Soft Skills for Success in Design: A Design Studio's Experience

Contents:

• Key soft skills we evaluate
• Red flags during interviews
• How to test software during work
• How to build communication with the client
• Red flags in working with clients

During the interview, it's important to focus not only on the candidate's hard skills but also their soft skills. Soft skills play a key role in building an effective team and establishing comfortable relationships with clients. It's important to determine how well the candidate's values ​​align with the company's corporate culture, which can significantly impact the success of collaboration. When assessing soft skills, it's important to pay attention to communication skills, teamwork, adaptability, and emotional intelligence, which ultimately contribute to a harmonious and productive work environment.

Maryco is a design studio with a remote team specializing in creating unique visual solutions. We work with large companies from various industries, including B2B, telecommunications, IT, and e-commerce. Our team regularly seeks new designers for junior and middle positions, allowing us to continually expand our resources and share our experience in recruiting qualified employees. We strive for high quality and a personalized approach in every project, making us a reliable partner for businesses.

In this article, maryco Art Director Nika Oktyabr and Lead Designer Seryozha Podkovyrkin share their views and experience in design. They discuss current design trends, the importance of a creative approach, and strategies for successful project implementation. Delving into detail, Nika and Seryozha emphasize the importance of teamwork and communication for achieving high results. Their advice and recommendations will help designers and art directors improve their skills and increase the efficiency of their projects.

• What criteria do design studios use to select designers for their teams?
• What red flags do we look for during a candidate interview?
• How soft skills are tested in practice?
• Why soft skills are important when working with a client?
• What red flags can help identify a toxic client?
• What is the secret to developing soft skills?

Key soft skills we evaluate

During the interview, we evaluate the candidate's hard skills and their compliance with our requirements. If a designer has high soft skills but has weaknesses in certain areas, such as typography, we are ready to offer support in their development. We will train them and provide additional challenges to improve their skills. This approach not only helps fill knowledge gaps but also helps develop a more competent specialist into our team.

Soft skills play a key role in assessing a candidate's prospects for collaboration. These skills help us understand how effectively a person will interact with a team and adapt to the work environment. Important soft skills include communication skills, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and teamwork. These qualities not only help them establish rapport with colleagues but also facilitate problem-solving and informed decision-making. Assessing a candidate's soft skills helps employers select the right person, who will be not only a qualified specialist but also a valuable team member.

• Friendly communication. It's important for a designer to be able to express their opinions in a non-toxic manner, respond to criticism, and interact with other designers—this maintains a comfortable working atmosphere within the team.
• Awareness and determination. We can help a designer develop their skills only if they understand what interests them and in what direction they want to develop. Otherwise, they will stand still and project negativity.

We recently had a case that illustrates the importance of professional skills in a team. The designer came to us with great enthusiasm and a desire to implement complex creative projects. However, we soon ran into a problem: they did not possess the necessary skills to complete the assigned tasks and showed no desire to learn and develop. As a result, we decided to part ways. This experience emphasizes that for successful teamwork, not only motivation but also the appropriate professional skills are important.

• Openness. This is a desire to learn new things and a predisposition to communication. If a person isolates themselves from the team, it's unlikely we'll be able to grow together and reach new heights. Adaptability. It's important to us that a new team member is willing to adapt to our work processes. For example, they might start using the Toggl time tracker, where we track time spent on tasks. A lack of flexibility and an unwillingness to adapt to our approach are indicators that the designer may stagnate in the future. During the interview with the designer, we discussed the terms of a test assignment, which had to be completed in Figma, as this software is fundamental to our work. Although the candidate agreed, he presented the result created in Adobe Illustrator. This approach doesn't meet our requirements, and we cannot continue our collaboration. Desire to develop. We value it when an employee is ready to immediately join team activities that will help develop their professional skills. For example, we recently held an internal font design competition. The winners received the opportunity to publish their work. In the final round, we recognized the most proactive and creative designers.
• Proactive. We appreciate it when designers take on additional challenges, generate ideas for team development, and help improve work processes.

Our creative designer prepared a presentation outlining her vision for the company's development over the next year. This was her independent initiative, which we highly value and support. The presentation contains ideas and strategic plans aimed at improving our team's work and achieving new goals.

• Ability to defend one's position. This is an important soft skill that will be useful in communicating with both lead designers and the client. In both cases, you sometimes have to explain your decisions and defend your boundaries when justified. This also includes the question of expected salary: we are open to a dialogue about a raise, but it is important for us that the designer argues why he deserves more pay.

Red Flags at an Interview

• Custom Phrases. We have learned to notice when a designer speaks about himself naturally, and when he uses impersonal expressions taken from articles on hh.ru, for example, about stress resistance and communication skills. It is interesting to learn not only what qualities a person possesses, where he studied and what he did, but also what plans and dreams he has, what lights him up in the profession.
• Passivity. If a designer has not even researched the company where he sent his resume, knows nothing about his own preferences and at the same time does not want to take on the responsibilities assigned to him, then it is unlikely that we will be able to achieve common goals and grow together.
• Arrogance. On our team, everyone is talented in their own way, with varying levels of experience and responsibility. At the same time, we communicate as equals and never consider ourselves superior to others. If a candidate acts arrogantly, we won't see eye to eye.

