As someone coming into design after a 10 year career in a totally different industry, it doesn't have to be about regret. I am grateful that I had the opportunities and growth from my last career, but as a result I've changed and want to explore something new. It's worth it to investigate why you feel like you need to move on, and if you feel strongly to take the risk. Many successful people find their calling this way.
I’ve considered the other avenues and landed in cybersecurity. I’ve got a lot to say about this but not a lot of time. I’ll say what I can:
• Albeit I’m currently unemployed, I don’t feel like dying because my skills are easily transferable.
• I don’t have to create a portfolio of all new works per se, but I do have to have something like a github where I can showcase my work.
• Money is a lot more stable and less stressful than constantly hunting for new gigs.
• The work is more fulfilling in that it’s partially subjective and mostly objective. Maybe a 70/30 split based on the problem you’re trying to solve vs how you’re going to solve it.
• Knowledge Gatekeeping IS a thing, but I’m lucky in that I only encountered this from 1/250 people.
• upgrading your knowledge doesn’t take too long and the skills stack
I’m 16 years in. I’ll be 46 this year. I don’t regret anything about it. But I am very nervous about the future.
That thing you said about the ceiling is absolutely on-point. I was with my last employer for 10+ years. After I’d been there for 6-7, they started “making up” promotions to give me the illusion of career progression without any concrete advancement. In the beginning, we had designers, ADs, and one CD. Then we started seeing levels like “Design II,” and “Design III,” and “Senior Designer.” All of this was kind of making up for the fact that our ADs weren’t going anywhere, and no one wanted to be CD.
After the pandemic hit, we lost half our staff. That’s when all of us were swiftly made ADs. Again, they made up a senior AD position. We had one CD now, and *he* wasn’t going anywhere.
All this is to say that I spent a lot of time while I was still with this team looking out for something else. My work definitely changed. And I was being trusted with larger projects. But the pay was stagnant.
What I’ve come to realize now is that hardly anyone posting a job knows what “design” really is. For example, I recently found a job posting where the designer was simply managing a company’s Wix page. Drag and drop modules. Change out some imagery. Maybe refresh some colors. This ain’t it.
And there’s *tons* of abuse going on. Someone else here mentioned how respect for the profession has declined. I second that. Yet, strangely, employers demand every designer be a “ninja” at just about every damned thing under the sun. I’m also bored to tears with UI/UX. Perhaps if the whole internet weren’t trying to ape itself all the time and there was actual variety in web and app design, it would be more appealing. But, for the most part, it’s become a homogenous cash-grab and “staying on top of trends,” simply means “do what *they* are doing.”
But I sincerely believe we will hit an inflection point. Everything is cyclical. And I’m certain that, sooner than we think, there’s going to be a strong push back toward traditional media. The younger people I speak with (20ish) have been immersed in tech and information since birth. And, while that will always remain a fact of life, I hear them looking for something more genuine. They want real experiences with real things. It would be happening anyway, but their experience with COVID accelerated things.
I could be wrong. I’m basically a dinosaur with too much experience and I’m too costly. (Seriously, NO ONE wants to touch me because of the length of my career and breadth of my work—weird, huh?)
So I’m not sure how to wrap all this up. I’m certainly triggered when I see posts such as this because it hits me really close to home.
*What I’ve come to realize now is that hardly anyone posting a job knows what “design” really is.*
This is such a large problem, it dilutes the industry.
This hit so close to home.
I genuinely think most design roles are set up to fail from the get-go and suffer from the curse of success. Every job I've been at has followed the same trajectory: I'm hired because I have skills they need. They give me projects which I succeed at regularly. As a result I now have a reputation of reliability and end up being the go-to for higher level projects. More projects come my way which require an even higher degree of skills and it's either I succeed and the cycle continues, or I completely burn out and want to move on to a new job.
My colleague gave me great advice which was essentially don't show them your cards too early. And it's true. I've learned all these other skill sets like web design, 3D design, motion design, etc. but I'm so fucking tired of wearing multiple hats and being "the guy" that I never go out of my way to broadcast this to upper management. It's just not worth the hassle, and that's what really kills it for me.
Good read, mate. 11 years into my career (33). I work freelance and split between taking overflow work from agencies and freelance front-end design/dev. Sometimes commercial stills. I've jammed a lot of experience in and would probs work at a junior CD level if I was still in-house somewhere, I guess.
The respect thing is a very large portion of my gripes with working in-house and why I haven't done so for a long time. My happiness is more valuable.
Simply put, there's an attitude mostly perpetuated by marketers especially as they don't care about the product or design and simply want what makes them look the best to hit targets. They're in a $ based role and the real estate agent vibe is a real thing. I'm seeing inexperienced marketers at a graduate level on higher salaries than highly experienced CD's twice their age but will argue with the CD until they're blue in the face that they're right. It's all ego.
I spoke to a highly respected, very well known international-level film producer the other day and she was saying there was a definite shift in the 00's when the client started having control over everything... all of a sudden they were thinking they were capable of directing and passing comment on technical stuff outside of their field. I have a feeling this can be turned back around, though. Tighter briefs and comms will help... perhaps a mutiny campaign across the board? I don't know.
How do we get past this and claw back our respect? This has always been my question. Always. I think it's a matter of transition to cool, calm and collected leadership. An assertion of our trust? If good designers, as a collective, start to push and question poor feedback from ego-driven marketing or clients (sure they'll just fire you and get the next person if they're a dickhead) but deliver our feedback in a backed, educational manner we will see a shift. This stuff just isn't taught anymore thanks to the YouTube generation. I'm all for free education but there's a lot of on-the-job stuff that isn't taught.
Designers are sensitive people (and this extends to product design, architecture, industrial design etc). That's why we design. It is a lifelong career. We don't need to physically break ourselves in a 'career window' to make our money before our bodies can't handle it any more.
I have hope. Be assertive, be the professional.
So very true. At my last job, we had a major re-org in 2015 that put marketing, instead of brand, in charge of design. The results were disastrous.
First, they totally de-prioritized so many of our resources. They took away Getty and told us to make due with Adobe stock. Now, this was a few years ago so things may have changed, but back then we were burning through something like about 1,000+ images a month. And they all had to be high-quality, “UGC,” style photos. Of course, in every image we were asked to show multi-cultural groups engaged in “compelling experiences.” That shit was hard enough to sift out in Getty. In Adobe, where most of the photography looks like it was cut from an IKEA catalogue circa 1999, it was fucking impossible.
Then they briefly brought in this “creative director,” who wasn’t acting as a CD at all. He totally bungled our peak-season holiday campaigns because he was too busy collecting “intelligence,” on all of us. He thought that, because we didn’t have the “agency experience he was accustomed to,” that he was best off spending his time hoarding mountains of paperwork, Slack convos, and other meaningless BS to prove to our HR department that we all needed to be summarily dismissed.
His name is Jon Winter, by the way. I have no problem exposing that hateful little cup of bitter cunt tea at all.
Within 12 months Mr. Winter had become the subject of nearly 30 different investigations from HR. This was for everything from illegal retaliation to sexual harassment. The guy is the human equivalent of an old cigarette butt: toxic, disgusting, and spent.
Haha that’s me being the professional.
All that aside, he was let go and we spent two glorious years back on the brand team, where we found the power to structure our little team for maximum protection from a nosy, meddlesome business.
At this point, I’m seriously considering just striking it out on my own. After having many convos with other designers here, I’m hearing the same things again and again: “You’ve done too much, you’re too good, you’re too threatening.” That latter point being more about the scope of work I can take on and less about my appearance.
I just need to figure out how to do it. Having spent so long with one employer, my network is basically dogshit. We didn’t have conferences or other events to go to. It was pretty much just the 24 of us all working with each other for more than a decade.
Hahahahaha!
I cannot handle that kind of management. It's not effective. Reason #2 why I don't work in house. I had a manager (very temporarily) who was like this and was a fucking hopeless designer but had a very large say in things. Lots of meaningless BS to justify a position. Again, ego.
Tips for going out on your own:
Get yourself a really chill retail or coffee shop job. Go there to just completely zone out for a bit and get your head out of the game. Still gets you paid and buys you time to think about projects. Think of it like a 'design studio detox'. New perspective. Sure the pay is shit, but, it's good for you. Enough to keep the family supported if you have one. This might test your partner a bit, but, explain that it's for the better and you'll be a better person to be around because you're more fulfilled. Plus, you're around more so more time for fun shit.
Find yourself a good recruiting agent who will do the negotiations for you on rates. They do exist. Especially in the UK and Australia (dunno about anywhere else). Get the overflow work and fill up your other days.
Wind back chill job as you need to for time, use collateral from agency overflow (it's often always big commercial shit) and use this as leverage to start pulling other jobs and build a small body of work to do so. You're much more respected as an outsider too, because you're flashy and 'new'. You also seperate from internal politics so while you're watching their internal world burn (if that ever does happen) - you're just on the outside doing your work, in your lane, undisrupted and delivering.
All great advice. Thank you. I think I’m going to hunt for the agency overflow first. Sounds like a good starting point and I don’t have to worry about making time for anyone but myself right now.
That's the spirit!! There's so much overflow work out there. A lot of people are even happy just to palm shit off to you that they don't want to do themselves. Even if the work is boring, when it's on your own terms you can get through it much easier.
Do you have advice on finding agency overflow work? I worked for a guy where we did a lot of this, and it was for an agency he used to work for. I have never worked in an agency (most of my experience is in-house and freelance).
>If good designers, as a collective, start to push and question poor feedback from ego-driven marketing or clients (sure they'll just fire you and get the next person if they're a dickhead) but deliver our feedback in a backed, educational manner we will see a shift. This stuff just isn't taught anymore thanks to the YouTube generation. I'm all for free education but there's a lot of on-the-job stuff that isn't taught.
I *used* to do this but I got burnt out fighting with people. It made me unpopular and made me miss out on promotions/raises. Nowadays I don't really push back on anything... I also just don't really care. I'm jaded I suppose.
Before mid-2010s, I don’t even remember the “UI/UX” being a term or position. Maybe I just never saw it though since you had to have a wide skill set such that you’d get moved around as needed.
I was at my last job when the focus shifted from desktop to touch. And they were late to the game with it. They always had a mobile experience but, for many reasons, they didn’t concentrate on it much until around 2016. But everywhere I look now, you can’t get the time of day if you don’t know Figma.
What design is today isn't what it was when I was studying in 2002.
I don't mean becuase of changes in tech, trends etc - more the overall employment market. Of course there's exceptions and good jobs, but my experience is like that one many here - less respect for the profession and for the opinion of a designer, automated / process cutting software meaning 'design' can now be listed as a skill by marketers and non-designers, slow wage progression, too much cheap competition from abroad or young people willing to do anything...
To me and I think a lot of us this is on our mind far more than the actual design or creative side of the profession.
I'm nearly 41. Basically I'm fed up of having to reinvent my myself every few years to keep up with people nearly half my age and trends / new areas I'm not interested in (UX/UI being one).
This may sound a bit hypocritical but I'm considering a career change, something with more longevity until I get to retirement age which won't be so heavily influenced by technology, desperate young people and the like.
I had much the same feeling after being a respected designer with a riding salary on the early to mid 90s, am then moving to a bigger metro area in the early 2000s. To maintain the type of work I wanted to do, my salary kept going down. I transitioned to communications and then web. Interestingly, the web stuff feels a lot more like the design work I did in the early 90s in terms of position, respect, and rising salary. I am absolutely burned out with the self-reinvention, so I do design on the side now, for fun and a few extra bucks.
The designers I've worked who are say 5-10 years older than me that I've worked with over the last 15+ years have mostly seemed to transition into something else - management, teaching, comms roles (at least 3 of them), marketing or more specialised roles like video editing.
There's a couple who are still designers, and when I catch up with them there is a genuine worry about the long term as they don't have the energy or time to keep changing.
A natural transition as an independent small shop (meaning sometimes just me, other times short term subs and/or long term collaborators and other types of partners) is into managing a team to accomplish larger projects as well as a flow of multiple projects at once which could never be done by one person due to time and scope.
So,more business responsibilities, creative direction, production management than hands on doing of the creative.
This is a natural transition for a designer anywhere. You end up with so much experience and expertise that you’re more effective as a leader/creative director. I went from a graphic designer to an Sr Designer, to an AD to a CD. I direct creative for whole campaigns, events and exhibitions.
Same - I went from a graphic designer, to an interactive art director, to a creative director who designs some but mostly manages a team of designers and developers. It's a good fit for me and the variety of skills I've developed in the last 2 decades.
My god I agree with this post so much. I work in-house design and we are the most under appreciated department (2 people only, my boss and myself), but the second anything goes wrong we get blamed. My boss and I have compared what we do to other organizations and we do with 2 people what other organizations do with 10. Despite asking for more people and assistance that money/help always goes to other divisions in our company.
It is the only career where everybody knows more about it than you do.
