Persistence, talent, luck: Starting out in the big design world

Becoming a designer isn’t always a straight line. For some, it starts with a passion for skate magazines or early social media layouts; for others, it’s a slower introductory process shaped by curiosity and formal education. We spoke to three designers—Mitch Paone, Francisco Torres, and Olivia Grace—about their path from student to professional: their doubts, first big projects, moments that sparked confidence, and the lessons they wish they’d known earlier. Their stories aren’t roadmaps but might spark clarity, comfort, or even your next move.

That’s who’s speaking:

Mitch Paone, designer, pianist, and composer, Co-Founder and Creative Director of the creative agency DIA Studio & Co-Founder and type designer at the type foundry Monkey Type

Olivia Grace, a product designer with over 9 years in the profession, worked on large-scale products at Google, including Android, YouTube, and Google Assistant. Currently, she is the Head of Design at AutoGPT. 

Francisco Torres, freelance type designer and font engineer based in Portugal. He works closely with internationally award-winning type foundries on retail fonts and has contributed custom typefaces for clients such as FC Barcelona, Tommy Hilfiger, and C. Tangana.

Following the spark to study design

Mitch Paone: I chose graphic design because I was captivated by the experimental layouts in early ’90s skateboard and snowboard magazines. I dug the raw combination of typography, graffiti, and collage, later to learn that this was the work of Neville Brody and David Carson. It was in high school that I recognized design as a legitimate profession, and I decided to pursue it as my primary field of study, alongside a minor degree in jazz performance.

Olivia Grace: What initially drew me to the field was the digital nature of it all. I taught myself Photoshop in high school and spent hours customizing templates for Friendster—the go-to social media site in Indonesia back then. I loved that feeling of creating something visually expressive with code and design tools. 

My university studies allowed me to turn those early passions into something I could look into deeper—and eventually, into a career. I studied New Media Design at Rochester Institute of Technology. The program was a blend of UI/UX, product design, with 3D and motion design. In the first two years, we were exposed to a wide range of disciplines—everything from user interfaces to animation. By our third or fourth year, most of us naturally gravitated toward a more defined focus. For me, that was product design.

Francisco Torres: I started by studying communication design in a vocational course when I was 15, finishing ESAD Matosinhos at 21. In 2016, I’m not exactly sure what drew me to the world of type, but I do know that after six years studying communication design, I didn’t want to become just another generic graphic designer working in an agency or studio. So I started researching my options and decided to take the TypeParis course — an intensive five-week type design program. It was a game-changer for me. 

Shifting expectations after graduation

Mitch Paone: I graduated from Loyola University New Orleans in 2005, just as Hurricane Katrina struck. The devastation forced me to relocate quickly, and I didn’t have any job expectations at the time—I was completely caught up in the chaos of the moment. However, I sent my portfolio to studios I admired and hoped for the best. Fortunately, our department chair, Daniela Marx, who had recently graduated from CalArts, had introduced me to motion graphics, which became my primary focus during school. At the time, those skills were in high demand, so numerous opportunities were available.

Olivia Grace: The only real expectation I had was that I didn’t want to move back to Indonesia. I wanted the experience of living and working abroad, and I truly wanted my independence. Beyond that, I think I assumed that designing at a job would feel a lot like designing in school, where there were no real constraints: no engineering limitations, no shifting org priorities, no tight timelines or ROI to think about. I didn’t have much of a clue what designing in the “real world” actually looked like.

Francisco Torres: Back in 2014, I had little belief that I could make a living as a designer. I was disillusioned, and the expectations set during university had been completely distorted. My mindset only changed when I decided to leave Portugal. In 2017, after TypeParis, I enrolled in a Master’s in Advanced Typography in Barcelona. I was a bit disappointed with that course, but I was living abroad in an amazing city, and was full of motivation to work. This time, I didn’t have many expectations per se, but I believed in myself and in my potential as a future type designer. I think that combination of factors helped me find the right first full time job.

Entering the industry

Francisco Torres: I came into the big design world as a type design intern. I went looking for it by being persistent and showing interest in that specific position. I wrote to several designers in the city, and Iñigo Jerez was the one who replied and invited me to visit his studio, which he had along with his partner, Jose Bellés from Extra Estudio. At the time, they focused on visual identities and packaging, but during the interview, they asked me what I wanted to do, and I said I only wanted to do type design. That was the role they had never had before.

Coincidentally, FC Barcelona has just started rebranding, and they asked Iñigo to design a typeface for them. That ended up being my very first type project, and 8 years later, it’s still being properly used — it couldn’t have turned out better.

Mitch Paone: I started out in 2005 as a freelancer at a studio in Los Angeles called Logan. I had done some remote design-oriented storyboards for them the summer before Hurricane Katrina hit. After the storm, I was in Dallas with family, waiting to hear whether my apartment in New Orleans had been destroyed. Then, they offered me a freelance opportunity while I was waiting to hear any news.

Being displaced, worrying about home and friends, but suddenly moving to Santa Monica and working on big projects for Apple and Old Navy was surreal.