We had a candidate who persistently refused to turn on their video during the interview, citing this as a matter of principle. We respect their position, but we are unlikely to consider them for the job. It's important for us to see open communication and genuine emotions, which can only be captured during a video call.

How to test software during work

A designer's soft skills are demonstrated in three main situations. First, when working in a team, when it is necessary to interact with colleagues, exchange ideas, and find compromises. Second, when communicating with clients, where active listening skills and the ability to adapt your ideas to the client's needs are important. Third, when presenting your projects, when confidence and the ability to argue your decisions are required. These situations emphasize the importance of soft skills for a successful career as a designer and their impact on the final quality of work.

• High workload and stress. When a team has urgent tasks, you have to act quickly. Such situations reveal which employees can pull themselves together, help others, and support, while others, on the contrary, become confused, panic, broadcast negativity, or procrastinate.
• Burnout. We always openly discuss burnout with our team members. If a designer becomes fatigued with tasks—for example, drawing illustrations—they should recognize this early and negotiate with the lead to change the level or type of workload.

Our creative designer once expressed fatigue after weeks of work on a demanding project. She asked to temporarily take on a routine task—creating template layouts for another client. We supported her decision, and this allowed her to relieve creative stress and recharge. As a result, we not only retained a valuable employee but also improved the overall team atmosphere.

• The need for advancement. It is important for the designer to identify the need for growth—to reach a new professional level. They should independently discuss the direction they are interested in developing and what more challenging tasks they would like to take on. This helps to improve the studio's product quality and, overall, provides impetus for the team's development.

How to Build Communication with a Client

Soft skills play an important role in creating a comfortable working atmosphere within the team and in forming healthy, non-toxic relationships with clients. Lead designers bear significant responsibility in this process. Here are the main recommendations for effective interaction with clients:

First, actively listen to clients. Understanding their needs and expectations will help build trusting relationships. Second, articulate your thoughts clearly and distinctly. This will help avoid misunderstandings and improve the quality of communication. Third, show empathy. Empathy and understanding of client needs strengthen connections and create a positive company image.

Don't forget about regular feedback. Maintain an open dialogue so that clients feel involved in the process. It is also important to maintain professionalism, even in difficult situations. The ability to remain calm and find a compromise will help you overcome any challenge.

Proper use of soft skills not only improves customer interactions but also contributes to a positive company image in the market. Invest in developing these skills to improve your business efficiency and strengthen long-term relationships with your clients.

• Remember that they are people first and foremost. Convey friendliness, understanding, and respect. Clients with whom we have established a warm relationship stay with us for a long time – we begin meetings with small talk, joke and laugh throughout the conversation, which does not interfere with maintaining business relationships.
• Be partners. Show your interest in achieving a common goal: a desire to conserve resources without sacrificing quality, implement new tools, and improve layouts.
• Present design solutions in accessible language. Design is something that needs to be talked about and explained in simple and understandable language. We don't use first-order metaphors in conceptual logo development, so we always explain the form, meaning, and conceptual component in presentations and demonstrate how all this interacts comprehensively with the identity. Otherwise, the client (due to a lack of education and experience in this area) may simply not understand the value of your work.
• Build a transparent work process. Record tasks and their status in the client's task manager, or provide access to your own. Create an open estimate that allows you to track how much time the designer spends on a particular task, and fulfill the estimate within the previously agreed-upon deadlines.

Red Flags in Working with Clients

Our clients, with whom we maintain warm relationships, provide constructive and friendly feedback. We are open to rational criticism and strive to continuously improve our services. Your opinion is very important to us, and we are ready to take it into account to improve the quality of our service.

There are clients who underestimate the work of designers, especially at the initial stage of collaboration. We prefer not to work with such clients, as maintaining team values ​​and a positive emotional state is more important to us than making money.

Red flags in communication with clients that indicate potential problems in interactions include the following. First, a lack of clear requirements and expectations on the client's part, which complicates the work process and can lead to misunderstandings. Second, if the client frequently changes the terms or deadlines of the project, this may indicate a lack of clarity in their intentions. Third, if the client ignores recommendations or advice from specialists, this can lead to conflicts and a decrease in the quality of the final product. Fourth, if the client does not respond to messages or delays feedback, this creates communication difficulties and can negatively impact the project deadlines. These signs are important to consider to prevent possible complications and achieve a successful outcome.

• Misalignment of values. It's important for us to create a warm atmosphere both within the team and in external communications with clients and partners. If a client works with a "pay-get-go" format, we're unlikely to find common ground.
• Price quibbles. Even though the design market is developing and people are more conscious of the work of creative professionals, some clients don't understand that design requires payment.

We ensure transparency in our work process by providing a detailed estimate indicating the time required to complete each task. If a client tries to push a design price without sufficient justification, we prefer to refuse cooperation.

• Toxicity. It's important to build a partnership with the client, where communication is based on mutual respect. Failure to express criticism clearly, amiably, and logically is a deal-breaker for us when communicating with clients.

Based on these principles, we shape our brand's HR strategy, emphasizing the importance of long-term and deep partnerships. We strive to ensure that each party finds opportunities for growth and development, as well as participates in challenging and interesting projects implemented in a comfortable and friendly environment. Our approach is focused on creating mutually beneficial relationships that foster successful collaboration and improve overall team effectiveness.