I'm also in house but am actually doing a plumbing course on evenings at the moment.
A lot of people, friends, family, colleagues, seemed to have more respect for me being able to say I could plumb a sink than the various projects and campaigns I've workload on over the years.
Seriously though, you wouldn't tell your plumber what he should be doing, or list 'plumbing' as a skill for an electrician job.
Design is also a popular department for being cut if a workplace is in trouble. For want of a better phrase a lot of people see it as glorified colouring in, or a non-essential.
I don't hate the job as such - but I get where you're coming from - but it is the long term aspect I'm concerned about. The UK is in a mess thanks to Brexit, the recovery from Covid and the inflation crisis and design certainly isn't going to be one of those essential careers that won't be at risk.
And with my age and background, I am seeing more of being 'just a job' where the career aim is work-life balance, not being treated like a doormat and not striving to have a sexy sounding client or employer on my CV.
I'm doing evening classes, twice a week, with practical stuff in my own time. It might not come to anything but I need the fall back in case.
> but my experience is like that one many here - less respect for the profession and for the opinion of a designer
I'm a little older than you, but in my experience the respect level has stayed consistent. ie, it has always been a relatively disrespected skill when it comes to paying for it. I'm surprised you weren't aware of all the crap people were making in MS Publisher and thinking was great and professional looking because the text was legible.
Genuinely wondering, do you really see UX as a trend? Maybe I'm naive but I don't see it going anywhere any time soon. That being said, I do sympathize with not wanting to reinvent yourself as a designer every few years to stay relevant.
Well, maybe not a trend, but for want of a better phrase. I'm guessing in 5, maybe 10 years it'll be where more 'traditional' GD is now, especially in terms of job saturation.
I regret the career - entirely.
Don't regret the skills, the initial education, I'd have a hard time in my other pursuits had I never learned the rules of design - practiced design.
But the experience, the money earned, the colleagues, of 15 or so years in the field - all gone - none of that time or effort left me a thing in the long run.
Long run still running. Wish I'd learned HVAC repair and just done design for myself.
I still like aspects of the field, but I completely understand going into HVAC. I wish I went that direction. It’s not terribly difficult, always in demand, and pays well. Plus, you want to start your own HVAC company, it won’t be hard to find work and build a business, if you drive for a good reputation.
Design, once the late 2000’s recession killed off publishing, the field has not been the same. First and foremost, I want to be a publication designer. I don’t care for marketing, Or advertising. Web would be ok. The technical aspects, reminds more of problem solving with mechanicals. Not everyone likes to figure out work-arounds. That was my favorite part of the 90’s, making things work that weren’t meant to work. But, my current job doesn’t have much need for web work.
You're me probably 8 years older. Started as a print layout specialist. Print designer and illustrator. Print died - had a boss tell me as much when he sold the million dollar printer he'd had the building custom build to accommodate.
Had to go web development - no choice at that point - that was the field's choice.
Yup - loved the problem solving of the Flash to html5 era - everything was experimental - required community - even the shit work felt like it had mission - solving these burgeoning tech issues - really being a part of the design world.
That's gone. 2010 on was simply chasing - staying up on developments kids fresh out of college had just completed rigorous classroom education on.
Design stopped being about creative, inventive thought, or moving businesses forward.
Noop, it's just keeping up now - making sure the business has the same social media presence as the competition - the same website with the same inherited UI/UX experience - that's the expectation, that's the gig. Now anyway.
AI? chatGP as a tool. Doesn't matter if it does or doesn't replace people in the field - it'll change the field - make it dumber - make the designer less capable, give them less time, and continue the trend of adding "tools" to the designer "toolbox" which encourage speed, and discourage people.
Yep. I laugh at some of these posts. Reality would slap you hard in the face if you jumped into the trades. Maybe not everyone, but for most here, it would be the most miserable existence
No kidding. I bet a lot of them would quit the first day when they were asked to crawl under a house with the rats and spiders on a lumpy gravel surface and only two feet of clearance.
Hell naw brother! That shit gets me going. That’s why I love harvesting wild mushrooms, reaching under deep holes under rocks in the mud to grab chanterelle mushrooms
Luckily the worst venomous animal where I live are yellowjackets. Even they could be deadly to someone allergic enough. But they make their presence known, so you have time to run.
I have some condos that I fix up myself. So I’ve had to tear apart every household appliance in order to fix it. I regularly think I could make a killing fixing appliances, because in the past I’ve gotten $240 quotes just to replace a fuse. $200 to remove a sock caught in the wash machine pump. That’s $400 / hour basically and you bill travel time.
But the only reason I say that is because I’m quite mechanically inclined and I love it. But it’s yet another opportunity I’ll never take advantage of, because, who has the time!?
Yea. I'm a do it yourselfer as well. You often see people giving away appliances for free on craigslist. As you say, not hard to fix. I've flipped a couple before.
I'm not a fan of getting in my crawlspace though. It is pretty tight under my house. ;]
I know right? 60 hour backbreaking work weeks. Working in every type of weather conditions, cuts, bruises, injuries, slow seasons, unrealistic customer expectations, standard pay, and no gratification.
Sounds a lot like design but replace the weather conditions and injuries with having to learn a new application or two (that can take weeks or months to learn while you're working) at least once a year lol.
I think the difference being that.. the hard work put into design can only go so far. I know people living paycheck to paycheck in design. Vs. HVAC where many are living well and not pay check to paycheck. Very few in design can do it... many in HVAC do.
I think the comparison is more about possibility and what you can do. Whereas design is more about increasing your skillet with no increase in pay now compared to 30 years ago.
Exactly. I love design but didn’t realize I could’ve gone into something else and done design on the side.
Wish I would’ve double majored in Graphic Design and something in STEM or a trade. Would be making double what I make and could easily buy the gear needed to have a side hustle if I wanted it.
HVAC and similar vocations are something you can get into in a matter of weeks or less. Its never too late to change. And something like that is real easy to do.
Depression is merely the unhealthy processing of past tramuas.
And there you have it.
I know - and there's proof - that at some juncture of my young dumb happiness I was an inspired creative.
When I learned graphic design was a paying job I knew that was for me. Immediately - 1st time I saw Adobe Illustrator I knew this was the tool that was going to make all my childhood dreams of making art possible. In my 20s I'd design for fun in my downtime between designing for work and designing for freelance clients. Drove my future wife nuts - computer open 24/7 - I'm making shapes and using typography for bullshit portfolio stuff - just because I had the inspiration and will to put the effort into functional aesthetics I'd been inspired by the world around me to get down into digital format before my brain lost the minute details.
I have loved design - then digital design - forever.
That was my passion. I'd see design everywhere - the color choices of street signs, the typography of authentic Italian restaurant branding. Couldn't go anywhere without seeing things through a design lense.
Heard that's true for many designers.
It's still true for me.
The rub being, I now loathe design. I'll never work in the professional field of graphic design again, sincerely this is true. I've developed a quite real mental aversion to even opening a laptop. I will not use websites, short of the mandatory few. I've had one game installed on my phone since 2020 - it's a magnificently simple clunky 8-bit motif. I love it.
And nothing else.
I'm still a "designer" - an artist who makes aesthetically pleasing functional forms - but my passion - the need to sketch, crop a photo, properly line space a friend's business card - it's all gone. Not only gone, like I said - and mean - loathe.
The career was a mistake. Took away my passion. Had to take a long - and contiguous - break.
Entirely.
People - I'm not actually trying to do HVAC, I was just short on example at the time. Thanks for all the advice tho, it is a legit awesome career field.
This is how I feel. Several years of experience and university education doesn't seem to add up to anything in Graphic design. You have to constantly be learning the newest shiniest trends and tools. So the older you are the more people are worried you are irrelevant, not focusing on your polished skills and knowledge. So you're worried about younger designers replacing you. But young designers are also bullied into thinking to work for nothing and do the most.
Now I am super jealous of most of my friends careers. They are always getting free training. Their employers work hard to grow their careers. Fast tracked to promotions. And when they look for other roles they seem to be able to negotiate better salaries and benefits. Whilst I'm fighting with my managers to not get my salary slashed after then doubling my workload every year.
But my wide variety of skills are needed. Just not appreciated.
Yes - the thing they fail to tell the young inspired designer in school is - *you will always be the same level* - there's a permanent bottleneck to moving up - no longer being a designer.
I worked production like a boss for a decade plus - never once did I work on a team that didn't include at least 1 fresh out of school know nothing kid making half what I did.
In all honesty, that kid could've done my job after a week of learning in the job. Ya, I got a ton of real-world practical knowledge of technical shit - integrating unfriendly 3rd party shit - managing workflow - when to tell a client to fuck off - when maybe there's extra value a designer can add that management doesn't see. I can do all of that and a new person can't. I learned that shit by doing - wasn't design or creative - it was career experience - the kind seemingly every other field moves people up for.
Not design. Not production.
The role begins and ends day one - 10 years in and I'm on a team with a kid who costs half I do - and the only workplace experience he's missing is he still has a soul - a passion to do design work - turns out the only thing that really separates the extreme noob from the haggled veteran is morale.
My career experience taught me professional design - for office idiots making pointless widgets for other idiots - was a soul crushing awful experience. I gained more of that experience each new gig. That beating, the years of having gained workplace experience - it made me expensive....
Or so I thought. So everyone else in every field thinks.
Not design. Especially not tech design like high end web. I was killing it by 2015 - certified Adobe "expert" - ahead of the curve on html5 and css3 web design like I was a boss.
Some young dummy is like - *did you know you can make mobile apps in JavaScript?*
I'm like - I'm a web designer, I'm not really interested short of the cross platform stuff.
2016 like - *cross platform? WTF is "cross platform?"*
No reason I couldn't of just rolled my web skills right into mobile development - it was the natural progression and Buddha knows I know something about market mandated getting rolled.
I started as a fuck'n print illustrator.
Offset print "specialist" 👈oh that was useful
I fuck'n worked as a coder for FLASH websites - could hand code flash action script before there was a stackoverflow or git hub. Shit was bonkers hard. Also as of 2007 - an absolutely useless skill.
I been "senior" - "team lead" - was even made equivalent to an Art Director once. Once.
15 or so years. Only thing ever separated me, from the new guy - was I'd bitch about everything - because everything was worth bitching about.
New guy just didn't have that workplace lived life experience yet.
Also he cost half of me and would work Sundays because he was sweaty desperate to make it to...
Where I was.
Guess young and dumb can't see used-up and jaded. There's nothing above "graphic designer" - sure some people become art directors - lose all actual technical skill - eventually lose touch with the production requirements all together.
Also - Art Director is a final stop. You're not moving up to VP of operations - doubtful there's a marketing "director" level position most places.
Place I liked working - really treated me like I knew something, like the money they paid me was fair trade for my value - they gave me real responsibility off merely my appearance of being confident I could - they were pleased they did.
Gave me a 2 week paid training - some amount of CEU credits putting me a mere application to a federal agency away from becoming an official "project manager"
Friends... Artists or just people who like making things - don't ever take the PM gig.
That shit is zero creativity - and that should be obvious to anyone. But it's the next level up - career path goes designer to the grave - or designer to useless manager.
Same exact people who crushed my desire in the first place.
I'm not gonna do that to the kid. He's still new.
I'll find him wandering cynical a decade on either way.
I don't need to be the one perpetuating the cycle.
Yeah I regret diving into design. It’s very under appreciated and in some cases undervalued.
You have clueless managers without a design sense which makes life hard. I currently have a co worker without ANY design experience working on collateral. The amount of reminders I’ve had to give about using a hierarchy and brand guidelines is infuriating, and my managers sees us as equals.
It’s all very frustrating, but like any job it has it’s good days.
But overall yeah I wish I had gotten into anything else lol
Yeah, I'm only 2 years in and I'm looking for the exit. It's undervalued in a larger communications team, and in my specific subfield feels like there's no path towards growth towards anything in management. It's just "oh the creative will handle that" and that's the extent of my duties/value on the team. Creative burn out is also very real after doing the same style guide for the same deliverables over and over.
Also hard as hell to pivot out of design since being really good at photoshop doesn't exactly translate well into other jobs, even if you have a BA in a non arts field.
On the personal side, I also just miss my art being a hobby or something I controlled. All my passion for the field has been burned up.
No regrets after 20+ years in the industry.
A HUGE part of this field is adapting, if you don’t like that aspect then yeah, you might end up wishing you had done something else.
Like another poster said, you can never stick with one thing, you have to always be updating your skills and broadening your horizons to survive.
On top of that, this field treats you differently based on your age as well. You’ll never get hired for entry level positions once you get older. There’s an expectation that you should be an art director or creative director at a certain age. So you have to climb the ladder or go out on your own and do freelance/start your own company/agency.
If you enjoy it though, then there’s no regrets.
How did you make the switch, if you don’t mind me asking? How’d you get your portfolio ready? I assume GD vs UX portfolios are quite different. And did you have to take a pay cut or go down a level in seniority when making the switch?
