This week will be 2016! A new year begins and a new semester follows allowing all of us to set goals for what we would like to learn and how we would like to change. In the past, I have thought that New Year’s Resolutions were overrated, why does a new number mean you now want to change? But, as I get older I see the new hope that a year can bring about getting closer to your educational and artistic goals, as well as developing as a person. So, if we are going to make New Year’s Resolutions part of our design world, then there should be some discussion of what these goals mean for us as designers.

Setting goals is nothing new for us college design students: get this project done on this day, the next on that day, and all of your other work done as well. But, sometimes it is hard to remember that our education is our own and we should be setting goals for ourselves as well. So along with completing the goals from our professors and mentors, we should also set goals this year to develop as designers. Whether it is wanting to master a new technique, get more professional experience, or just draw a little more, any way that you want to become a better designer is a good goal to set.

The thing about goals and resolutions is that we have ideas and dreams which may not be specific enough to write them down. First, every goal for this year should be specific because if not, it may feel too big and overbearing and less likely to be completed. All of our goals should be written down and better yet in a place we can see them often so that goals are not easily forgotten. Making them part of our everyday life seems to be more key than just writing them in a journal, never to be seen again.

So pens and papers out for this next week as 2016 is just beginning. I think stopping and thinking about what we would like to accomplish in 2016 is a good idea as designers because we are always tested by goals and time and this is a good time to feel ahead of it before we get swept into the next semester of due dates, tests, and college stress.