A is for articulate. You thought I would say art, or artistic, artistry, or some nonsense like that right? Wrong! Well, okay maybe not that wrong. I find in the everyday of a creative life, it’s the one thing that we need to work at every fucking day. (If you are wondering, I curse quite a lot actually) Let’s look at the definitions of the word

Articulate:
Adj: having or showing the ability to speak fluently and coherently.
Verb: Express (an idea or feeling) fluently and coherently

Wha? You mean to tell me that we as artists, designers, or UI/UX gurus have to be articulate in what we do? Sure we can work our mojo magic and make things lovely—working well overall. However, to push ourselves further as designers we need this word in our vocabulary. We need to be able to, fluently and coherently express while showing what the design/process/or piece means. We need to be masters over our medium yes, but we also need to be able to verbally express what it is that our mastery does. If we don’t, if we cannot express how we contribute to the global aesthetic we artists will forever be known as flippant and flakey, shrouded in a mystery that will keep us in a perpetual state of ‘free’-lancing.