Funny enough, the team at Logan didn’t realize I had just graduated until I arrived at their studio, so I had to prove myself quickly.

Olivia Grace: My first full-time design role was as an Interaction Designer on the Android team at Google. I got the role through a referral from my former professor: he attended my university’s portfolio review day, which led to an introduction to a recruiter. After that, I navigated the infamously long Google interview process, which took about two months.

That first role was an intense learning period. It wasn’t necessarily the design tasks themselves that were difficult, but rather the sheer volume of new knowledge. I got to know so much about the design process within a massive organization, learned how to design systems and products that could scale, and gained crucial soft skills for collaborating effectively with Product Management and Engineering counterparts. On top of that, I had to grasp the Android team’s unique launch timelines, milestones, and even its specific lingo.

Being thrown into Google as a first job is complex enough, plus Android had its own distinct culture. It was intense, but I learned an incredible amount.

Facing first doubts and the impostor syndrome

Olivia Grace: I definitely felt like an impostor when I started my first design job. I couldn’t wrap my head around how I landed a job at Google straight out of school: it felt like something out of a novel. The moment impostor syndrome hit me the hardest was during my first week at work, at orientation. I noticed that a lot of the people in my group were Ivy League grads—or at least from those elite schools everyone knows by name. Meanwhile, my university wasn’t one of those. I remember feeling a bit out of place, like, somehow, I had slipped through the cracks and wasn’t worthy.

I had a person on my team I could confide in about what I was going through: my teammate, Justin. He joined Google two years before I did as a fresh college grad, so it helped that he’d been in my shoes not too long ago. I also helped myself with a mindset shift. 

I accepted that I’ll never be the smartest person in the room, and that’s okay. What truly matters is being open to learning, receiving feedback, and voicing my opinions when appropriate.

Time played a big role, too. Over time, I saw that day by day, I still had my job, my peers still respected me, and I hadn’t done anything catastrophic that made people question my skills or my presence at Google.

Mitch Paone: The closest I came to feeling like an impostor was when I actively moved away from motion graphics in the early 2010s. The industry was shifting toward live-action, CGI, and VFX, which I wasn’t interested in. So, I’d teach myself fundamental aspects of design once again: things you’d see in branding or identity studios—static layouts, fixed-format print, micro-typography for editorial design—basically, a deep dive into all the old Swiss design books. 

I’ve always been diligent and proactive about learning, constantly pushing myself out of my comfort zone. That mindset probably comes from my background in jazz piano—practicing new ideas and techniques every day, knowing it’s a long-term commitment. It helps to “microdose” your goals. 

The big picture is intimidating, but consistently committing to at least ten minutes of practice a day is manageable.

This approach applies to anything you want to improve, not just design. Most importantly, if you avoid comparing yourself to others, that impostor feeling doesn’t exist.

Francisco Torres: As a freelancer, I believe that occasionally having doubts about your professionalism is part of growing as a professional. I may have struggled at first with thoughts related to privilege or social lottery, and later on, I had some doubts about my talent as a type designer.

It’s normal for those moments of doubt to become more intense during slower work periods or after a proposal or project doesn’t get approved.

I like to use those less positive moments in my career to invest in my education—it helps me focus and regain confidence for new challenges. In general, I try to be surrounded by good friends and colleagues who create a healthy and positive work environment. In my case, after going through some creative blocks, I created @juicy.ttf — a project that combines natural cider and variable fonts, which became my space for free exploration.

Feeling confident as a designer

Francisco Torres: After working in Barcelona, I returned to Porto in 2018 and shifted to freelancing. The start wasn’t immediate, but little by little, I began carving out a space for myself in the industry. I believe I felt like a real type designer when the flow of projects became consistent and ordinary. Of course, having worked on projects for brands like Vogue, FIBA, Mango, Zara Home, or Massimo Dutti was meaningful, but it was the routine of spending eight hours a day looking at letterforms and counterforms that truly proved it to myself. I could even add that working on retail fonts with Extratype and R-Typography gave me even more confidence and helped me grow a lot professionally. It’s very reassuring to have the trust of designers you admire to contribute to their special type catalogs.

Olivia Grace: I don’t think there was one specific turning point, but a series of moments and milestones made me feel like a ‘real’ designer. One significant moment was when the project I’d worked on for a year —  the redesign of Google Translate’s website — finally launched. Another moment of confidence was when my manager presented my vision deck at a VP-level meeting between Google Translate and Google Assistant. The fact that the Assistant team then adopted one of the pitched projects truly solidified my confidence.

Mitch Paone: Having case studies featured in design publications is validating, and getting consistent inquiries for new work is always encouraging. But more than anything, I’ve built confidence by constantly taking on projects that push my skills to the limit: if the projects become formulaic, I quickly lose interest. That kind of pressure has driven me to keep learning and growing. There’s still a lot to improve.

Design is constantly evolving, and it’s essential to stay engaged with that. With age, your eye sharpens and your decisions become more confident, but the learning never stops.