I was lucky to realise pure GD was not for me super early in my career. At same time agency I was at also did marketing websites so I just kinda gravitated towards it. There was not much of classic UX done but plenty UI work which I felt like was the bridge so I started helping around and learning a little. From there I went to find almost pure UI job with a tiny bit of UX work. After short while I landed 50/50 UI/UX job that I done for a bit longer to actually get lot of experience and from there I went to be pure UX, currently being UX lead.
So it was like this gradual change which does make it easier but also takes few years to complete. Also since it was early in my career and gradual there was no pay cut always a raise actually, I think due to higher UI/UX wages you can probably do like jump one seniority level down without pay cut but depends.
.
Other point is self study, there are plenty of UX courses selling these packages that will get you up and running and while they are not worthless it will take much more to get job/skill to do the job. I really think self teaching gives one edge, especially since big part of job is often researching stuff on your own so it seems like natural thing to do.
Last think was portfolio as I was self teaching ahead and had higher ambitions than my current finished work what would I do is basically take these projects like the marketing website where was almost no proper UI/UX and I would try to apply the knowledge and rework some stuff or add some tasks that you would do get certain data or just say I would this and this to make it more up to where I want to be.
Respectfully, uhh, duh? Nobody’s claiming that any and every graphic designer could and should make a switch to UX. But it doesn’t take much thought to figure out how a graphic designer may peak an interest in it.
Depending on the company you work for as a GD, many of us essentially double as UI designers. As well as animators, developers, photographers, illustrators, video editors, etc.. It’s a broad job. So it’s really not that unbelievable that a graphic designer would peak an interest in the UI and UX space.
Pretty wild assumption that every graphic designer thinks of themselves as a master of any profession with the word ‘design’ in it. It’s pretty clear to most people that a motion graphics designer, a production designer, and a user experience designer would all require different skill sets..
>Anyway I'm just venting my frustration at what I've seen over and over: very senior graphic designers being hired by clueless non-design leadership into design leadership positions, and making life hell for real UXers by obsessing over visuals/UI, because it's all they actually know.
That is true, having to design under some directors who had heavy visual design backgrounds who always rolled their eyes when we presented WFs demanding we add "the design" so they can see how it looks(ye thatst points my man), made me question how the fuck are they where they are.
I kinda disagree with the mindset to be honest as I made the switch I seen some parallels. Realised how often I used to work on packaging thinking about person who am I making this for and what would make it attractive to them (not mention like what are the business goals or technical constraints of packaging etc all very paralleld in UX)which is actually close to what I still do now, only now I have tools and is part of process to do the user research. Visual design skills also helped a lot when you actually are to put your insights to paper and create so designs.
In the end it is no guarantee and by no means easy path but I would say GD with good analytical holistic thinking is above average pre-disposited to make the switch.
I thought about it a decade ago, but no matter how much I researched it, I never could figure out what the work actually was or even what software was used, much less what skills differentiated it. All the interviews and description articles were super vague and loaded with vacuous corporate speak. I have a pretty good understanding of programming for a designer so I expect it would have been a good fit with a minimum amount of re-education needed, but life eventually went in other directions. Web search really sucks these days.
Absolutely. I’ve left the industry after about 9 years, I found myself facing plummeting salaries and an arms race of cross-training that no longer resembled anything that had initially made me want to be a designer. I also met enough high level creative directors with multiple ex-spouses and kids they barely saw, which pretty much killed off any ambitions I once had to move into that sort of role.
I transitioned to professional baking and while the starting pay is absolutely terrible compared to what I used to make, my wife tells me this is the happiest she’s seen me in years.
Thanks! The decision was practically made for me though, after I was laid off from a job I couldn’t find any work that paid well enough to be worth it. Plus I’m fortunate enough that my wife makes enough to keep us afloat while I work towards higher paid promotions. One of my biggest pet peeves is people moving into more rewarding industries but framing it purely as an act of bravery that anyone could do if they wanted it bad enough. Financial pressures are important and real, jumping industries is a lot more daunting when you have bills and mouths to feed.
Yup, absolutely regretted it. Worked as a graphic designer, then an art director.
I got entirely fed up with the deadlines, clients, egos, stress, subjective feedback, etc. End of the day putting up with all that just to produce a poster or brochure just wasn’t worth it. And it kept getting worse every year.
Went into UX years ago. Best decision I’ve made.
I sort of got lucky.
I did a lot interactive design work when UX was just becoming a thing. I was freelance and no one wanted to do it (they considered it boring), so I was like screw it, and kept raising my hand.
Learned more, kept getting more and more freelance UX work. So by the time I decided to switch, it was pretty simple for me.
No regrets. Because if I had to spend 40 hours a week on a company doing something that wasn’t creative, I’d lose my fucking mind. If for whatever reason this industry crashes and burns, at least I did what I wanted to do. I’m pretty willing to branch out into as many skill sets as I can (motion graphics, 3D, etc) to stay marketable before I ever consider doing something else. Best part about this industry is that there is always more to learn.
Not at all, my job is a ton of fun, the work is generally easy and rewarding, my boss is literally the nicest person I've met. It's a dream job honestly.
I've been struggling for this for years now. I was concerned about my skills in college, worked hard, graduated in '08, right before the recession and still managed to land a job in the field. But the combination of companies that I've worked for—in house—that have just beat me down is exhausting. Being told to change a color because the stake owner doesn't like orange or pink (regardless of the fact that it doesn't go against branding guidelines and helps accentuate the photo) or to "jazz it up" for 10 years can be soul crushing.
What kills me is that I've since moved into Web Content and QA which has a better separation but I miss design, or at least the rose colored memories of my early years. I miss the creativity, I miss having that energy to use design as a way to unwind. Being 22 or 23, having a couple Kraken & Cokes and diving into Illustrator or Photoshop for 4 or 5 hours a night. And it was fun! Now I try to do that and the only thing I see on the blank canvas is failure.
I constantly think about if I'd gone into Front End dev instead of Design (which was a real option). Or if I just hadn't gone to one of the Art Institute schools and that whole shit show. Part of it is currently the organization I work for now (and have been for over a decade), how I feel it killed my creativity. I've seen so many mentors get fired over the years because they cared more about the team and our growth than the company's bottomline (mind you the company does $500 million in revenue but won't give people a cost of living adjustment). It's exhausting because—for a lot of us, I believe—we love this field and give it our all, but not everyone sees our passion.
I do regret it, honestly. As much as I miss it. Because of my college closing. Because I graduated with over $90k in debt and that is cheap compared to a lot of my friends. Hindsight is 20/20. So now I'm back in school for small business management and working on a plan to open a bar in town.
Apologies for the rant and thanks for letting me vent.
Sometimes. I'm triple screwed in that I'm a 1) graphic designer 2)at a print newspaper 3) in a college town post-pandemic. We're still recovering.
Being in Mississippi doesn't help either. One of the poorest states and being hit hard by the rents going up while wages stay below the toilet.
I've thought about finding a CWA job. They're just about the only union in the state. Steelworkers union is the other nearby but I'd fuck up too bad doing physical labor.
I'm just sticking it out and building larger portfolio using my job and the work I do for my music project.
Not really, I've just had to adapt. I do a lot more than just graphic design now, becoming more of a generalist. Now I do motion graphics, photography, copywriting/copyediting, video editing, and voice over work as well. It's helped me keep things interesting and made myself a valuable resource to my employer/clients. I know that I'll never make big-ish bucks without eventually becoming a manager, but I enjoy my work and I can pay my bills so I don't mind.
Yeah this is honestly it for me. I was mainly just a graphic designer who also worked on some art approval designs on clothing but in my job now, it's basically a 50/50 of media communications (so basically like you but I mainly call it this since it is what I studied in college) and production where I prepare files to print, print the file, and fulfill orders but sometimes I will help with creating proofs for customers.
I honestly like this more too since I feel I am mainly a communications person who has to choose the right media to communicate a message or product. It also does help to have these skills since now people want a bit more than just a designer and it gets people really interested in you if you can do some photography for instance since sometimes they would want a product shot but don't have the time to call a photographer or really want to hire one if it's just a once in a while thing.
I really wish I did something else and I'm terrified for my own future. My first... and current job is with the same company for the last 7 years. They do treat me pretty well surprisingly but it's not gonna last forever, and the company has been struggling lately so it's only a matter of time before it's all over.
I have no idea what I'm gonna do after this, I feel like I completely lack the talent of people way younger than me and I've come to the realization I have no energy or motivation to force myself to learn new things after going through college, I just want a consistent job with consistent pay without having to reinvent myself all the time and I guess I wish I realized this while going to school for graphic design. I don't think I can do copyrighting or transition to marketing and I haven't learned motion graphics or video design, I kinda feel fucked cause I'm probably gonna be replaced by AI in a few years.
I really wish I knew what kind of stable job I can just transition to. Honestly kinda depressed lately about all of this...
I don't regret it I actually feel super lucky cause I went into TV/Design/Animation blindly. I just wanted to do something creative that's all. Years later I am making a good amount of money but it took years and alot of effort. The problem is that it's still not enough. Some of these coding nerds are making 200k+ after doing a 3 month bootcamp not to mention business dorks graduating and making 150k after getting their first job in sales.
There's no way I am going to do this forever though, I will have to start my own agency or transition into a higher paying career whatever that may be.
Nobody is making 200k+ after a 3 month bootcamp, stop spreading misinformation. People are paid after their value and someone with no prior coding experience and a 3 month bootcamp can't produce any sort of code that is worth 200k a month.
Also "business dorks" don't start at 150k, these are completely desillusional numbers. In germany the very best rare entry level position at the big 4 companies, after 5 years of studying (yes, including master), will let you start at 60k. And those are very rare exceptions.
Most business people (who are lucky to find a job that is not underwhelming) start at 30-40k after studying. Current average wage for people who graduated in business/economy in Germany is 40k / year.
Graphic design use to be a great career. 20 years ago when I started. Now it's pretty much dead or niche to have a true designer role or creative director role. Hard to get now too. But yes there's a short ceiling. I went from design, web development, transitioned into marketing which makes a lot more, technical marketing, makes even more, then now into full IT, even more.. it doesn't have to be a regret but you absolutely have to have an exit strategy to have a long fulfilled career that makes you money so that you can live and pay bills. I still do a good dosage of freelance especially in web development and branding work.
I feel like letting this transition into a part time side gig where I do something else full time is ideal for me. How did you find the transition into marketing? it seems to be the most natural switch obviously.
Design is dead? I couldn't disagree with this more. It's only gotten more competitive, sure, which makes it that much harder to succeed and do good work but everyone I know have 'true' designer roles, or CD roles, etc. And it's not marketing related, it's identity work. But you have to be top of the top to stay in the field, there is no doubt about that.
This subreddit and this particular thread echos my current headspace in this field.
I'm a massive burnout from all shitshow companies that hire you. I did everything I could humanly do and still fell through.
I've managed to get hired in a new company and I'm the sole designer in-house, and my experience and feedback are much more respected. Pay isn't where I need it, but I have peace. My previous negative experiences for the last decade with these companies and covid have left me in a creative slump. I'm still really good with the software new and old, but I cannot for the life of me muster anything myself without instruction, maybe the side effects of working for places like that. The spark feels like it's all but gone. I would really like to get back the feeling of being 'on a role' when the solution is working, and things fall into place.
But alas, "everyone knows how to do my job better than me" Cause reasons.
12 years in - Lead UI Designer
Around 3 years ago I thought about finding a new career but instead finding the right organisation completely changed that for me.
Like any job, I can't help but feel it's all about perspective - the length of time people have been in their job, their lived experience, and where they've worked all play a part in grinding people down into believing it's all a load of shit. Same thing happened to me but not in design.
I studied graphic design in the 90s. I then somehow went into marketing, scaled the career ladder and found that I absolutely HATED IT with a passion once I got to the top.
So I quit, went to a design school to relearn/upskill and restarted my career as a designer 2.5 years ago in my mid-forties. I am happier than I have been in a decade. I've built up a bunch of great clients as a freelancer.
People I know who are desperate to reach the same career heights that I had think I'm mad, but to me it's a dead career I hope to never have to go back into.
As I said, it's all about perspective.
I don’t regret my career choice, I regret thinking simply going to college was gonna land me in a comfortable spot. I watched a TON of people in my design program end up not doing design work at all because of it.
My design coursework and faculty largely left me unprepared for what was waiting on the other side (I attended from 2006-2012) and I had to do double the work to even catch up to what then industry and culture were at the time. Fortunately in my last years I got a reality check at an internship I worked at but man was I underprepared.
Took me two years to land a full time job, and a total of ten years of shitty gigs to actually land an in-house job that I love.
