Designing without a Team: Lessons Learned as a One-Person Design Team
2025.02.10
It was a Tuesday morning as the students trickled into the classroom. There were no windows in the room—just several dozen iMacs lined along the walls in a horseshoe shape, with a work table and projector at the front. Along with my peers, I settled into my workstation, preparing for the lesson that we would endure for the next three hours.
I spent countless hours in that classroom during my university days, learning the techniques of graphic design from my professors. They would often share insights about working for a design agency or firm. Agency this, agency that.
Like many students, I dreamed of working for a design agency post-graduation. I imagined collaborating with a team of experienced designers at a large agency downtown, learning from them, and creating marketing campaigns for global corporations. I envisioned designing product packaging that would grace store shelves.
Instead of working in a firm or agency, I have spent my career working as an in-house designer on teams without another designer on staff. This experience has given me advantages I did not anticipate—ones my design professors never covered.
Flexibility and Autonomy
In my experience, one of the advantages of being the sole designer for an organization is the autonomy to shape your work and the flexibility in how that work is done. This is particularly true if your organization has never had a dedicated designer on staff or has relied on someone who only dabbled in design. This means you’ll have the opportunity to help build design processes and workflows from the ground up.
As the sole designer, you may also have influence over which tools your organization adopts to support design work. Although Adobe Creative Cloud is the industry standard, your organization’s needs may steer you in another direction. For example, if you work for a nonprofit, you may choose to use Canva and Affinity Suite due to their cost-saving benefits, since they are available at no cost to eligible nonprofits.
Furthermore, being the only designer allows you to pivot quickly as projects evolve. You can make necessary decisions swiftly, maintain control over the design process, and respond effectively to changing demands.
Efficiency and Speed
As the sole designer, particularly in a small organization, your workflow can be more streamlined. With fewer required meetings to coordinate with other team members, you’ll have more time to focus on actual design work. This also reduces the likelihood of miscommunication, since you are the only designer handling the projects from start to finish.
Additionally, working solo often leads to quicker turnaround times. Without the need to delegate tasks, oversee their completion, or wait for feedback from other designers, projects can progress significantly faster. Rather than spending time discussing responsibilities or waiting for approvals, you can dive straight into the work and focus on producing results.
This efficiency also allows for rapid concept exploration, giving you the freedom to refine ideas without the delays common in collaborative teams. Working alone enables you to match the dynamic needs of projects and adjust as needed.
Creativity, Specialization, and Learning Opportunities
As the sole designer, you often have greater creative freedom with fewer constraints, giving you more room to explore new ideas and push your creativity. This autonomy fosters experimentation, allowing you to test unconventional approaches and grow your skills.
Working alone can also lead to specialization, helping you refine your craft in specific design niches that align with your strengths and interests. By focusing deeply on certain areas, you sharpen your skills and develop a unique expertise that sets you apart. The freedom to explore different design areas also allows you to discover new interests, strengthen your abilities, and grow as a well-rounded designer.
Additionally, being a team of one presents numerous opportunities to expand your skill set beyond design. Without a team to rely on, you may take on responsibilities such as project management and client communication—tasks that may initially be outside your comfort zone. This broadens your experience, making you more adaptable and equipping you with versatile skills valuable in any professional setting.
Being a design team of one comes with unique challenges, but it also offers significant advantages—greater autonomy, streamlined workflows, and opportunities for creative exploration. Without the constraints of a larger team, you can move quickly, adapt to changing project needs, and take ownership of the entire design process. This role also allows you to develop specialized expertise while expanding your skill set beyond design, making you more versatile and adaptable. While agency life may have been the expectation in design school, working solo can be just as fulfilling, providing a dynamic and rewarding career path that fosters both professional growth and creative freedom.
