graphicpush

I understand this post makes little sense.

You see, that’s where you’re wrong. There are a lot of days where I HATE my job. I love the people I work with, but I can’t stand my job. For me, sometimes the accomplishment is just getting through the day as a designer (or at least not destroying one of my superiors with my bare hands).

I think that a lot of designers feel as you do. Having never gone to art school or whatever, I feel like I have failed often. So I assure you that you are not alone in this feeling.

Do I think that I will still be a designer when I am 40 (only 10 years away)? Probably not. I hope that I will have moved on to greater things by then. Not that design can’t be considered one of those “greater things”. It’s just that it seems harder to make a difference in the world as a designer, don’t you think?

You might not think this post made much sense, but I hear ya man. I think for me, being a failure would constitute having never made a difference in someone else’s life. I think of it this way: someone had to teach Michael Jordan to play basketball. Somewhere along the line, if I can be an inspiration to another who goes on to do great things, then I would count my design “career” as a success.

I understand your point, at least the “designers perform the work of automatons” part.

When in a 4-hour shift you’re asked to finish 5 web template comps for a software company, what little else can you do?

Are we trapped in our chosen profession? This is, after all, what we trained and labor toward daily. I, too chafe at the fact that I labor in obscurity (or, at least anonymity), and realized long ago, that the graphic design brochure did not match the career destination. How do we reconcile ourselves… our artistic selves with the hard-nose professionals (you call us automotons, I call myself efficient) many of us have become? True, we are NOT saving lives, but in turn, we are not digging ditches either. At what point do we determine that while intelligent, we are not all of us brilliant?

Thank you everyone for the comments. I am glad I’m not alone on this. Every now and then I have a “What does it all mean?” moment, and, like Michael, I have been trying to reconcile my purpose in life. Was I born to edit PowerPoint slides, or is there some greater career waiting for me? I dunno.

One question I ask myself often is “would I be doing what I’m doing if I didn’t have to?” Meaning, if I didn’t need the paycheck, would I still be designing. I think I would be, but what I design and for whom I design it for would be limited. The vast majority of my days, I enjoy what I do. I believe any moderately successful designer does. Our enjoyment of our work has such an impact on our ability to create.

I’m about to start my first proper design job, after spending the last four years honing my craft to the point where I can actually get paid to do what I do. It’s a good feeling.. and I’m looking forward to what I hope will be a long (tho not TOO long – retirement at 35 is my goal ;-)) career.. but I get worried by this type of thing already..

Not so much ‘do I still like it’ etc, but more ‘am I doing the right thing’? I know I enjoy design, and that – to me – is the most important consideration, but I’m wary of getting stuck in a rut feeling unsuccessful and ending up disliking the whole thing.

Blah. I’m rambling (you’re not the only one who can’t organise thoughts about this).. I suppose I just wanted to say:
Nice article. It preyed on my fears.

Absolutely with you on this.

I recently exited 7½ years designing on staff for a couple churches (minus a few months at a print shop.) Talk about looking for meaning in your work…

I’ve since taken a part-time production job while I drum up freelance work. The tiny agency is relatively successful, but the work extraordinarily tedious for me. It has definitely has made me question my path in life.

I’d be fascinated to have been a fly on the wall any time a great, non-art design was released. Not conceived, but released for consumption.

I like to think the same misguided compromises were made, that I must make daily, attempting to please a clueless client.

Great read.

I’m curious, though: which careers out there, short of public service or perhaps a go at a run for local office, would we imagine to be more fulfilling?

I suppose I already gave my answers…

It seems to be a common theme among designers in the field. It’s not like we thought it would be, not every job is going to challenge you and be creatively fulfilling. most days are going to be filled with repetitive work, filler, and turnover so quick theres no chance to explore the work. but every now and then, you can still get a good one, and those are the ones that keep me going.

Chris poses a good, if not rhetorical, question. One that bears merit to contemplate in those dim and benighted moments that I believe that are found in any profession. Now 15 years into this business, I have heard many professionals bemoan and question their decision to become graphic artists, or lawyers or accountants.

As for Matt’s comments…chuckle: fear not! Enjoy the honeymoon! The first five years of the business was the best ones for me! I hope that you can achieve retirement by 35, too.

Oh…and I don’t think any of us are born to edit PowerPoint Slides, any more than some of us are born to mop floors and scrub toilets for a living. It’s just one small task in a multitude of tasks that, when viewed in the aggregate, allows us to contribute to society.

HI, I am Manisha. I have 6 months deploma in web desiging from Arena Multimedia. Now I have 2+ exp in Web desinging.
I want to do some PG diploma.
what shoul i do.
Pls sug. me.

Thanx,
Manisha Singh

Dunno if this is a good thing to read 3 weeks before I go freelance… :o

After years spent studying multimedia and art, the dotcom crash meant experienced designers were taking the entry-level jobs, so ended up doing more and more programming. After two years of my last job mainly doing javascript, I’m feeling as tired of that as some people here are about design.
I’m now looking forward to doing a range of different stuff – maybe it’s simply the fact that I can now do a range of things instead of one repeatitively that makes freelancing seem attractive.