There’s a distinct moment, after the initial excitement of graduation has worn off, when you realize that now it’s time to “be an adult” and start looking for your first “real” job. Starting a career in the creative industry can be an incredibly exciting, and simultaneously daunting experience. Unlike working a typical office job, the trajectory isn’t straightforward. You could work in a big vs. small studio, in-house at a major corporation, or freelancing.

There are so many paths from which to choose. What’s nerve-racking about all these options is the paralysis of choice—how do we know we’ve chosen the right route? But, what’s so wonderful about all these options is that there is space in which to play, explore the industry, and ultimately, find the right place for you.

We say this with confidence, because we’ve seen it happen before— even with Hagit Kaufman, VP of Brand & Design at Wix. Her story is relatable. And in learning how she worked her way from fledgling designer to VP of Brand & Design, we’ve figured a few things out. Most importantly, that every starting point is the right one, because the only way to learn is by actually doing.

Not knowing is an asset

Hagit started her career as a print designer—a far cry from her current position running a rapidly growing studio of multidisciplinary designers, based out of three major international cities. As with so many things in life, a happy accident led a print designer to becoming a VP, and a similarly unpredictable series of events can likely happen to any emerging designer.

When making the transition from print design into web design, at what was then just a small startup, it was the drive to learn more about a new aspect of design that launched Hagit into the next stage of her career. In observing the different working processes of the few designers around her, an interest in the many aspects of design began to develop. And as is often the case on a small team, Hagit took on more roles than one, including interviewing prospective designers. It was through these alternative daily tasks that her creative career path, managing design teams, began to unfold before her.

You don’t have to be the expert in all aspects of design, but you do need curiosity. The position of not knowing encourages you to ask more questions, conduct your own research, and even, to play. Coming at a new assignment with a narrow focus, or inflexibility, is more to your detriment than the exciting possibilities of a beginner’s mind. As a designer, having an open-minded, adventurous spirit, can ensure that although the road ahead might not be straight or perfectly paved, you’ll find the right fit. Learn, explore, repeat.

Set the trend

Now that we’ve established that you don’t need to have a clear vision for your future as a designer, let’s talk about the vision you do have—your innate visual sense. As Hagit rightly points out, “This is one of our strongest tools for seeing things that others might miss. We see the world in pixels and patterns. And we also probably see trends before other people.”

Setting the trends sounds challenging, and frankly, incredibly time consuming. But we’ve learned that there’s actually a science to it. As a designer with an inherently strong visual sense, it will all feel relatively intuitive once you know where and how to look.

Trends exist in every facet of daily life. We’re not saying any one person should try and set the trends everywhere, no no, that’s too big of an undertaking for anyone, and sure to drive you crazy. But in your work, there are ways to incorporate and explore themes that are still unrealized by the zeitgeist, making you an originator, or trendsetter if you will. When honing in on your visual sense as you absorb the innovations happening in politics, fashion, technology, environmentalism, the arts, and international culture—you will begin to notice patterns and themes. Combining your visual sense with your aforementioned curiosity, you will be asking the right questions, developing the right research habits, and sharpening your visual sense, all of which will undoubtedly set you apart.

Use the product

Of course, now that you’re reading it, it might seem obvious to actually use the product with which you work, or on which you are working. Especially as a designer within hi-tech, using the product puts you directly in the user’s experience. Even if you’re so familiar with the product you swear you could do it all in your sleep, becoming aware of your process—pain points, common bugs you’ve learned to work around, features that you’ve always felt were lacking—these little moments are important to note. And thus, you’ll be able to course correct, advance, and even learn something in the process. As the VP of Brand & Design, Hagit not only encourages all the designers under her guidance to use the product outside of their daily tasks, but also to have hobbies outside of their work. Passion projects, getting involved with an especially interesting project from another team—anything that’ll revive and enliven a designer’s creative wellspring, is always going to be worthwhile. The skills you’ve developed in one design arena might translate differently in another. And, in the process of experimenting and exploring your options, you may find that you are invigorated anew, and full of fresh creative purpose.

The many paths of a designer

So, where does this leave us? Remember that road we talked about earlier? Yeah, it’s not going to be straight, more of a slalom in all honesty, and parts of it may even be unpaved. However, the beauty of it all is, you get to play an active part in determining your path. Every little bit of design experience you have is going to inform your next move. Every little bit of design education you pick up along the way is going to inform your next design. From assisting on a photoshoot, to web design, typography, motion, animation, illustration, interior design, and the list could go on, the core of it all is simply this: there are ample entry points into the industry. Once you get started, know that you’re not stuck, you’re just taking steps, and each one is leading you in the right direction. So long as you wake up each day enjoying what you do (or, you know, most days—no one’s perfect), and you’re ready to follow your curiosity, paths will appear before you. They may converge and diverge at various twists and turns, but you have control, you can make changes when you see fit. Pay attention to what you love, what you’re good at, what you don’t know—trust your visual sense, trust your creative intuition, and trust you’ll find your place.