The first rung has been removed. Entry-level postings fell 25% last year, and the average opening gets hundreds of applicants. Firing more CVs into that void isn't a plan.
The designers getting hired fastest do something different: they build small, real, shipped things. It proves you can make products, not just mockups — and it rebuilds the confidence the application treadmill drains. Here are five you can start this week. Pick one. Ship it. Then tell people.
- 1
Ship one tiny live tool.
Build a small, genuinely useful thing — a calculator, a generator, a converter — with AI (Claude, Framer, any no-code) and put it live. I made a 3D book-cover generator in half an afternoon.
Why it works: it's the clearest signal you can take an idea to a working product.
Ship it: a real URL, in your bio.
- 2
Redesign something real that nobody asked you to.
Take an app or site that annoys you, redesign one screen or flow, and write up the problem → your decision → the result.
Why it works: it shows product thinking and rationale — what actually gets hired, not prettiness.
Ship it: a one-page case study.
- 3
Rebuild your portfolio with AI — in public.
Use AI tools to build and ship your folio fast, and document the process as you go. I recently rebuilt my own design folio with Claude — start to finish.
Why it works: it doubles as your portfolio and proof you're AI-native.
Ship it: the live folio + a short "how I built this" post.
- 4
Make and sell one real product from your design skills.
Turn your design ability into a thing that exists in the world — a surface pattern on a notebook, phone case or fabric, via print-on-demand (as shown in my pattern folio).
Why it works: it proves you can finish — idea to purchasable product — and it's the seed of income that doesn't depend on getting hired at all.
Ship it: one product, listed.
↓ Serious about Project 4? This is the exact playbook for turning your patterns into real income.
Earn from your design skills
The Surface Pattern Design Playbook
Create & sell patterns for fabric, wallpaper & murals — on Spoonflower & beyond. Client-free, commute-free, creative work you can do from anywhere.
See the book →- 5
Solve one real person's problem, for free.
Find a small business or creator and fix one design problem — a menu, a landing section, a logo.
Why it works: you get a real brief, a real testimonial and a portfolio piece with a human story.
Ship it: the finished work + a testimonial from them to publicise.
The point: five applications get you nothing. One shipped thing gets you a conversation. Do the smallest one on this list this week.
— Rachael
I send one focused thing like this each week in The Design Edge — sign up below.
