The Quiet Success of the Average Designer
We all do it. As designers, our social media feeds are full of industry titans - Directors of multi-million-pound agencies, Chief Creative Officers of hot new startups, and rockstar freelancers with 150k Dribbble followers making more money in a week than you did last year.
We tell ourselves it’s great for inspiration, that we’re learning from the best. And while there’s value in following the work and careers of the best in the business, there’s a trap: constant unfair comparison. When all you see is an endless feed of over-achievers, it can make you feel like you’re falling behind. Like you’re not doing enough. Like you’ll never measure up.
But here’s what you need to remember.
The Noise Hides the Middle
There are a lot of designers on social media, making a lot of noise. Every day, thousands of designers share their latest Dribbble shots, case studies, or blog posts. But you only get to see the exceptional ones. They’re the anomalies - the top 1% who break through the noise, either because they’re doing rare, groundbreaking work or because they’ve mastered the social media game.
Social media platforms are good at this - they surface the extremes of exceptional and shocking content, the stuff that’s getting the most engagement and attention, and hide the middle. You’re only seeing the highlights - the award wins, the high-profile promotions, the viral success stories. It’s like being average doesn’t exist anymore.
Meanwhile, the vast majority of designers - good, successful, average designers like you & me - are working away quietly, improving their craft, solving problems. They’re building careers that aren’t designed to go viral, but are no less important.
The Curated Self
That shining social media presence of the 1% design rockstars, who seem to be constantly finding new levels of “making it”? It’s not all as it seems.
Their feeds may make success look effortless and inevitable, but you’re not seeing the long hours, the failed projects, the self-doubt behind the scenes. Their struggles, rejections, and bad days rarely make it to your timeline. Their days are probably more like yours than you think.
Comparing your day-to-day to someone else’s curated highlight reel is a losing game.
Look Closer to Home
So how do you avoid the trap?
If you’re going to compare yourself to others, compare yourself to your peers - the other designers in your office, your friends, the people in your network who are at a similar stage in their careers. Talk to them. Learn from them. Share your challenges. There’s more value in that than in measuring yourself against someone whose circumstances, experience level, and (let’s face it) willingness to exploit social media are completely different from yours.
Perhaps even more useful is to compare your current self to your past self. Are you better than you were last year? Have you learned something new recently? Have you solved interesting problems? That’s what really matters - growth.
-
Most designers won’t become internet-famous, and that’s fine. For every viral rockstar out there, there are a thousand other designers quietly being great at what they do, making an impact in their own way, and enjoying the process. They’re the ones really making a difference.