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10+ Relatable Designer Bad Habits (Stop Sabotaging Your Career)

Master infographic showing common designer bad habits like procrastination and file naming chaos

Designer Bad Habits: Let’s be honest, being a designer is 10% picking colors and 90% fighting your own chaotic nature. We’ve all been there – it’s 3 AM, your “Final_v2_REALLY_FINAL.psd” is still rendering, and you’re wondering why you didn’t start this three days ago.

If you’re a designer, these aren’t just “bad habits”; they’re a lifestyle. Whether you’re a freelancer in LA or an agency pro in New York, these relatable (and slightly embarrassing) habits are what we all have in common. By the way, if you think your habits are bad, wait till you hear how we talk – check out Designers Talk Dirty for more creative humor.

Here we have compile this list of their worst design habits, and offer a little advice on how to avoid them…

Table of Contents show

Designers’ Bad Habits

1. The “Infinite Options” Paradox

The Habit: Making it perfect, then looking for options just to prove it’s perfect.

Graphic designer searching for more design options even when the design is perfect
Searching for ‘one more option’ is just a fancy way of telling yourself you want to work for free.

Sarcastic Pro-Tip: If it’s perfect, close the file and walk away. Looking for ‘one more option’ is just a fancy way of saying you want to work for free.

2. File Naming Chaos

The Habit: Saving files as ridiculous_name_v1, v2, final, actually_final.

Funny illustration of final final v2 really final psd file naming habit
The only thing more chaotic than our minds is our file naming system

Sarcastic Pro-Tip: Three months from now, you won’t know which ‘Final’ was actually the one the client approved. Try Project_Date_Version your future self will thank you.

3. The Deadline Muse

The Habit: Waiting for the deadline to start the work.

Designer waiting for the deadline to start working 3D illustration
Adrenaline: The most expensive creative fuel in the world

Sarcastic Pro-Tip: Procrastination isn’t a lack of discipline; it’s a high-stakes gambling habit where the prize is a panic attack at 3 AM.
Must Read: Dealing with stressful deadlines? Is It True That The Life of a Designer Is Lonely?

4. The Caffeine Overdose

The Habit: Believing that ‘New Ideas’ only come after the 5th cup of coffee.

Designer drinking too much coffee for new ideas illustration
Turning caffeine into pixels since the beginning of time

Sarcastic Pro-Tip: Coffee is a tool, not a personality trait. Staring at the screen with jitters won’t make the layout better.

5. The “Tomorrow” Promise

The Habit: The endless loop of “I’ll send it later… I’ll send it tomorrow.”

Graphic designer making excuses to client about sending files tomorrow
“It’s rendering” is the designer’s version of “the dog ate my homework.”

Sarcastic Pro-Tip: Over-promising and under-delivering is the fastest way to lose a client. Just say you need two more days for ‘rendering.’

6. The Helvetica Trap

The Habit: Spending 3 hours looking for a unique font, then choosing Helvetica Neue anyway.

Designer spending hours choosing a font only to pick Helvetica Neue
When in doubt, Helvetica out.

Sarcastic Pro-Tip: It’s okay. Helvetica is the comfort food of design. Just don’t spend half a day pretending you’re going to use ‘Papyrus.’

7. Chasing “The Feeling”

The Habit: Refusing to finish a design until it ‘feels’ right.

Graphic designer refusing to finish a design until it feels right
Wait for ‘The Feeling,’ or just wait for the invoice? You choose

Sarcastic Pro-Tip: ‘The Feeling’ is often just your inner critic being a jerk. Sometimes, ‘Done’ is better than ‘Perfect.’

8. Taking Feedback Personally

The Habit: Getting emotionally attached to a layout and crying over client edits.

Designer getting emotionally attached to designs during client feedback
Your pixels are not your personality. Breathe.

Sarcastic Pro-Tip: You are not your pixels. When a client asks to ‘make it pop,’ check out these hilarious GIFs of Client vs. Designer to keep your sanity.

9. The “Anti-Google” Lie

The Habit: Claiming you never use Google Images for inspiration (while your history says otherwise).

Graphic designer secretly using Google Images for design inspiration
We all do it. Just don’t get caught.

Sarcastic Pro-Tip: We all look for inspiration. Just make sure you aren’t just ‘Copy-Pasting’- that’s where the trouble starts.

10. The “Never Finish Anythin” Loop

The Habit: Starting a shiny new project before finishing the previous one. Your computer is a graveyard of “80% done” designs that will never see the light of day.

Illustration of a designer with 50 half-baked projects and zero finished work habit
An unfinished masterpiece is just a file taking up space on your hard drive. Finish it, or delete it.

Sarcastic Pro-Tip: Getting a new idea is easy; finishing the old one is where the real work (and the money) is. If you keep jumping to the next “exciting” project, your portfolio will just be a collection of half-baked ideas. Finish what you started before you fall in love with another blank canvas.

11. Working Without Contract (The Freebie)

The Habit: Doing it ‘for the exposure’ or starting without a deposit.

Graphic designer working without a contract or deposit bad habit
Exposure won’t pay the bills. Get it in writing.

Sarcastic Pro-Tip: Exposure is great, but last time I checked, landlords don’t accept “Shoutouts” as rent. Say No to Free Designs before your hard work ends up in the trash.

We hope this list of designer bad habits makes you feel a little less alone in your 4 AM Photoshop sessions. Bad habits are hard to break, but they sure do make for great stories.

FAQ

What are some common bad habits of graphic designers?

Common habits include procrastinating until the deadline, poor file organization (naming files ‘final_v2’), and taking client feedback personally.

How can I stop procrastination as a designer?

Breaking a large project into smaller tasks and setting internal “soft deadlines” before the actual delivery date can help beat the “Deadline Muse.”

Is it bad to use Google Images for design inspiration?

Using it for mood boarding is fine, but relying solely on it without original research can lead to unoriginal work and potential copyright issues.

What’s worst designer bad habits you have? Let us know in the comments!

If we missed something we are open to add more bad habits into this post. Post your comment with hash tag #DesignersBadHabits.

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