Signs of design talent are cues for curiosity, not a diagnosis and not a caste stamp.
Tests measure a sample already shaped by teaching and invitation. False positives are part of the identification problem.
Early cues
- 5–8 — Systems play — Rearranging rooms, rules, outfits — constraint play, not only drawing pretty.
- 9–12 — Fixing things for others — A sign, a map, a costume that someone else could use.
- 13–16 — Self-sought critique — The student asks what failed, not only whether it is “creative”.
- 17–22 — Portfolio identity — Foundation years; software can outrun seeing.
- Adult — Career transits — Engineers and craftspeople enter design later with rich constraint knowledge.
Tests & tasks
- Redesign-in-an-hour — Same brief, new constraint added at 30 minutes.
- Portfolio process pages — Iterations visible, not only heroes.
- User test of a prototype — Falsification.
- Taste quizzes — Weak as identification.
Environments
- A brief with teeth — Time, budget, user.
- Critique with criteria — Rams-like principles or a rubric, not “I like it”.
- Workshop tools — Card, code, cloth — making, not only slides.
- Users in the room — The missing Bauhaus machine in many schools.
False positives
- Dribbble polish — A still that never met a user.
- Software speed — Figma fluency as fake seniority.
- Moodboard taste — Reference without decisions.
- Brand-name internships — Access dressed as gift.
Design talent: a cue is information. A label without a review date is a caste.