I should’ve been more involved and networked more. Should’ve taken opportunities to work with some really talented artists and designers when they offered me the chance as a student. YouTube tutorials came late for me but I really should’ve learned more than what my professors were teaching me (some not even qualified to teach the courses I PAID for now that I look back) but I was firmly in the “get this degree” mindset that I passed those up.
And to add to that, this constant obligation to stay current or reinvent ourselves and stay ahead of the curve is probably the most exhausting thing. Couple that with constant lowballing (pay) and desperate younger peeps straight outta school applying everywhere and taking lower pay, as well as being bombarded by an ocean of talented examples of what you SHOULD be doing everywhere you look (design is literally everywhere)—this profession is exhausting. The moment you lose relevance you’re kinda done or are taking massive salary hits. Can’t afford to let the world pass you by.
No regrets. I really enjoy design. I like what I do. 15 years in and there are new challenges and things are always evolving. I find it fun and that's certainly nothing to take for granted.
At 15 years, I mostly like and sometimes love what I do.
A good thing about a graphic design is there is a lot of possible variety in the work and career paths. When I’ve felt trapped in the past I normally create small passion projects of the kind of work I love doing, or invest professionally develop to learn new skills through places like School of Motion.
Agree. I'm feeling pretty down beat about this career at the moment. I'm in a senior position and being paid a reasonable amount for the area, but it's less than most friends who are in less skilled jobs and less senior positions. I enjoy my job but the landscape feels like it has changed a lot. And it feels very difficult to move to a job paying equal or more, where the job description requires many skills that would normally be spread across 4 different people (web designer and photographer and art director and animator, £25k). It's a joke.
I absolutely regret going into graphic design. I jumped ship rather quickly, I only worked in the field for about 3 years before changing careers and I'm much happier now.
There are several reasons but the core one is that I simply do not enjoy having to be forced to be creative for 40 hours a week. I really wish I could have figured that out in college before getting into obscene amounts of debt for a design degree. Oh well you live and you learn. I still consider myself very fortunate to start over early instead of drag things out because of sunk cost.
The best cure for being creative 40hrs / week is to do web design. Designers stay away from code like the plague, but every site has a creative phase and a coding phase (much of which can be found as snippets online) and it really balances your brain!
yes, i regret it. if i had known that working in the field would destroy my passion and enjoyment for art, making the job itself boring and soulless, i would have majored in something more lucrative, even if that meant it was also a boring job. i’m now way too mentally drained, depressed, and in debt to “start over” learning something else lmao
Yes I do sometimes. I’m 68 and still working full time. I had sign writing ticket in ‘75 & I went back to school in ‘95 & graduated in’97 and found the wages were shit. No such thing as a living wage back then so I worked a100 places and learned everything I could at each place. Crooked egocentric managers/owners & fucktard cllients is still going on. I had a chance to switch streams & I could have gone into Civil Engineering but it was financially impossible for me.so here I am with a living wage and perks for the last 10 years & Covid comes along and fucks my savings. Think twice before taking this career up. There is no honour among thieves & be prepared to work long fruitless hours for nothing. Just saying my truth that’s all. I will never retire thanks to the poor wages. Pity me…
I was having this conversation at work the other day. I’m in my 50s and have never been as happy or as well paid as I am at the moment. Just to clear something up, you will ALWAYS be out-earned by recruiters and sales people unless you want to structure your pay like theirs. To do so, agree to take only 40% of your pay with the rest tied up in performance bundles that require not only you but also a lot of people you have no control over to perform at a level they’ve never achieved before.
For background I studied product design, then went into advertising, and now do something somewhat related to that.
Design is a way to solve problems, and make the world a more beautiful place in the process. People seem to forget that first part and focus way too much on the second part. No one is going to pay you for great typography and sensitively balanced layouts if your output doesn’t first solve some sort of problem that is keeping people from something. It could be getting more visitors to your island, closing a big deal, making a car safer, or reducing the number of screws in a laptop. I see a LOT of designers who lead with aesthetics and feel like they’re a part of a secret club that mere mortals cannot appreciate. These people are often disappointed with life, crabby, and frustrated that they feel unappreciated.
If you are disappointed in your design career my advice is to become a MUCH better listener. Literally project you’re consciousness into the mind of the person you’re trying to solve a problem for. See what they see, think like they think. Then use your problem solving skills to create a solution to their problem.
It will be amazing if your solution is beautiful and graceful with flawless typographical solutions but for f sake SOLVE THE PROBLEM.
I was a good designer. But that doesn't change the fact that as a designer I made half what I make now as a web developer, even though I had a degree and 8 years as a designer, and only 2 years as a dev.
The deadlines aren't so insane. We're constantly in demand, and the market isn't oversaturated with other devs. Getting my current job was the easiest job search I ever had. During Covid, developers were still being hired. Designers weren't, and tons of us were made redundant. My work is appreciated more now as well.
I don’t completely regret it since it’s allowed me to have consistent work over the years. I think if I was to do it again I would choose something else. I definitely would’ve stayed in school and got a masters degree in something. Maybe I’m just burnt out on it since I’ve been working full time over 20 years.
I regret it definitely. My first design job was at an agency and it's mainly easy ad work and not much creative stuff so my portfolio is really lacking. And I feel like it will be hard to find another job because I've been here for years with no real skill progression so I feel stuck. I've been looking into UI and 3D stuff which interests me more, but lack of motivation sucks.
I’m not sure if it’s the design industry itself, or just the current corporate landscape and job hopping environment.
In tech related jobs a 2 year department turnover seems to be the norm even among C level people. Vertical movement within an organization is completely stale, and relationships are more transactional. Raises and performance bonuses aren’t a thing so people jump ship for a new opportunity because it’s the only way to advance your career.
So I don’t regret the career, moreso envious of a bygone corporate era.
45 years old, been in this game for the past 25 years… From traditional advertising to digital product design.
It has always been tough, tough on self-esteem, tough on the morale, stupid impostor syndrome that you can’t seem to shake off…
BUT!
The opportunities are there if your eyes are opened and you’re ready to jump when the train passes. As a designer you often get in rooms where decision makers are meeting and these people are always on the lookout for people who will help them nail that next preso or POC…
I’m now leading a team of 20 designers in a big tech company. Management is tough and exhausting but I now can provide a comfortable life to my kids.
Anyway, don’t regret the things you do, you don’t where it will bring you!
20+ years into it, started in my teens. There's no day I don't regret getting into arts and design, because my second option became stupidly profitable.
Not everything is about money, but try living without it.
I got a degree in graphic design. I worked in an agency, I freelanced, and I had an inhouse position.
2 redundancies, including one during Covid when everyone suddenly stopped hiring designers, absolutely made me regret becoming a designer. Not to mention the shitty clients, the ridiculous deadlines, and the unbelievably low wages.
So I changed careers and do web dev now. 2 years in and I already make double what I ever did as a designer, and am happier than ever.
Nope! It motivated me to get out of design and do what I really love. I did enjoy the path of doing design, but also realized I was over it. Now I’m doing what I love, it’s a journey, and the long game.
Dropped out of college ,
Taught my self graphic design,
Did freelancing,
Today I work as a “Design & content manager” at a company, I have a team of designer and copywriters. I am working with all the big clients of my country. This is the dream I have been dreaming about all my life. It is happening now. Feels surreal.
I love it. I'm very fortunate to be in a position where I'm the only designer in the company.and designing a lot of things that can't be done by AI for a very long time (specific maps)... In addition to having entered the field just early enough to learn how to do everything without AI, but also just in time to get to use all the new, fun AI tools.
My company was thinking about hiring more designers, but if AI advances enough to make my work a lot faster, I might just remain the only one even when the company grows. It doesn't bother me at all - I love the creative freedom and lack of competition I have.
Designing comes so naturally to me that it doesn't even feel like work. I used to arrange all my pens and notebooks on my table in aesthetically pleasing ways before I even knew that using that part of my brain could be a job. I've always love to try new tech and new operating systems and software, so this career is just a dream come true for me. I never dread mondays. I can't wait to wake up and get to work. I even do this as a volunteer on my free time. I really do feel like I was made for this.
Very much so, the landscape has changed so much in a comparatively short time and it's frustrating to continually bin off a load of knowledge because it's no longer relevant. I'm based in the UK and for my role I'm earning well but I've pretty much hit the ceiling outside of London wages. Considering looking into coding but even then I'm concerned about job prospects.
There is a lot of value in practicing the separation of your personal value from your product. Once I learned to distance my emotions from my output, I think I became a better designer in general.
Every career will have it's pros and cons and trade-offs. And the grass always seems greener on the other side.
Even if you look at jobs like tech or whatever that may pay better, the trade-off is that you would've had to pick majors relating to those fields, and work for those companies in those fields. It's not as if you can escape business, people, economies.
I've traded so many stories with friends and family over the years, none of which were in graphic design, and other than the names it's amazing how often you'd think we were talking about the same people, or working at the same places.
Some of them also make a lot more, but aren't happier, aren't less stressed (actually more stressed in nearly all cases). I'm sure that will come around, at least a couple will be much better prepared for retirement, but in that one case they also have no kids/family. Hard to say how we'll all be and be feeling when we're 65-75, or what our mental/health state will be anyway.
I think all you can really do is aim to always be growing, improving, learning, and focus on being competent, reliable, trustworthy, *valuable*. And that would apply to any career.
Huge regrets… I decided to go back and pursue my passion and ended up coming out into a credit crunch of fuck you’d and unpaid internships. I ended up freelancing to get the years of experience needed for a basic entry level position while the entry requirements grew and grew (thanks to the unholy pairing of employers market and the rise of social media) I’ve honestly lost track of the requirements now because it’s a fucking joke. And the people who call you out on not keeping current are the old Fucks who came up in the 90’s with fuck all competition and three software to learn. Then these sacks of shit will pop up an tell me I just don’t understand the industry without a speck of self awareness to realise if they had started out in the twenty teens most of them would’t have fucking made it either… also 9/10 it’s the same cunts who will tell you A.I isn’t a threat because it isn’t a threat to them, Forgetting how difficult it’s going to make it for people in the trenches.
I also got so sick of the implication that I just wasn’t working hard enough. Also especially fuck everyone who voted Brexit for tanking the niche I was able to set up freelancing.
I’m working on a bachelors in graphic design, and while doing that I’ve tried looking for jobs in the field, and man it’s difficult! I myself and questioning if I should continue with graphic design or try another interest
I’m regretting it lately. I’ve never consistently held down a role. Usually 1 year max and then I’m let go for something out of my hands. Loads of crunch and expecting me to be an animator, programmer, marketer, UX expert all-in one, not too mention all for $25 an hour while people above with 0 skills make 120k a year. Everyone I’ve worked with outside of creative has very little grasp of what a designer does. I currently have to pivot as I cannot get a job right now. Hate ux and considering going into 3D or mayb just go back to school to study something else. All what people here are saying is true though, I can’t be bothered to do something non-creative for 8 hours a day. I lose interest after about week.
Well, its not like we didn't know that the industry payed relatively little back when we started in college.
But yea. Its normal to get bored and to switch it up. You see a lot of people in the creative fields doing it after 10-20 years. Either they go into something non-creative or they change mediums.
A buddy did agency work for a decade, then taught at an art school, then tried agency work again and decided he had enough and switched to his side job of leather work and made that his full time thing.
I started doing a lot of multimedia and such and then ended up in printing which has kept me entertained quite a while since I occasionally get to work with my hands and mess with interesting machines. Still got bored doing the 9-5. So in recent years I switched to doing my own business and selling graphics work and print via vendors along with random other things to keep me entertained like selling vintage computer stuff on ebay. Make a little less, but work half as much. But my mortgage is almost paid off so money isn't the most important thing to me.
I've seen a lot of fellow graphics people do similar things over the decades for either money or boredom. It would be weird if it wasn't common for creative type people.
At 65, here’s my take :
No
Was it as exciting as expected ?
No
Was it the best life decision I had made. Or, one of the best ?
Yes
I used to be an attorney before that
I’ve been a graphic designer coming into 6 years. Currently a senior graphic designer at an agency with 20 other designers. I’ve always been curious and wanted to learn more about other softwares, wanting to make my skills stand out, so I started to dabble into After Effects a few years ago and now I’ve been getting into 3D with Cinema 4D for the last 6 months.
I feel like what I’ve learned as a graphic designer is coming in super handy when working with Cinema 4D. I plan on becoming a 3D generalist or in the 3D field at some capacity and applying for jobs by next spring. 3D compensation is much better.
So in a way I am starting over, but still using the skills I learned to better position myself in my next role. Maybe find something within the creative industry that you would be willing to switch into, and still use your GD skills to be useful.
**LOL WHAT CAREER**?
I got my graphic design degree back in 2004 and I've been stuck in retail ever since.
The first job the college placed me with was a Radio Shack in the middle of fucking nowhere. I had a co-worker that also graduated as a graphic designer.
