Write to think.

I used to think writing was something other people did.

Developers wrote documentation. Marketers wrote copy. I was a designer. I made things look pretty.

That changed in 2018 when I moved from graphic design into product design. Suddenly I was in rooms with PMs, engineers, and stakeholders who wanted to know why. Why this layout. Why this flow. Why this decision over the three others on the table.

I wasn't great at explaining it. The designers who could articulate their thinking clearly got more trust, more ownership, more say in what shipped.

Writing was no longer optional. It also turned out to be the thing that made clients find me.

The distracted CEO

A few years later I worked on a product team where the CEO would open our mockups and immediately start reading the copy. Every screen. Placeholder text we hadn't touched, lines no copywriter had looked at yet.

Every review got derailed. We'd spend half the meeting on copy that wasn't ready, which meant the actual design decisions we needed to move on didn't get addressed. Projects took longer than they should have.

What I took from it: the words on your screens are part of the design. If you use placeholder copy, you're handing people a reason to focus on the wrong thing.

I stopped using Lorem Ipsum. Even on rough drafts, I write real directional copy. It takes more time upfront. It saves more time overall. With AI writing tools available now, there's no reason for dummy text at any stage.

When your reasoning gets tested

When I have to write down why I made a design decision, I find out whether I actually know why. Some decisions hold up. Others fall apart the second I try to explain them.

This matters in interviews, in client pitches, in design reviews. Designers who struggle in those moments usually can't find the words for what they were thinking. And reviewers can't give useful feedback on something they don't understand.

The ability to explain decisions clearly, under pressure, is a thinking skill. You develop your thinking skill by writing.

What changed when I started publishing

I started publishing my writing online in 2022. I wasn't a confident writer going in.

What I noticed quickly: the posts that landed were the most specific ones. Real observations from real work. Things that came directly from my experience and couldn't be found anywhere else.

Over the past two years, content has led to long-term client partnerships, repeat work, and opportunities across industries I never targeted directly. Every one of those came from consistently sharing what I know.

Every client I've worked with has come inbound. Some reached out after reading something I posted and connecting the dots. Others knew someone looking for a designer and my name came to mind because they'd been reading my content. Writing is what kept me visible enough to be that person.

The conversation you can't outsource

AI writing tools are good. A lot of designers are already using them for emails, documentation, design rationale, post captions. I use them too.

There's a direct connection between how well you write and how well you think. Writing is how you work through a problem and find out what you actually believe. When you stop doing it yourself, that ability weakens.

You can't send an AI into a client pitch or a design interview. You have to be in the room, thinking out loud, defending decisions in real time. That skill comes from practice. Writing is the practice.

Sound like yourself

Most designers who start writing online make the same mistake. They study what's working for other people and try to replicate it. The format, the tone, the structure. They end up sounding like everyone else and wonder why nothing connects.

The fastest way I've found to write in your own voice is to literally use it.

I write most of my content by speaking it. I use a tool called VoiceInk (try it here, affiliate link), a one-time purchase with no subscription. I set it up as a keyboard shortcut on my computer. One key and it opens a small overlay that transcribes everything I say, removes the ums and ahs, and turns five minutes of speaking into clean text. What comes out sounds like me because it literally is me.

Your voice already has personality and specificity that would take years to develop on the page. Most people never find out because they assume polished means typed.

Start there. Write one thing this week in your actual voice. Use a voice memo, use VoiceInk, use whatever gets your words out. Edit what comes out rather than writing from scratch. You'll be surprised how much more like yourself it sounds.

One question before you go

If someone read everything you've published online in the last year, would they feel like they actually know you? Or would they feel like they met a version of you that was trying really hard to say the right things?

The designers clients remember showed up consistently and sounded like themselves.

Talk soon,
Trevor Nielsen

P.S. Know a designer thinking about going independent? Send them here: discoverabledesigner.com