At Asentio Design I participated in different kind of projects and I was given different responsibilities that helped me to improve and develop a variety of skills, which are:

Research: analysis, interception, interviews, market research, trend research
Conceptualizing: brainstorming, organizing & selecting feasible ideas
Sketching: pen sketching and marker renderings; Delivered hundreds of sketches that communicate principles, forms, functionality and manufacturability
2D rendering: learned to do 2D renderings in Photoshop, here in China it is usual to communicate with 2D illustrations, but I was more used to use presentation drawings in the Netherlands
3D modeling: regular 3D modeling in Rhino 3D for presentation and prototyping purpose
Prototyping: defining CMF of designs, realizing mockups and prototypes (semi functional)
Client communication: communicating design decisions in a clear and efficient way to client and team
Project management: managing a small team of 3 designers (+ researcher in initial stage of project)
Internship coordination: responsible for recruiting and guiding international and local interns
Company’s representative: representing company’s design work and philosophy at a design exhibition in QingDao

After an half year working for Asentio I was given the opportunity to be a project leader for a project commissioned by a large American corporate client, named Cisco, who asked us to help them developing a design language for their first series of surveillance cameras and to create user friendly designs in terms of installation. That project is my successful highlight as a designer and project manager so far, as Cisco realized our design into a real product with a brand new design language and user friendly installation method.

Cisco's first surveillance dome cameras

I am sure one day you will see the design in public spaces, like the airport, bank, office, hotel, etc..
You can read more about the product at Cisco’s site

Furthermore my Chinese language skill has also been improved a lot, which is a very important skill here if you want to communicate efficiently with your local colleagues, clients and vendors and it comes really handy in your daily life. I feel much more home here in Shanghai when I am able to communicate well with the local people. Understanding the local humor is also a joyful plus. I always try to speak Chinese as much as possible, without being afraid that people may laugh at me, which happens all the time.

So what happened after I quit my job? You can read that in the next blog post

Set an effort-based goal.
If you’re honest with yourself, you probably already know which tools in your box need sharpening, and setting yourself a specific goal for improvement is the obvious next step. Creative growth can be difficult to measure, so the most effective short-term goals are usually based on effort rather than quality:

-”I will sketch for one hour after work every day until the end of the month.”
-”I will design four album covers for a band that I like by the end of the summer.”
-”I will learn enough animation to make a one minute movie about my last project by September 1.”

The beauty of goals like this is that they lift the heavy burden of performance from your labors; a burden which, paradoxically, can prevent you from doing your best work. Bill Buxton’s recent book recounts the story of a friend teaching a ceramics class, who chose to divide the students into those whose grade would be based on the quality of their best piece, and those graded purely on volume of output. Across the board, the best work came from the latter group: freed of the pressure to perform perfectly, they instead created prolifically, learning and experimenting in the process, with little fear of failure.

Setting a “volumetric” goal like this for yourself can achieve similar results, and has the added benefit of coaxing you into a more flexible mindset regarding skill-building in general.

Some times you might be too busy with work and do not have the time to improve design skills that are not being used in certain design projects for a long period of time. For instance some projects do not require 3D modeling at all, so you might get rusty on that.

I found a similar article that shares the following tips about sharpen your skills:

Set aside time for learning. Whether it’s 30 minutes a day, or an hour a week, it’s important that you set aside a regular block of time to learn about your profession. That might be reading magazines or blogs or books or trade journals, that might be paying attention to the work of others, that might be taking a class, or just working on your skills on your own. Whatever you do, be sure to schedule it, and don’t miss that appointment.

Pay attention. Let’s face it: many of us have been doing what we do for so long that we do much of it without much thought. It’s second nature. But that just allows you to do what you’re doing without change, without improvement. Instead, pay closer attention to what you do, to your skills. Just that act, of paying attention, can make a big difference, because it will make you focus on those skills more, and see what you could be doing better.

Fine tune. Once you start paying attention, see how you can improve. Look closely at each skill you have, each thing you do, and see what can be made better. Things can almost always be made better. Work on each skill, practicing it until you’re perfect, trying new things, getting creative.

Get inspired. It can be hard to motivate yourself to improve, especially when what you’re already doing works for you. But if you look at the work of others, especially others at the top of your field, or past masters, it can be enough to inspire you. Find ways to get inspired by the amazing works of others every day, and you’ll never stop improving.

Learn from the masters. Study closely the work of the masters, read about them, read things they’ve written about your craft. If possible, learn from them directly, by studying under them or working with them. They got where they are today by studying from the masters that came before them.

Get critiqued. Sometimes we can’t see what we’re doing wrong, because we’re biased, too close to the work. So you need to get an outside eye to take a look at it. Ask someone you respect for a critique of your work. Ask them to be honest, and specific. And when they give you that critique, don’t be offended or hurt or angry. You want honesty. Take whatever they said that’s critical and make it a way for you to improve yourself. Make a list of their points and see how you can get better at those points.

Take a class. If there’s a class available for your skills, and it’s taught by someone better than you, it’s worth taking. Sure, you can probably get the same information from books or magazines or the Internet, but there’s nothing like a class for learning, because it forces you to take the time to sit and digest the information, and you can often get personal interactions with the teacher so that you can understand the material even better. And if you turn in work to the teacher, you’ll get a critique from an expert!

Work with those who are good. Instead of taking a class or getting a critique from someone who is at the top of your field, work with them. Collaborate, get on their team, work at their company, or do a joint project. There’s nothing that teaches you better than doing, and working with those who know what they’re doing. Pay close attention to everything that they do, ask questions.

If things get boring, look to improve. Once things get static in your work, you will begin to get bored. That’s because you’ve stopped being challenged, and stopped improving. Instead of looking for something else to do, see this boredom as a sign that you need to improve yourself, and set new challenges for yourself. Take a new look at what you do, and see what new goals you can set for yourself that will challenge you to do better.

I believe you might agree that eveyone of us finds it important that we need to continually sharpen our skills to keeps ourselves challenged, interested and passionate about our job.

Our design team decided to have a 30min work break for every Wednesday. We use that time to sharpen our different design skills, through training and practicing.

So, how do you sharpen your skills during your busy work days?