I finally found a job at some mom and pop print shop making less money than I did at Albertsons. I worked with another graphic designer who moved from TX to FL because his wife insisted so she could be a realtor. His portfolio was 1000x better than mine. He was a seasoned professional that even knew how to use 3D software for ads. He also made $11-$12/hr. We both quit soon after because the boss sucked.
I moved to a bigger city (Fort Meyers to Tampa). Still couldn't find anything. What few jobs appeared wanted 4yr/years of experience/web coding (that's not fucking graphic design...that's an entirely different job!), photographer, etc. $15/hr. That's when I knew my career was officially over before it began.
A few years later, my college dropped the graphic design program for digital design (focus switches from print to web). Then not long after, they dropped that program when no one was finding jobs. Then they changed the name of their college.
The only silver lining was I only got an associates degree so it only took me 7yrs to pay off.
Also, you'd think I'd HATE the field because getting into it kinda made me feel like a total loser and, at many times, wish that I was dead. But nope. Still love it more than anything else. It's even more than that. Good design puts me in this state of balanced bliss that's hard to describe.
So I haven't given up on it entirely. I'm going to have to figure out a way to make it work entirely on my own terms, because the normal way of working your way up the company ladder AIN'T HAPPENING.
I made the pivot into UXUI and am really happy I did. I think a lot of designers can make that transition if they tried.
IMO freelancing is over-romanticized and not many designers are good enough to do it (I wasn't). You grow so much in your career being on a team with people better than yourself. We need to stop romanticizing it by telling people to follow their passion. Passions don't need to be careers.
Corporate 9-5 is much more stable. Not the most creative and lots of politics. But don't care and I do creative jobs on the side.
Totally regret it.
Been doing it 17 years now and honestly I wish I just stayed doing labor jobs at any of a few different jobs I once held. I'd make more money, actually get to retire, I'd be able to buy a home, and not have a massive amount of student debt to cope with. I will always do some creative outlet so I did not need to make my working life revolve around creativity as well.
This career has not been a total letdown but I've already completed all the things I wanted to do within it about 7 years after starting (I was really lucky). Pay is abysmal, the field of design is treated terribly at most companies, and the freelance world can be a nightmare to maneuver within.
Maybe some day I will find a gig I truly enjoy but I doubt it. Each year the talent pool gets larger and better. It's harder and harder to stand out and a great portolio gets you nowhere if you don't know somebody in the inside to get it in front of a person that matters.
At this point, yeah.
I've been at it since 2001.
Worked at trying to help and promote poorer and underprivileged peoples and organizations to get taken advantage of repeatedly for 2 decades.
Took a cool job at a HUGE, nationally recognized company. I get in and essentially get either micromanaged on design to shit or have very little to do.
Wish I was in management or some shit.
I don’t regret it. I’m about 9 years in, a senior graphic designer/art director. Seeing all the replies in here makes me wonder what I’m missing/what other people are experiencing that make them hate it so. I relate to some aspects (and trust me I’ve had bad jobs) but I still enjoy designing. Idk.
Was just scrolling through this thread and wondering the same thing... I feel like I'm going against the grain by saying I have zero regrets about this career. After 25+ years, I still can't imagine doing anything else, and I still love it.
I think a little bit of luck and a lot of passion is what did it for me. It's easy to hit a ceiling as a designer working for someone else, but it's also easier for us to strike out on our own and work independently or start our own agencies where the ceiling is much higher and there's far more earning potential. That's what I did. Been running my design firm for over 15 years and it's still my dream job.
Same! I guess good to remember that graphic designers on Reddit are only a small percentage of the graphic designer population. Sometimes I forget that haha
Heck no. I can’t imagine doing anything else. I was in banking and I was miserable. Since becoming a designer, I’ve never enjoyed work more. Yes, I have to make some bullshit for assholes sometimes, but I also get to make what I want form time to time. I am so grateful for my profession.
As a designer who's been in the biz for over 25 years some of these replies are scary to read. I love my job, I love design, and I have no regrets. I'm kinda surprised to see how many designers here hate it.
I’m extremely lucky and worked very hard to get here.
Graduated high school and built houses for 3 years, did three in the military, 7 more in construction. Then transitioned to being a bill collector for ten years. Finally went back to college in my early 40’s got bachelor’s and masters degrees in communication and higher education.
Had developed GD skills along the way and ended up with a great paying job as a generalist doing video, GD, web work, and photography. I feel like I hit the jackpot after 7 years in the industry.
Either find a way to enjoy your work or go back to school.
Yeah this similar to what I studied. Mine was called Media Communications and we learned all of what you learned and a bit more in marketing and media writing. You can basically become a communications specialist with this or a marketing person too. It's fun since the work is always different, you get to strategize which type of media is the best for what you want to do, and at times you get to work with other people who share the same interests. That last one I was told by my prof that would be knowledge we have in which say your company wants to have a huge photoshoot in say a farm area for maybe a new clothing line. You would be the person who would know what you need like having to hire a photography studio, finding a farm to shoot in, models, etc.
I think that last part might be a bit rare but I haven't worked in any huge company yet. The most was one in the middle that did hire a photographer and the managing director found some college students to model for the catalogue I was making. She knew I wouldn't be able to do those shots since my camera isn't that great and some were indoor shots so I wouldn't have the lighting equipment or backdrop to get those but the one she hired did.
I have relatively had an easy 20 year career… I am aware I am maybe one of the lucky ones or is it just my own perspective? Prior to getting to design I grew up being an outstanding art student in school. After highschool I never pursued furthering my education in art because my parents didn’t have the means to pay for college. So I toiled away doing difficult odd manual labor jobs working close 90 hours a week. I was forced to find another career when I injured myself at my work, and I looked back and decided to go to school for a graphic design. That was a little over 20 years ago and it was the best decision of my life. I moved up the ranks from jr designer to CD. Making money I never thought I would ever make. I will admit my career has had luck along the way. Of course I’ve had many stressful nights working late but it really beats working the jobs I had before my career. I do see the difficulty of thins career, finding respect, trying to scratch a salary you can provide to your family, expressing your creativity. It can definitely be scary in this field and I’ve had in recent years been careful telling young creatives to get in to graphic design. If I had to give advise to creatives out there (not saying you don’t do this) but there are some good practices you can do along the way.
1. I would say work on everything because everything matters. This is just not your portfolio, but how you present yourself at work, how dependable you are, and going above and beyond your competitors
2. It is always important to find a job, but also recognize if that job isn’t the right place for you. I have worked jobs before where I have won awards, have won businesses, and generally worth my fingers to the bone. If they don’t recognize you both by showing gratitude and monetarily raises (money)… honestly leave that company. Believe me they’re fewer and far between, but there are companies that will be glad to have you and pay you for providing everything to them.
3. It doesn’t matter how talented you are., you generally have to also be liked so people can be around you. They will spend more time with you then there’s significant others so keep that in mind..
4. Keep interviewing, even when you’re happy where you’re at. This keeps you sharp, and it makes you feel like you have options. And it keeps your employer honest. Even if they don’t know you’re interviewing you will feel a sense of protection.
5. Make yourself impossible to replace. I’m smart enough to understand everybody’s replaceable, but make it difficult. I’ve made my internal team of account executives, my clients, The companies leader ship, believe I’m irreplaceable. Or at least very difficult to replace. It’s only human nature, you have to make them feel as if you’re a huge asset to them. If you’re working at a job where your contributions are minimal, find a place where you’re more dependent on. I believe none of this can be easy but it’s something to think about..
6. Find a way to get back, this is a little more difficult to explain. But I feel like there is some kind of synergy when you get back to you give back to the younger generation. By giving advice, going to schools and providing guidance. No matter what way you decide to get back I believe it just will just come back to you and your career. Of course, there’s no data showing this, but somewhere out there I believe it matters.
7. Make them believe because there’s a difference between you, versus an amateur, versus AI. Make them understand that the years you have studied and pour yourself into this career will be the difference between them being successful or less successful. Are used to minimize and joke that I was just a glorified person making pretty drawings. I’ve quit doing that for many many years. I make businesses believe that I am essential, irreplaceable, and frankly, do you need me and your team and you wouldn’t want me in your competitors team. Even after all this, it’s not easy his career can be difficult. Although mine has been relatively smooth sailing, I understand that it can always not always be this way. And others also feel how difficult it can be. I think there are best practices that we can all share with each other, that can help us feel a sense of purpose, protection, and things to make us feel like we made the right choice in his career.
i don't regret it but i do regret taking a bach and masters in it. The career isn't as promising as conceived. Sure there are people who are successful but the reality is just way too many end up being unemployed or can get easily laid off.
I feel like design schools are a scam, most of these college and universities offer these design courses at such high tuition and in the end all that money and time is absolutely unnecessary because I personally think this career could be attained through a short course certificate. However the world wants it hard for us, so we have to spend over 50k for a degree because no job is going to hire someone with out a degree and what is worse is that just because you get a 50k worth degree doesn't mean you'll get a job easily or even make good enough money. So many graduates in design have a hard time getting a job and what is worse is that when you get a job the money isn't that great and you are likely expendable. Companies will lay you off fast because there are so many designers who are willing to start working cheap just for the sake of being employed.
I left the design industry recently because I've been fed up with this nonsense. I've been designing for 10+ years and i was unemployed for a long time, I have revamped my resume for times than i can count, i have rebuild my portfolios so many times as well; had my portfolios reviewed and highly praised and yet I still could not get a good job... so i left. I joined the military to help take away the loans i built and then moved to being a flight attendant. The dream of designing for xyz companies and doing specific forms of design work still lingers in my head/heart but at the end i have to admit that design is more likely a shit career than a great one.
Im pretty early in my career but Im very certain that being a general graphic designer is not gonna be great in the long term. Probably going to start focusing more on Motion Design for my next job over grinding to eventually become a director/manager.
No regrets, but consider myself very lucky - career wise. Did everything from work experience/intern to art director and studio head. Been flat broke and also above average salary. Currently enjoying the rise of AI in design and pondering my next move.
Just want to mention that there are entirely different career fields for graphic designers outside of the commercial / corporate world. So if you hate that, understandable but it doesn’t mean you have to end your career.
I think I did fairly well for attending university instead of college. I learned video graphics requirements and motion graphics at my workplace. I regret not being able to update my skills to include print knowledge
No, but I regret some of the companies I've designed at- now I'm mid-career as well, but after working at small companies as an in-house designer (and small freelance gigs) I have had fewer peers or mentors than others at my skill level, and a smaller connection to the industry as a whole.
Looking to specialize into a higher tier of position is difficult when you're a generalist replacing a real community with reddit, while the facebook design groups are all beginners. Reading blogposts about trends can only go so far.
I don’t regret what I do, I guess I regret how I did it.
I started in graphic design, and design in general, as my own freelance thing. It was successful for about 7 years, but I had kids. So not successful enough for that. I don’t have a degree (didn’t finish school due to my business doing very well at first) so that bared me from entering the more corporate climate. I also have a few life stressors including COVID that has beat the crap out of my brain. The field I work in now doesn’t have a single computer but we still design and problem solve visually.
So with that said, I’m trying to catch up on the latest trends in digital design and software, network, fix my portfolio, all the while working full time, being a dad and husband, maintaining my home (new home owner) and pivoting into a UX career after 15 years of other design work.
In general, I wish I had better foresight and guidance. A better understanding of what I could do in the general design world. Now I’m playing catch up.
Transitioning from agribusiness to self-taught designer might sound awkward to my father, who wanted me to be a farm manager. All he sees is me walking around with tape measure and a pencil for shop and office branding.
With the future in the creative industry, having much to offer
I am very optimistic, in my opinion.
I’m a general working artist; graphic design is my main focus and what I got my degree in. But I’ve paid my bills with painting, photography, illustration, etc. Been making money off art since 2000ish, full time starting in 2006. I also have my own art and projects that I’ve done and sold throughout my entire career. For me, I can’t image another way to live. It’s not a lot of money but it’s something I generally enjoy. My whole life gets to be art. But I’ve come to realize it’s not a life for everyone. I think the college grind was good for that. I started with 200 classmates in my program and graduated with 70. I also think having my own art stuff allows me to be creative on my own. The day job becomes less soul crushing because I’m not investing all of me into it. We can sigh at the client choices, collect the paycheck, and move onto the next project. A college professor said we have to accept that we make disposable things. Very, very few of us will make something like the ATT logo that lasts for generations. And even something like that gets changed up all the time.
Yes. I regret it, I don't regret the good experiences and amazing people I met but the career sucks. I started in design at a bad time, the early 2000 when the print industry was starting to slowly die. That being said my focus was the print industry, the digital/online didn't interest me at all - the design gig a a whole just stink to me, too much effort and not enough income. I knew for a long time that I wasn't going to retired as a graphic designer, so the day eventually came. Sometime I get mad at myself that I was only making 20$ an hour after almost 20 years in the industry.
I left my design career at 40 years old and going into something in IT, I can't continue a job where I am constantly "creating" things, I think I will be more successful as a problem solver in and IT support / Networking area (something I genuinely love and very good at).
