A designer is only as good as the next design.

An ego can be a formidable impediment to clear thinking. Yes, what you design may appear on store shelves or on television. It may be written about with high praise and mentioned favorably in over-heard conversation. And because of this the designer is exposed to the most dangerous of ideas... that he or she is responsible for this success.

It may well be that our designs have succeeded because of us... because of our vision ...because of our creativity and ingenuity. But it may well be that our designs are quite ordinary, and our success is a matter of coincidental timing or the result of a huge advertising budget that could have just as easily sold snow to an Eskimo.

A designer who gives himself too much credit is a designer who begins to see that he may be indispensable... that he is a "natural" ...that he may not need to worry or work so hard the next time around.

Yet each design situation is different. Each project has its own unique and various pitfalls. To assume that one success leads to another without at least the same amount of effort as before is an invitation to disaster.