Four Critical Ways to Stay Relevant as a Designer by Networking

Whether you're a full time designer for a firm, 100% freelance, or a mixture of both, it's critical to network with other designers and sustain a web presence. In the past, we've talked about why it's important to have a website as a digital home base for your business or your design work. We've also discussed the merits of creating and improving your web portfolio so you can make sure anyone can learn and see what you do at any given time, whether that's a potential employer, client, or fellow designer.

However, it's also important that you also have a presence in one or many of the design communities that exist on the web. Not only will it help you see what your peers are up to, it can also be a major source of inspiration, a great way to get professional feedback, and also a fun way to connect and learn from other designers.

There are hundreds if not thousands of social networks in general, and while some of them apply to design specifically, others do not, but shouldn't be discarded as a waste of time. Certain niche communities within larger networks can truly be a valuable experience.

Social media and social networking sites have “networking” in the title for a reason. The importance of networking can't be emphasized enough; you never know from where your next partnership, job, great idea, etc., can materialize. Networking, whether in person or on social media platforms, is a time well spent.

It's important that you also have a presence in design communities on the web. Not only will it help you see what your peers are up to, it can also be a major source of inspiration, a great way to get professional feedback, and also a fun way to connect and learn from other designers.

Here are the top 4 places that you may want to consider investing some time to help you stay relevant as a designer and network with peers.

1. Dribbble

Dribbble, one of the newer but most popular communities of designers in all forms (“designers, icon artists, illustrators, interface designers, typographers, and other creative folks”), is easily the first place to recommend designers to start. The community is based around basketball concepts. Most basically, Players upload Shots of their work that’s either in progress or is complete, get feedback and likes from other Players.

Dribbble has a layer of exclusivity: it is a moderated and selective community in order to keep the standard of design high. Before you’re invited (Drafted) as a Player by an existing Player, you’re a Prospect. As a Prospect, you can like and collect other Players’ works, but you have to be invited before you can post anything of your own.

Amongst many others, here are a few other fun Dribbble concepts: If you’re inspired by someone else’s work or are uploading a new Shot that’s a revision of your older one, you can Rebound off of that original Shot. Also, Teams exist so that a group of designers can submit work for an overall company (Medialoot is a Team on Dribbble!).

Dribbble is also a great place to find jobs. Players can flag themselves as for hire, and anyone can sign up to find designers by location and skills.

Most simply, Dribbble is a designer’s playground that contains an attractive place for your portfolio, and is also a great networking site and job board.

2. Twitter

As Medialoot’s Community Manager, I stay on top of social media trends and hot topics. Full disclosure: I’m a diehard Twitter fan. However, it’s for quite a good reason.

Twitter, unlike some other social media networks, doesn’t filter out content from users. You can make the choice to see all of the tweets from everyone you follow. And of course, with hashtags and search within Twitter, it makes it extremely easy for you to follow people who talk about things you’re interested in.

Twitter’s lists, recently revamped to lift the limit on the number of users per list, are another great tool. For example, Medialoot’s Twitter account has several lists that we maintain, whether it’s a list of great designers, our favorite graphic design blogs, or a list of the Medialoot team members. You can choose to subscribe to someone else’s Twitter list, or work to curate your own. Users get notified when you follow them or add them to one of your lists, so choosing to do either can help you engage with some great people and brands.

Used with powerful desktop or web based apps (like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite), you can add a column for each list you follow or create.

3. Behance

Behance is similar to Dribbble in that it’s a portfolio community for designers, with the main difference being you don’t have to be invited to join the site; anyone can upload his work.

Behance allows designers to share more of the story behind the work within one presentation page, instead of a single 4:3 aspect ratio like with Dribbble. (I should note that you can add attachments to any Dribbble shot, but you have to click through to see them.)

In this beautiful example by Antonio Rodriguez, Antonio provides a large quantity of examples from his entire Love Booklet project and shares both photographs of the final pieces as well as process photos.

With Followers, likes (known as “Appreciate” on Behance), Collections, an Activity feed and Discover page, a job board and more, Behance is a very powerful design community of extremely talented people. The most popular fields are listed as:

• Architecture
• Art Direction
• Branding
• Fashion
• Graphic Design
• Illustration
• Industrial Design
• Interaction Design
• Motion Graphics
• Photography
• UI/UX
• Web Design

And the fields get even more specific in the Alphabetical listing, including:

• Automotive Design
• Cartooning
• Makeup Arts
• Street Art
• Toy Design

4. Meetup

Let's not forget that the most meaningful connections happen via person to person communication.

Meetup has been around for a while, but it is only as good as the community and activity in your area. There are tons of great design and development related Meetup groups in Philadelphia, and with some Googling and legwork in your neighborhood, you can be on your way to join a niche group within a week.

Aside from networking, Meetup groups and other clubs tend to offer something of educational value to their members, whether it's a class, book exchange, or roundtable discussion.

Nothing in your area? Brainstorm a few sessions worth of activities, start your own Meetup group, and get the word out there! You may be surprised at how many people in your area have been waiting for a group just like yours.

Bonus Community: Fleck

Designers as a personality type are carefully attuned to their surroundings. We find beauty in and are inspired by the smallest, most common, weirdest, and intriguing visuals. In turn, designers are drawn to inspiring images curated by their peers. While sometimes we can experience a nice design-ey collection in someone’s Instagram, Facebook, or other feed, we almost always are inadvertently exposed to that same person’s dog, lunch, or child.

Enter Fleck, an amazing source of inspiration for and by designers. It’s self-described as an app that connects you to visual creatives in the world's most interesting cities via focused, always on-topic photo streams. Inform and inspire a global conversation around curated topics like Street Art, Typography & Ink.

You can easily join on your iPhone and browse all images submitted by other users like you from around the globe. You may have a similar experience to me: I had a bunch of design or architecture photos on my phone, but then had nowhere useful to put them. With Fleck, I can contribute these cool photos to the Fleck community so they’re viewable (and “likable”) by other creative individuals.

Just make it happen

If you’re not already, take a couple of hours to get yourself set up. If you’re going for a portfolio site, choose one that best suits your needs and format and upload at least 5 items. Find 10 like minded individuals to follow. Then schedule in a daily or weekly check in. If you’re more interested in starting on a social media channel, choose one, upload a photo of yourself, write a bio, find and follow 20 peers.

Whether you choose a design-specific site or a more generalized social media channel, or any combination of the above, it’s important to schedule time for it each week or day after your account is set up. Being active and keeping yourself and your brand visible is critical for staying relevant as a designer.

While I'm aware the suggestions in this post are not earth shattering, I'm still amazed at the number of designers I come across that don't use these popular design community tools. I can't stress how important it is to invest energy into these types of sites, whether you've been at the same design job for 20+ years or whether you're freelancing full time, or anywhere in between. And if you're going to jump into these online communities, it's best to do it where the traffic is most substantial.

You’ll be surprised at the connections you can make with small levels of maintenance, in as little as 15 minutes per day or one solid social media hour per week. In the grand scheme of things, there’s a lot of potential for positive return and growth with that small of a time commitment.

There is potential for an overwhelming positive return with small and regular time commitment to social media for designers.

What social media channels do you use as a designer? Share your favorites as well as your account links below! Or, if you're not yet involved in social media, what challenges are you facing?