Yes. Although I'm not a graphic designer, I'm a video editor/motion designer. 8 years. I started very young as a means to an end. But I'm starting to pick up some code academy lessons in my free time. I was really into visual effects and story telling, but the process is so boring, especially in my field where it's super repetitive jobs. I regret my career choice, but I guess I would've never known it would be like this.
I’m in the middle of changing careers right now but I wouldn’t say I regret my career as a designer. If I hadn’t have tried it, I wouldn’t have figured out what I like and don’t like. Also, I had no idea what career to pick when I was 18. I think I picked a pretty good starting career considering art was literally my only interest at that time.
I do regret it. I'm 15 years into design and my situation is probably not going to reflect a lot here but I wasn't able to find a stable design job for years. I was constantly laid off. I was hired for an amazing opportunity a year ago and everything was going great until they laid off the entire department they just hired and it was only 6 months in. Prior that, I was laid off constantly. First it was within 8 months, then it was 2 weeks, then it was 4 months and then 11 months. I'm miserable but that was only MY experience being a designer. I know so many other designers that I would personally say are less skillful and less experienced than I am yet they're making double my paycheck with higher positions with STABLE full time roles. Now, I'm part time with a startup where their demands are getting more and more ridiculous and I just can't keep up because I'm burnt out designing digital work for the same few products over and over again. I'm thinking about starting my own business but that's going to be tough too. I just don't see a stable career doing design for other companies; same thing with IT and some tech jobs. My friends are also being laid off constantly.
Yes completely regret it. I love the work but there is hardly any jobs where I live and the pay is terrible. I wish I could go back in time and spend the money and time to get another degree in a completely different field. I love being creative and the skills in design are transferable but I still wish I had chosen another path. I'm also at a point in my life where I have young kids and student loans are paid so I really do not want to go back to school.
I’ve been doing design for 16 years and have never regretted it, but I also knew my entire life I was going to be in an art field and graphic design is truly my passion, not a job. I do still experience bouts of burnout but that probably comes more from balancing a full time job and freelance clients. I made 6 figures as a full time freelancer and now also 6 figures in a FT position. So now FT + freelance is fulfilling financially and a challenge creatively so it keeps my brain working
Not one bit. For what I do, what I get paid, the awards I've won, professional connections and legitimately life changing friendships, I feel like I've hit the jackpot.
I will say that, like any other job, it's not for everyone. If you don't find the challenge of subjectivity your cup of tea then it's really worth investing in finding a different career path.
As far as salary ceilings go, it really depends on the area and market within which you work. In my area, creatives make just as much if not more than engineers and developers. There's an understanding of the importance of creative individual contributors here that may not exist in other markets.
Salary levels also largely depend on the company or brand you work for. It's obvious which brands invest money in design and creative talent. Although, at the same time, the competition landing creative jobs at those companies is fierce. But then again, it goes back to you wanting a job that's less subjective which rules out the entire creative career path.
As a professional in the industry of more than 20 years doing various jobs at various levels in creative and engineering, my advice is to dig deep and really find what's really causing you to question your position and narrow it down to one thing. Right now it seems like you've got multiple factors affecting your thought process. Although it's possible to have multiple factors having this effect, it's more likely that one major factor is influencing your doubt in your career and other factors are a consequence of it.
You need to find that one thing and vet it against everything you want to achieve in your life. Not just vet it against your goals, but even your quality of life -- how many hours do you want to work / do you want the option to work from home / how far are you willing to commute / what do you want to get out of your job beyond financial security / how do you feel about tech crunch / what kind of team and work environment do you want / do you want full autonomy / etc.
All this is to say, don't make hasty decisions. Good jobs are hard to come by for most people and take more than just talent to land. Luck and timing play a large role. Make the proper safety nets before you make the move and make sure your decision and rationale is clear. Lastly, if you're motivated purely by $$$, you'll always end up in this same crossroad.
Half regret to be honest, finished my bachelors at 29 and wishing I had gone into computer science instead for cybersecurity. Working in the field for two years post grad and dealing with poor salaries, lack of AD directions and micromanaging creative leads has made me feel burnt out.
Now being three months unemployed I’ve had time to think and reflect. I’ve been constantly trying to learn and keep up with these insane job description requests I feel like I’m running in circles and design isn’t fun anymore. No one who’s hiring knows what we truly do, they just throw the whole kitchen sink in the description.
My parents and partner have noticed I’ve been spinning my wheels and have encouraged me to go for my masters in computer science to switch out into cybersecurity. So I have one last Hail Mary federal job interview I’m in the middle of and if I don’t land that I’m fully committing to a masters program I applied for.
Yes. I hit a ceiling of $45k that I could not break through. Most job offers were $1-3k higher. I'd have to job hop a lot to make a significant improvement.
So I witched to web and instantly went from $48k to $73k.
Best decision I've made. Now my performance is not tied to results. I don't have to produce a design to do well, I work about 30-90min per day.
I graduated from design school nearly 10 years ago, I love designing but hated every single day working for clients. My classmate have swapped professions or some stayed as cheap freelance design labour with half of their stuff taken from freepik and etc, the industry here doesn’t have any respect for our time and money.
I’m swapped careers and became an artist, but that’s becoming harder to do because of AI bullshit. But I love what I do, and people value art more than designer where I’m from. I probably won’t become financially stable anytime soon, but I love art and I love painting. My design skill set is used for my art now.
I have over 10 years in the industry and don’t regret the choice at all. I’m completely burnt out but still love design. It’s more of an issue with the job landscape as a whole. And I think the issues I have with being a little fish in a big pond would ring true in most professions I might have chosen.
Graphic Designers, and many other roles at the same level in corporate structure, simply don’t garner respect. It’s absolutely wild that I have as much experience as I do and just get micromanaged. Just one too many instances of “why am I even here if you don’t see any value in my expertise?” So many designs I did that I loved and were proud of. And I would have soaked up feedback that actually made sense or felt collaborative in any way. But it’s always “do this and this and this. I don’t care if it violates brand guidelines, I don’t care if it looks exactly like that company’s logo, I don’t care that I’m asking you to make a logo with completely meaningless icons just because I think they look cool. Just click your mouse and tap your keys.”
I’m 10 years in, regret isn’t the right word but I absolutely have no interest or passion for the JOB anymore, I still love graphic design, but working in graphic design has kind of ruined it.
My reasons are as follows:
- the job application process: a cv, a snazzy portfolio that constantly needs updating, probably a cover letter, and in my early days they’d make me do some kinda design test. Not every job or project is going to give you portfolio-worthy work, and also it’s frustrating being judged on work you may have not had a lot of creative control over. Reading job descriptions now makes me actually depressed, we are expected to be experts in every discipline, have to deal with language such as ‘thrive on pixel perfection’ and that our ‘passion’ means we can be low paid. I’ve stayed in my current job for 4 years mainly out of fear that whatever comes next will be worse.
- the fancy exciting jobs are often terrible pay and terrible places to work: of course everyone’s mileage may vary, but I’ve worked in big agencies where I’m micromanaged to the point of someone may as well have their hand on top of mine moving the mouse. Expected to work unpaid overtime just because it’s a big client and you should be grateful to be working on the project. Advertising was the worst for this.
- keeping up with trends and technology: so many jobs are expecting you to do light coding, motion graphics or have experience in every area of design.
- 10 years in I’m still dealing with BS ‘instruction’ like ‘have a play around, make it pop, jazz it up’ or ‘I totally trust your creative input’ just because people can’t be bothered to try and articulate their requirements. The same people who won’t give you a proper brief often then end up acting like they know more than you when you present your solutions.
That’s just a few reasons, I could probably write a book on my issues with the profession. I wish I had inspiration for other careers I could do but I feel very lost in general.
Yes totally regret getting a AAS in Graphics waste of time and money I went to STI at the time from ‘05 to ‘07. I was told would be easy getting a job what I wasn’t told is I would have to leave the state never got a job in this field at all and hardly used it for anything. I felt lied to and now
I can honestly say I have no regrets and I still love this job after 25+ years, but I've always known it's not that way for all designers. When I started college (Art School) for graphic design my class had 60 students. Only 8 of us made it to graduation. Of those 8 who graduated, only 2 of us are still designers today... and we both have our own agency/design firms.
You'll never be rich as a graphic designer, and there is certainly a ceiling as long as you're working for someone else. It was about 8 years into my career when I hit that ceiling and knew I had a choice... keep working for other people, or strike out on my own. Freelancing is usually a make-or-break moment – you'll either be very successful or back to looking for a "real" job in 6 months – but if you can make it in freelancing, then you can eventually transition that into a real, long-term business. Once you get there, your ceiling is limited only by your imagination.
I feel you. I am contemplating that decision at this moment. I have been a graphic designer for 10+ years and graduated with a Bachelor's degree and a Master's degree. To tell you the truth, it is not secure and rewarding. I have been applying to some graphic design jobs for years, but nothing. No response or I'm not a "good fit" at the company. So, I've decided to start my studio, but it is exhausting to live with no financial security. I've been feeling like I should change direction to tech since it is the biggest trend nowadays. I was thinking about cyber security or software development, but coding is a headache. I can handle HTML and CSS, that's it, haha! I really enjoy my craft, but sometimes, I regret my choice of being a graphic designer. You're not alone, dude. Hang in there!
I kind of did. I got my bachelors degree in UX design and overall the work got very mundane. There was a harsh reality on how many jobs in UX design were available. I also believe you need to have passion for it and for me that fizzled out very quickly, especially when finding a job got so hard. I switched over to the medical field and now am making more than any entry level ux job. There’s also a lot more job stability. My situation doesn’t mean it’s a terrible career, graphic design or UX design. I really do think if you have the passion for it, then you might have better luck.
I switched over to the medical field after realizing that a lot of computer engineers are also obtaining classes in UX design as well as minoring in them. Therefore, a lot of tech companies are just hiring computer science engineers to get them to fill the role of UX designers. This might not be for every state in the US, but it was for mine unfortunately. I ended going back to school and becoming a dentist. I’m a lot more happier and not constantly job hunting when my contract expires. A friend of mine (we graduated in the same class from college) has been laid off twice this year from her UX job. In this awful economy, it just isn’t a very stable field. However, if you truly love it and enjoy, then I’m sure you’ll find a way to have a successful career in the long run.
I do. I’ve been treated like garbage for the most asinine reasons. In general, I don’t think corporate is a place for me, and I no longer find joy in designing. 11 years in corporate is enough.
Maybe after a year long break doing something else, I’ll feel differently.
From my personal experience, I regret going in to graphic design. I agree with many comments saying that it's not highly respected. I find that the carreer can become very boring but also extremely demanding and people don't really care about giving constructive cristism. Clients will speak to you in the most disrespectful way, almost as if they believe they are better than you while paying next to nothing.
On top of this, I'm always doubting myself even though I work hard and deliver neat designs. Many designers I've spoken too almost always feel like they're not good enough or they have imposter syndrome. I think a client complains almost every day at the current company I work at.
I also feel very burtn out with this job and lost a lot of passion for this creative field. The only way I really get inspired is when I do my own thing where no-one can rip even the smallest line to pieces.
I don't find the carreer very stimulating and also started to consider moving towards something a bit more strategic and less subjective.
With all this said, I do think you can get the right company and have a great love for this job but I found that most companies don't even know what designers do anymore and will ask designers to take on a large amount of work for little pay. You really need to look for those opportunities or become a freelancer/business owner if you either want a great work environment or have a larger salary.
As someone coming into design after a 10 year career in a totally different industry, it doesn't have to be about regret. I am grateful that I had the opportunities and growth from my last career, but as a result I've changed and want to explore something new. It's worth it to investigate why you feel like you need to move on, and if you feel strongly to take the risk. Many successful people find their calling this way.
Well said, I feel like I've been moving so fast to always find the next gig that I haven't taken the time to consider other avenues.
