Whether you’re a designer who is building your own portfolio or a seasoned veteran who’s looking for something to spice up your design skills, open-source projects could provide you with the perfect opportunity to work on new and exciting projects. An open-source project can be contributed to by anyone with the necessary skills and time. We’ll look at how designers can help open-source projects in this blog. Go ahead and read it

What exactly is Open Source?

Open source is a development model that involves a product being developed in the public view. It’s a collective effort of developers and users who share the knowledge and work together to improve it for the common good. It’s about collaboration, transparency, and freedom to modify and distribute code. Simply put, Open Source projects are:

• Collaborative

• Transparent

• Free to use and distribute

• Accessible to anyone

• Managed by a community of users and developers.

Why Should You Contribute to Open Source as a Designer?

Contribution is one of the core values of open source. It’s how open-source software gets done in a way that no closed, proprietary software can match. It’s easy to think of contributors as developers — people who write code — but open-source projects, especially large ones like Firefox and Linux, need more than just coders to be successful. They need designers, too, who are passionate about creating useful, usable products for the world.

Designers are needed for a range of tasks: from user interface design to logo creation to usability testing to marketing materials and more. There are lots of ways for designers to contribute and make a significant impact on an open-source project. Many designers have been contributing to open-source projects for years, but there are several reasons why you should consider joining them:

• It’s a great way to share your work with the world and make it easily accessible to others.

• You can get feedback to improve your skills and knowledge, so you can grow as a designer.

• You can learn from other developers as they review your code.

• You can help others with their design challenges while they help you.

How to Find an Open Source Design Project to Contribute to

The first thing you need to do is find a project that you are interested in working on. One of the best ways to find new open-source projects is by browsing GitHub. GitHub is a great way to not only find new projects but also to get a sense of the codebase and general community around the project.

One of the most important things in open source is communication and community. If you are interested in being an active contributor, I would highly recommend finding a project that has robust communication channels like Slack, Discord, Gitter, or IRC.

Another thing to consider when looking for a project is domain knowledge. If you are trying to get started with open-source, it may be easier for you if you help out on a project that is something you already know about and have some experience with.

How to Contribute to Open Source as a Designer: A Step-by-Step Guide

Now that you know what open source is, here are some steps you can take to begin contributing:

1. Find an open-source project that matches your interests or area of expertise.

2. Clone the repository locally and install it on your machine (you’ll usually find instructions on how to do this in the repository’s README file).

3. See if there are any issues related to design on the issue. For Example : You can change the label type (as shown in the image below) to see if there are any open issues, and then you can select the project in which you’re interested and be sure to try to work on it promptly.

4. Raise an issue on the same, and start working on it (you’ll usually find Problem statements and the need for that particular project in the repository’s README file).

5. Make your design stand out to merge it with the repository by submitting a Pull Request with the source file link, and file type as required.

Read More on : How to Create and Submit — your Pull Request

Congratulations 🥳🎉,
You just finished the standard fork -> clone -> issue -> design work -> pull request workflow, which sums up your first contribution. As a contributor, you’ll be using this a lot! So, what comes next?

What next after your First Pull Request?

That is not the end of the story! Now all you have to do is find new projects to work on and keep contributing. Also, keep an eye out for dedicated OS programs like GSoC, GSSoC, SWoC, Hacktoberfest, etc to open-source contributions for a chance to win some incredible prizes.

What are the benefits of Contributing to Open Source as a Designer?

As a designer, you might be used to working on projects that are short-lived. You do the work and then move on to the next thing. Open source is different. Open-source projects usually exist for much longer than standard projects. It’s not unusual for a project to go on for years, with new contributors joining along the way. This can create a sense of shared ownership and pride in your contributions because they don’t just disappear after a few months

Contributing to open source as a designer has other benefits too. not just to the users of those projects, but to the contributors themselves. Here are some of the benefits that drove me to contribute to open-source projects:

• Able to gain real-world exposure and recognition in the industry (not just from your peers but also from employers/Project Maintainers)

• Help you to build your Portfolio to stand out

• Improving your technical skills by gaining experience & learning new skills

• Networking Opportunities with other designers to improve yourself by practicing hands-on tryouts

• Gaining visibility in the design community by making an Impact

• Get Feedback on your Work and give back to the Community

Wrap Up!

Open source is for everyone; it is not limited to developers or skilled individuals. There are numerous opportunities for you to learn new things. All you have to do is decide to start and get started.

If you have read this far, I really appreciate it.
Do share your valuable comments, I appreciate your honest feedback!

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