Appearing confident in everyday professional life
0.1 / What it's about
Understanding everyday working life and shaping it effectively.
Industry Realities reveals in two parts what daily professional life in design entails. Part A, Everyday Professional Life (Chapters 01–08): Industry and forms of work, working models, briefing, value and quotes, contracts and rights, client communication, presenting, as well as portfolio and application. Part B, Staying Healthy (Chapters 09–14): Working hours, body and workspace, creative phases, stress, responsibility and AI, as well as work-life balance.
The course is practical and solution-oriented: for every topic, there is a tool to try out and an exercise based on a real-life case. As a continuous example, you will follow Lea, a designer at a Zurich-based studio, during her work for Gartenglück, a seasonal meal delivery service. The round lightbulb button on the cards displays three examples for each: best practice, satisfactory, and insufficient.
Key questions of the course:
QUESTION 1
Where and how do I want to work?
QUESTION 2
What exactly does the customer want, and how much does it cost?
QUESTION 3
How do I impress with my work?
QUESTION 4
How do I stay healthy, creative, and happy in my job?
Course framework:
TARGET AUDIENCE
Creators
Learners in graphic, media, web or UX design before and during their career entry.
SCOPE
14 × 90 mins
In two parts plus a final project; each module can also be taken individually.
Format
Practical
Short input, tools, role plays and exercises based on real cases, with a focus on prevention.
0.2 / Learning Objectives
After the course, you will work more professionally and mindfully.
After the course, you will be able to:
01
understand the industry, compare working models, and get the right cover for you
02
Review briefings, calculate prices, and agree usage rights
03
Lead client meetings, present designs convincingly, and apply with a portfolio
04
Designing working hours, workplaces, and creative rhythms healthily and preventing stress
05
Reflect on responsibility and AI, and create a plan for work and balance
0.3 / Course content
All modules and sections at a glance.
Fourteen modules in two parts, each with a core question and a tool. Part A, Everyday Working Life: Modules 01–08. Part B, Staying Healthy: Modules 09–14. Click on a module or jump straight to a section.
MODULE 01
What does the design market look like today, and where is your place?
MODULE 02
Which working model suits your life?
MODULE 03
What exactly is the brief?
MODULE 04
What is design worth, and how much does it cost?
MODULE 05
Who owns design?
MODULE 06
How do you work well with clients?
MODULE 07
How do you persuade with design?
MODULE 08
How do I show what I can do?
MODULE 09
How can working hours remain healthy and fair?
MODULE 10
How do you keep your body healthy when working at a screen?
MODULE 11
How do ideas come about, and what helps when they don't?
MODULE 12
How do you stay healthy even under pressure?
MODULE 13
What responsibility do designers bear?
MODULE 14
How do you stay healthy, curious and enthusiastic about being a creator in the long term?
0.4 / Procedure per module
Each module follows the same structure.
The rhythm stays the same, the content changes:
01
Introduction (10 mins)
A question or a case from your day-to-day work.
02
Input (20 mins)
Fundamentals, facts and solutions – concise and practical.
03
Tool (15 mins)
Try out this topic in the interactive tool using your own situation.
04
Exercise (35 mins)
Role play, application to your own case or a measure to test.
05
Reflection (10 mins)
What is your takeaway from this?
In each section, you will find a bold key takeaway with a lightning bolt icon, an exercise behind the blue button, a read-aloud function, and on many cards, examples behind the light bulb icon. The health-related content is not a substitute for medical or psychological advice.
0.5 / Certificate of achievement
At the end, you will have completed a project from start to finish and a clear plan for your career path.
Final project: an assignment from briefing to presentation and a personal career plan for the first few years, individually or in pairs
01
Profile and Model
Strengths, positioning and preferred working model with pension provisions.
02
Rebriefing and quotation
Summary of the order, services, price, assumptions and rights.
03
Design and Presentation
A draft with justification, presented in ten minutes, including objections.
04
Health
Workplace, working hours and early warning system.
05
Balance and reflection
Recovery, boundaries, learning goals and what you will do differently on the next job.
Evaluation criteria: Re-briefing and quote (20%), rights and value arguments (20%), persuasiveness of the presentation (20%), clarity of profile and working model (20%), concrete measures for health and work-life balance with reflection (20%).
0.6 / Literature and Sources
Good practice is built on solid foundations.
• Bakker, A. B. & Demerouti, E. (2007): The Job Demands-Resources Model. Journal of Managerial Psychology
• Bierut, M. (2015): How to use graphic design to sell things, explain things, make things look better …
• Clance, P. R. & Imes, S. A. (1978): The Imposter Phenomenon in High Achieving Women
• Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990): Flow
• Monteiro, M. (2012): Design Is a Job
• Monteiro, M. (2019): Ruined by Design
• Shaughnessy, A. (2005): How to Be a Graphic Designer without Losing Your Soul
• Sonnentag, S. & Fritz, C. (2007): The Recovery Experience Questionnaire. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology
• Wallas, G. (1926): The Art of Thought
• World Health Organization (2019): Burn-out as an occupational phenomenon (ICD-11)
• World Health Organization (2020): Guidelines on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour
• Federal Act on Copyright and Related Rights (CopA), fedlex.admin.ch
• SECO: Guidelines on the Labour Act; Swiss Code of Obligations (CO), fedlex.admin.ch
• Factsheets and templates from professional associations, such as Swiss Graphic Designers (SGD)
• Information on self-employment: OASI compensation funds and the federal government's SME portal (kmu.admin.ch)
Please note: Legal and health information has been simplified for teaching purposes and is no substitute for professional advice. The current statutory texts on fedlex.admin.ch are authoritative; the years given for literature refer to the first edition.