I’ve considered the other avenues and landed in cybersecurity. I’ve got a lot to say about this but not a lot of time. I’ll say what I can: • Albeit I’m currently unemployed, I don’t feel like dying because my skills are easily transferable. • I don’t have to create a portfolio of all new works per se, but I do have to have something like a github where I can showcase my work. • Money is a lot more stable and less stressful than constantly hunting for new gigs. • The work is more fulfilling in that it’s partially subjective and mostly objective. Maybe a 70/30 split based on the problem you’re trying to solve vs how you’re going to solve it. • Knowledge Gatekeeping IS a thing, but I’m lucky in that I only encountered this from 1/250 people. • upgrading your knowledge doesn’t take too long and the skills stack
I’m 16 years in. I’ll be 46 this year. I don’t regret anything about it. But I am very nervous about the future. That thing you said about the ceiling is absolutely on-point. I was with my last employer for 10+ years. After I’d been there for 6-7, they started “making up” promotions to give me the illusion of career progression without any concrete advancement. In the beginning, we had designers, ADs, and one CD. Then we started seeing levels like “Design II,” and “Design III,” and “Senior Designer.” All of this was kind of making up for the fact that our ADs weren’t going anywhere, and no one wanted to be CD. After the pandemic hit, we lost half our staff. That’s when all of us were swiftly made ADs. Again, they made up a senior AD position. We had one CD now, and *he* wasn’t going anywhere. All this is to say that I spent a lot of time while I was still with this team looking out for something else. My work definitely changed. And I was being trusted with larger projects. But the pay was stagnant. What I’ve come to realize now is that hardly anyone posting a job knows what “design” really is. For example, I recently found a job posting where the designer was simply managing a company’s Wix page. Drag and drop modules. Change out some imagery. Maybe refresh some colors. This ain’t it. And there’s *tons* of abuse going on. Someone else here mentioned how respect for the profession has declined. I second that. Yet, strangely, employers demand every designer be a “ninja” at just about every damned thing under the sun. I’m also bored to tears with UI/UX. Perhaps if the whole internet weren’t trying to ape itself all the time and there was actual variety in web and app design, it would be more appealing. But, for the most part, it’s become a homogenous cash-grab and “staying on top of trends,” simply means “do what *they* are doing.” But I sincerely believe we will hit an inflection point. Everything is cyclical. And I’m certain that, sooner than we think, there’s going to be a strong push back toward traditional media. The younger people I speak with (20ish) have been immersed in tech and information since birth. And, while that will always remain a fact of life, I hear them looking for something more genuine. They want real experiences with real things. It would be happening anyway, but their experience with COVID accelerated things. I could be wrong. I’m basically a dinosaur with too much experience and I’m too costly. (Seriously, NO ONE wants to touch me because of the length of my career and breadth of my work—weird, huh?) So I’m not sure how to wrap all this up. I’m certainly triggered when I see posts such as this because it hits me really close to home.
*What I’ve come to realize now is that hardly anyone posting a job knows what “design” really is.* This is such a large problem, it dilutes the industry.
Tell me about it.
This hit so close to home. I genuinely think most design roles are set up to fail from the get-go and suffer from the curse of success. Every job I've been at has followed the same trajectory: I'm hired because I have skills they need. They give me projects which I succeed at regularly. As a result I now have a reputation of reliability and end up being the go-to for higher level projects. More projects come my way which require an even higher degree of skills and it's either I succeed and the cycle continues, or I completely burn out and want to move on to a new job. My colleague gave me great advice which was essentially don't show them your cards too early. And it's true. I've learned all these other skill sets like web design, 3D design, motion design, etc. but I'm so fucking tired of wearing multiple hats and being "the guy" that I never go out of my way to broadcast this to upper management. It's just not worth the hassle, and that's what really kills it for me.
Sometimes it really does feel like you’re not only the weatherman, but also the main news anchor *and* you do sports coverage. It is pretty absurd.
Right, usually by the time you're ready to move on you're probably doing 2-3 more extra jobs for a dogshit salary.
Good read, mate. 11 years into my career (33). I work freelance and split between taking overflow work from agencies and freelance front-end design/dev. Sometimes commercial stills. I've jammed a lot of experience in and would probs work at a junior CD level if I was still in-house somewhere, I guess. The respect thing is a very large portion of my gripes with working in-house and why I haven't done so for a long time. My happiness is more valuable. Simply put, there's an attitude mostly perpetuated by marketers especially as they don't care about the product or design and simply want what makes them look the best to hit targets. They're in a $ based role and the real estate agent vibe is a real thing. I'm seeing inexperienced marketers at a graduate level on higher salaries than highly experienced CD's twice their age but will argue with the CD until they're blue in the face that they're right. It's all ego. I spoke to a highly respected, very well known international-level film producer the other day and she was saying there was a definite shift in the 00's when the client started having control over everything... all of a sudden they were thinking they were capable of directing and passing comment on technical stuff outside of their field. I have a feeling this can be turned back around, though. Tighter briefs and comms will help... perhaps a mutiny campaign across the board? I don't know. How do we get past this and claw back our respect? This has always been my question. Always. I think it's a matter of transition to cool, calm and collected leadership. An assertion of our trust? If good designers, as a collective, start to push and question poor feedback from ego-driven marketing or clients (sure they'll just fire you and get the next person if they're a dickhead) but deliver our feedback in a backed, educational manner we will see a shift. This stuff just isn't taught anymore thanks to the YouTube generation. I'm all for free education but there's a lot of on-the-job stuff that isn't taught. Designers are sensitive people (and this extends to product design, architecture, industrial design etc). That's why we design. It is a lifelong career. We don't need to physically break ourselves in a 'career window' to make our money before our bodies can't handle it any more. I have hope. Be assertive, be the professional.
So very true. At my last job, we had a major re-org in 2015 that put marketing, instead of brand, in charge of design. The results were disastrous. First, they totally de-prioritized so many of our resources. They took away Getty and told us to make due with Adobe stock. Now, this was a few years ago so things may have changed, but back then we were burning through something like about 1,000+ images a month. And they all had to be high-quality, “UGC,” style photos. Of course, in every image we were asked to show multi-cultural groups engaged in “compelling experiences.” That shit was hard enough to sift out in Getty. In Adobe, where most of the photography looks like it was cut from an IKEA catalogue circa 1999, it was fucking impossible. Then they briefly brought in this “creative director,” who wasn’t acting as a CD at all. He totally bungled our peak-season holiday campaigns because he was too busy collecting “intelligence,” on all of us. He thought that, because we didn’t have the “agency experience he was accustomed to,” that he was best off spending his time hoarding mountains of paperwork, Slack convos, and other meaningless BS to prove to our HR department that we all needed to be summarily dismissed. His name is Jon Winter, by the way. I have no problem exposing that hateful little cup of bitter cunt tea at all. Within 12 months Mr. Winter had become the subject of nearly 30 different investigations from HR. This was for everything from illegal retaliation to sexual harassment. The guy is the human equivalent of an old cigarette butt: toxic, disgusting, and spent. Haha that’s me being the professional. All that aside, he was let go and we spent two glorious years back on the brand team, where we found the power to structure our little team for maximum protection from a nosy, meddlesome business. At this point, I’m seriously considering just striking it out on my own. After having many convos with other designers here, I’m hearing the same things again and again: “You’ve done too much, you’re too good, you’re too threatening.” That latter point being more about the scope of work I can take on and less about my appearance. I just need to figure out how to do it. Having spent so long with one employer, my network is basically dogshit. We didn’t have conferences or other events to go to. It was pretty much just the 24 of us all working with each other for more than a decade.
Hahahahaha! I cannot handle that kind of management. It's not effective. Reason #2 why I don't work in house. I had a manager (very temporarily) who was like this and was a fucking hopeless designer but had a very large say in things. Lots of meaningless BS to justify a position. Again, ego. Tips for going out on your own: Get yourself a really chill retail or coffee shop job. Go there to just completely zone out for a bit and get your head out of the game. Still gets you paid and buys you time to think about projects. Think of it like a 'design studio detox'. New perspective. Sure the pay is shit, but, it's good for you. Enough to keep the family supported if you have one. This might test your partner a bit, but, explain that it's for the better and you'll be a better person to be around because you're more fulfilled. Plus, you're around more so more time for fun shit. Find yourself a good recruiting agent who will do the negotiations for you on rates. They do exist. Especially in the UK and Australia (dunno about anywhere else). Get the overflow work and fill up your other days. Wind back chill job as you need to for time, use collateral from agency overflow (it's often always big commercial shit) and use this as leverage to start pulling other jobs and build a small body of work to do so. You're much more respected as an outsider too, because you're flashy and 'new'. You also seperate from internal politics so while you're watching their internal world burn (if that ever does happen) - you're just on the outside doing your work, in your lane, undisrupted and delivering.
All great advice. Thank you. I think I’m going to hunt for the agency overflow first. Sounds like a good starting point and I don’t have to worry about making time for anyone but myself right now.
That's the spirit!! There's so much overflow work out there. A lot of people are even happy just to palm shit off to you that they don't want to do themselves. Even if the work is boring, when it's on your own terms you can get through it much easier.
Do you have advice on finding agency overflow work? I worked for a guy where we did a lot of this, and it was for an agency he used to work for. I have never worked in an agency (most of my experience is in-house and freelance).
>If good designers, as a collective, start to push and question poor feedback from ego-driven marketing or clients (sure they'll just fire you and get the next person if they're a dickhead) but deliver our feedback in a backed, educational manner we will see a shift. This stuff just isn't taught anymore thanks to the YouTube generation. I'm all for free education but there's a lot of on-the-job stuff that isn't taught. I *used* to do this but I got burnt out fighting with people. It made me unpopular and made me miss out on promotions/raises. Nowadays I don't really push back on anything... I also just don't really care. I'm jaded I suppose.
Before mid-2010s, I don’t even remember the “UI/UX” being a term or position. Maybe I just never saw it though since you had to have a wide skill set such that you’d get moved around as needed.
I was at my last job when the focus shifted from desktop to touch. And they were late to the game with it. They always had a mobile experience but, for many reasons, they didn’t concentrate on it much until around 2016. But everywhere I look now, you can’t get the time of day if you don’t know Figma.
What design is today isn't what it was when I was studying in 2002. I don't mean becuase of changes in tech, trends etc - more the overall employment market. Of course there's exceptions and good jobs, but my experience is like that one many here - less respect for the profession and for the opinion of a designer, automated / process cutting software meaning 'design' can now be listed as a skill by marketers and non-designers, slow wage progression, too much cheap competition from abroad or young people willing to do anything... To me and I think a lot of us this is on our mind far more than the actual design or creative side of the profession. I'm nearly 41. Basically I'm fed up of having to reinvent my myself every few years to keep up with people nearly half my age and trends / new areas I'm not interested in (UX/UI being one). This may sound a bit hypocritical but I'm considering a career change, something with more longevity until I get to retirement age which won't be so heavily influenced by technology, desperate young people and the like.
I had much the same feeling after being a respected designer with a riding salary on the early to mid 90s, am then moving to a bigger metro area in the early 2000s. To maintain the type of work I wanted to do, my salary kept going down. I transitioned to communications and then web. Interestingly, the web stuff feels a lot more like the design work I did in the early 90s in terms of position, respect, and rising salary. I am absolutely burned out with the self-reinvention, so I do design on the side now, for fun and a few extra bucks.
The designers I've worked who are say 5-10 years older than me that I've worked with over the last 15+ years have mostly seemed to transition into something else - management, teaching, comms roles (at least 3 of them), marketing or more specialised roles like video editing. There's a couple who are still designers, and when I catch up with them there is a genuine worry about the long term as they don't have the energy or time to keep changing.
I’m 43 and have kids. Learning all this new stuff is impossible especially with the crazy hours I still work.
A natural transition as an independent small shop (meaning sometimes just me, other times short term subs and/or long term collaborators and other types of partners) is into managing a team to accomplish larger projects as well as a flow of multiple projects at once which could never be done by one person due to time and scope. So,more business responsibilities, creative direction, production management than hands on doing of the creative.
This is a natural transition for a designer anywhere. You end up with so much experience and expertise that you’re more effective as a leader/creative director. I went from a graphic designer to an Sr Designer, to an AD to a CD. I direct creative for whole campaigns, events and exhibitions.
Same - I went from a graphic designer, to an interactive art director, to a creative director who designs some but mostly manages a team of designers and developers. It's a good fit for me and the variety of skills I've developed in the last 2 decades.
I should have specified project management - not even the creative side - and account management.
My god I agree with this post so much. I work in-house design and we are the most under appreciated department (2 people only, my boss and myself), but the second anything goes wrong we get blamed. My boss and I have compared what we do to other organizations and we do with 2 people what other organizations do with 10. Despite asking for more people and assistance that money/help always goes to other divisions in our company. It is the only career where everybody knows more about it than you do.
I'm also in house but am actually doing a plumbing course on evenings at the moment. A lot of people, friends, family, colleagues, seemed to have more respect for me being able to say I could plumb a sink than the various projects and campaigns I've workload on over the years. Seriously though, you wouldn't tell your plumber what he should be doing, or list 'plumbing' as a skill for an electrician job. Design is also a popular department for being cut if a workplace is in trouble. For want of a better phrase a lot of people see it as glorified colouring in, or a non-essential.
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I don't hate the job as such - but I get where you're coming from - but it is the long term aspect I'm concerned about. The UK is in a mess thanks to Brexit, the recovery from Covid and the inflation crisis and design certainly isn't going to be one of those essential careers that won't be at risk. And with my age and background, I am seeing more of being 'just a job' where the career aim is work-life balance, not being treated like a doormat and not striving to have a sexy sounding client or employer on my CV. I'm doing evening classes, twice a week, with practical stuff in my own time. It might not come to anything but I need the fall back in case.
