture anything that catches your eye along the lines of what you’re looking for.

🌟 Don’t worry about finding the right thing just yet. This is about generating LOTS of ideas to choose from.

🔀 SORT.
After you’ve collected, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and group like minded visuals together. This can be by color, pattern, or just overall vibe.

🌟 There’s no wrong way to do this. It’s just a starting place to organize your thinking.

✏️ EDIT.
Now it’s finally time to bring back your inner editor and get rid of what no longer fits.

🌟 Less is more. Aim to have a few key visuals that you really love, instead of a dozen you feel lukewarm about.

💝 PRESENTATION.
Even if it’s only for yourself, having a concise one-page reference of all your visual ideas is a helpful artifact to have handy as you continue the design process.

🌟 You don’t need design software. Throw your final selections into a PowerPoint slide or even a Word doc.

And although it might be true that yes, not everyone is a designer…

Everyone is capable of making choices.