Making Irreplaceable Experiences | Entry 1

Blog - Career Options Series

“In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.
- coco chanel”

This quote by the fashion icon Coco Chanel represents a part of Janice Law's philosophy on how to stand out in the design industry. By making meaningful connections she believes that the people you meet will really help you drive your career forward. 

Who is Janice?

As a former Sheridan student in the Web Design program, Janice provided a lot of insight on her time in the program and tips on how to prepare ourselves for the workforce. Since her time at Sheridan, she's worked for a few agencies, building her network, her portfolio and developing beautiful user interfaces.

Collaboration and Process

Nowadays, Janice is designing interfaces for mobile, web and apps as a Senior Visual Designer at TD Bank. 

Below is a graphic of Janice's collaborative world:

As a web designer, or visual designer (there are too many titles) knowing your client, your consumer and conducting the research are vital to the process of delivering a solid product. You really have to understand the audience, the user, look at what they want and customize your design to meet the requirements. She cited an example of work she did for Cadillac Fairview malls where based on the research, one of the first things a customer looks for on a webpage are the hours. They made sure to include that piece of information clearly and boldly right when the user lands on the page.

She also mentioned, in respect to portfolio work, to "do what you want — don't waste time", the last thing you want is to be in a position where you are not enjoying your job.

Janice finds joy in design because she has the power to benefit other people and to make a difference — which I think, is a pretty awesome thing.

Details, Details, Details

In order to construct a portfolio that stands out, Janice emphasized the importance of paying attention to the details. You could create a beautiful webpage, sounding all the bells and whistles and yet forget to spell check.

When meeting a potential employer or going in for an interview, Janice recommended to leave them something like a thank you card, something to takeaway, something that they will remember you by. Moreover, always follow up with an email, ask for feedback on your portfolio and keep the communication going.

These are the details she's referring to. Following through, from beginning to end, owning your work and putting in your all. You don't have to be the loudest to be noticed, work hard, hustle and someone will notice.

Be Mindful

With a big smile, knowing very well how stressed we will all be in the next 8 months, Janice reminded us to eat well, sleep and exercise. But more importantly, she reminded us to have fun and to create memorable experiences. 

Thank you very much Janice for sharing your wisdom! You can find Janice on Instagram @janbearr and on LinkedIn at Janice Law.

Some links : nounproject | subtlepatterns | colorhunt | thefwa | tympanus