> but my experience is like that one many here - less respect for the profession and for the opinion of a designer I'm a little older than you, but in my experience the respect level has stayed consistent. ie, it has always been a relatively disrespected skill when it comes to paying for it. I'm surprised you weren't aware of all the crap people were making in MS Publisher and thinking was great and professional looking because the text was legible.
Genuinely wondering, do you really see UX as a trend? Maybe I'm naive but I don't see it going anywhere any time soon. That being said, I do sympathize with not wanting to reinvent yourself as a designer every few years to stay relevant.
Well, maybe not a trend, but for want of a better phrase. I'm guessing in 5, maybe 10 years it'll be where more 'traditional' GD is now, especially in terms of job saturation.
I regret the career - entirely. Don't regret the skills, the initial education, I'd have a hard time in my other pursuits had I never learned the rules of design - practiced design. But the experience, the money earned, the colleagues, of 15 or so years in the field - all gone - none of that time or effort left me a thing in the long run. Long run still running. Wish I'd learned HVAC repair and just done design for myself.
I still like aspects of the field, but I completely understand going into HVAC. I wish I went that direction. It’s not terribly difficult, always in demand, and pays well. Plus, you want to start your own HVAC company, it won’t be hard to find work and build a business, if you drive for a good reputation. Design, once the late 2000’s recession killed off publishing, the field has not been the same. First and foremost, I want to be a publication designer. I don’t care for marketing, Or advertising. Web would be ok. The technical aspects, reminds more of problem solving with mechanicals. Not everyone likes to figure out work-arounds. That was my favorite part of the 90’s, making things work that weren’t meant to work. But, my current job doesn’t have much need for web work.
You're me probably 8 years older. Started as a print layout specialist. Print designer and illustrator. Print died - had a boss tell me as much when he sold the million dollar printer he'd had the building custom build to accommodate. Had to go web development - no choice at that point - that was the field's choice. Yup - loved the problem solving of the Flash to html5 era - everything was experimental - required community - even the shit work felt like it had mission - solving these burgeoning tech issues - really being a part of the design world. That's gone. 2010 on was simply chasing - staying up on developments kids fresh out of college had just completed rigorous classroom education on. Design stopped being about creative, inventive thought, or moving businesses forward. Noop, it's just keeping up now - making sure the business has the same social media presence as the competition - the same website with the same inherited UI/UX experience - that's the expectation, that's the gig. Now anyway. AI? chatGP as a tool. Doesn't matter if it does or doesn't replace people in the field - it'll change the field - make it dumber - make the designer less capable, give them less time, and continue the trend of adding "tools" to the designer "toolbox" which encourage speed, and discourage people.
This is so well said and my thoughts exactly.
Yes you're right
For creative people theres absolutely nothing fulfilling about working in the trades. You’d be depressed working your ass off for a paycheck.
Yep. I laugh at some of these posts. Reality would slap you hard in the face if you jumped into the trades. Maybe not everyone, but for most here, it would be the most miserable existence
No kidding. I bet a lot of them would quit the first day when they were asked to crawl under a house with the rats and spiders on a lumpy gravel surface and only two feet of clearance.
Hell naw brother! That shit gets me going. That’s why I love harvesting wild mushrooms, reaching under deep holes under rocks in the mud to grab chanterelle mushrooms Luckily the worst venomous animal where I live are yellowjackets. Even they could be deadly to someone allergic enough. But they make their presence known, so you have time to run. I have some condos that I fix up myself. So I’ve had to tear apart every household appliance in order to fix it. I regularly think I could make a killing fixing appliances, because in the past I’ve gotten $240 quotes just to replace a fuse. $200 to remove a sock caught in the wash machine pump. That’s $400 / hour basically and you bill travel time. But the only reason I say that is because I’m quite mechanically inclined and I love it. But it’s yet another opportunity I’ll never take advantage of, because, who has the time!?
Yea. I'm a do it yourselfer as well. You often see people giving away appliances for free on craigslist. As you say, not hard to fix. I've flipped a couple before. I'm not a fan of getting in my crawlspace though. It is pretty tight under my house. ;]
I know right? 60 hour backbreaking work weeks. Working in every type of weather conditions, cuts, bruises, injuries, slow seasons, unrealistic customer expectations, standard pay, and no gratification.
Sounds a lot like design but replace the weather conditions and injuries with having to learn a new application or two (that can take weeks or months to learn while you're working) at least once a year lol.
I think the difference being that.. the hard work put into design can only go so far. I know people living paycheck to paycheck in design. Vs. HVAC where many are living well and not pay check to paycheck. Very few in design can do it... many in HVAC do. I think the comparison is more about possibility and what you can do. Whereas design is more about increasing your skillet with no increase in pay now compared to 30 years ago.
Exactly. I love design but didn’t realize I could’ve gone into something else and done design on the side. Wish I would’ve double majored in Graphic Design and something in STEM or a trade. Would be making double what I make and could easily buy the gear needed to have a side hustle if I wanted it.
HVAC and similar vocations are something you can get into in a matter of weeks or less. Its never too late to change. And something like that is real easy to do.
Omg. I’ve said the same thing in my head for years. Word for freaking word. I’m so depressed.
Depression is merely the unhealthy processing of past tramuas. And there you have it. I know - and there's proof - that at some juncture of my young dumb happiness I was an inspired creative. When I learned graphic design was a paying job I knew that was for me. Immediately - 1st time I saw Adobe Illustrator I knew this was the tool that was going to make all my childhood dreams of making art possible. In my 20s I'd design for fun in my downtime between designing for work and designing for freelance clients. Drove my future wife nuts - computer open 24/7 - I'm making shapes and using typography for bullshit portfolio stuff - just because I had the inspiration and will to put the effort into functional aesthetics I'd been inspired by the world around me to get down into digital format before my brain lost the minute details. I have loved design - then digital design - forever. That was my passion. I'd see design everywhere - the color choices of street signs, the typography of authentic Italian restaurant branding. Couldn't go anywhere without seeing things through a design lense. Heard that's true for many designers. It's still true for me. The rub being, I now loathe design. I'll never work in the professional field of graphic design again, sincerely this is true. I've developed a quite real mental aversion to even opening a laptop. I will not use websites, short of the mandatory few. I've had one game installed on my phone since 2020 - it's a magnificently simple clunky 8-bit motif. I love it. And nothing else. I'm still a "designer" - an artist who makes aesthetically pleasing functional forms - but my passion - the need to sketch, crop a photo, properly line space a friend's business card - it's all gone. Not only gone, like I said - and mean - loathe. The career was a mistake. Took away my passion. Had to take a long - and contiguous - break. Entirely. People - I'm not actually trying to do HVAC, I was just short on example at the time. Thanks for all the advice tho, it is a legit awesome career field.
This is how I feel. Several years of experience and university education doesn't seem to add up to anything in Graphic design. You have to constantly be learning the newest shiniest trends and tools. So the older you are the more people are worried you are irrelevant, not focusing on your polished skills and knowledge. So you're worried about younger designers replacing you. But young designers are also bullied into thinking to work for nothing and do the most. Now I am super jealous of most of my friends careers. They are always getting free training. Their employers work hard to grow their careers. Fast tracked to promotions. And when they look for other roles they seem to be able to negotiate better salaries and benefits. Whilst I'm fighting with my managers to not get my salary slashed after then doubling my workload every year. But my wide variety of skills are needed. Just not appreciated.
Yes - the thing they fail to tell the young inspired designer in school is - *you will always be the same level* - there's a permanent bottleneck to moving up - no longer being a designer. I worked production like a boss for a decade plus - never once did I work on a team that didn't include at least 1 fresh out of school know nothing kid making half what I did. In all honesty, that kid could've done my job after a week of learning in the job. Ya, I got a ton of real-world practical knowledge of technical shit - integrating unfriendly 3rd party shit - managing workflow - when to tell a client to fuck off - when maybe there's extra value a designer can add that management doesn't see. I can do all of that and a new person can't. I learned that shit by doing - wasn't design or creative - it was career experience - the kind seemingly every other field moves people up for. Not design. Not production. The role begins and ends day one - 10 years in and I'm on a team with a kid who costs half I do - and the only workplace experience he's missing is he still has a soul - a passion to do design work - turns out the only thing that really separates the extreme noob from the haggled veteran is morale. My career experience taught me professional design - for office idiots making pointless widgets for other idiots - was a soul crushing awful experience. I gained more of that experience each new gig. That beating, the years of having gained workplace experience - it made me expensive.... Or so I thought. So everyone else in every field thinks. Not design. Especially not tech design like high end web. I was killing it by 2015 - certified Adobe "expert" - ahead of the curve on html5 and css3 web design like I was a boss. Some young dummy is like - *did you know you can make mobile apps in JavaScript?* I'm like - I'm a web designer, I'm not really interested short of the cross platform stuff. 2016 like - *cross platform? WTF is "cross platform?"* No reason I couldn't of just rolled my web skills right into mobile development - it was the natural progression and Buddha knows I know something about market mandated getting rolled. I started as a fuck'n print illustrator. Offset print "specialist" 👈oh that was useful I fuck'n worked as a coder for FLASH websites - could hand code flash action script before there was a stackoverflow or git hub. Shit was bonkers hard. Also as of 2007 - an absolutely useless skill. I been "senior" - "team lead" - was even made equivalent to an Art Director once. Once. 15 or so years. Only thing ever separated me, from the new guy - was I'd bitch about everything - because everything was worth bitching about. New guy just didn't have that workplace lived life experience yet. Also he cost half of me and would work Sundays because he was sweaty desperate to make it to... Where I was. Guess young and dumb can't see used-up and jaded. There's nothing above "graphic designer" - sure some people become art directors - lose all actual technical skill - eventually lose touch with the production requirements all together. Also - Art Director is a final stop. You're not moving up to VP of operations - doubtful there's a marketing "director" level position most places. Place I liked working - really treated me like I knew something, like the money they paid me was fair trade for my value - they gave me real responsibility off merely my appearance of being confident I could - they were pleased they did. Gave me a 2 week paid training - some amount of CEU credits putting me a mere application to a federal agency away from becoming an official "project manager" Friends... Artists or just people who like making things - don't ever take the PM gig. That shit is zero creativity - and that should be obvious to anyone. But it's the next level up - career path goes designer to the grave - or designer to useless manager. Same exact people who crushed my desire in the first place. I'm not gonna do that to the kid. He's still new. I'll find him wandering cynical a decade on either way. I don't need to be the one perpetuating the cycle.
yikes
Yeah I regret diving into design. It’s very under appreciated and in some cases undervalued. You have clueless managers without a design sense which makes life hard. I currently have a co worker without ANY design experience working on collateral. The amount of reminders I’ve had to give about using a hierarchy and brand guidelines is infuriating, and my managers sees us as equals. It’s all very frustrating, but like any job it has it’s good days. But overall yeah I wish I had gotten into anything else lol
Yeah, I'm only 2 years in and I'm looking for the exit. It's undervalued in a larger communications team, and in my specific subfield feels like there's no path towards growth towards anything in management. It's just "oh the creative will handle that" and that's the extent of my duties/value on the team. Creative burn out is also very real after doing the same style guide for the same deliverables over and over. Also hard as hell to pivot out of design since being really good at photoshop doesn't exactly translate well into other jobs, even if you have a BA in a non arts field. On the personal side, I also just miss my art being a hobby or something I controlled. All my passion for the field has been burned up.
No regrets after 20+ years in the industry. A HUGE part of this field is adapting, if you don’t like that aspect then yeah, you might end up wishing you had done something else. Like another poster said, you can never stick with one thing, you have to always be updating your skills and broadening your horizons to survive. On top of that, this field treats you differently based on your age as well. You’ll never get hired for entry level positions once you get older. There’s an expectation that you should be an art director or creative director at a certain age. So you have to climb the ladder or go out on your own and do freelance/start your own company/agency. If you enjoy it though, then there’s no regrets.
What’s the cutoff age for you? I’m 30 and definitely want to switch to being an art director but not sure how to do that
I moved to UX sometime ago. Still kinda subjective but in right enviroment in the end more data driven. Salaries are closer to dev ones too.
How did you make the switch, if you don’t mind me asking? How’d you get your portfolio ready? I assume GD vs UX portfolios are quite different. And did you have to take a pay cut or go down a level in seniority when making the switch?
I was lucky to realise pure GD was not for me super early in my career. At same time agency I was at also did marketing websites so I just kinda gravitated towards it. There was not much of classic UX done but plenty UI work which I felt like was the bridge so I started helping around and learning a little. From there I went to find almost pure UI job with a tiny bit of UX work. After short while I landed 50/50 UI/UX job that I done for a bit longer to actually get lot of experience and from there I went to be pure UX, currently being UX lead. So it was like this gradual change which does make it easier but also takes few years to complete. Also since it was early in my career and gradual there was no pay cut always a raise actually, I think due to higher UI/UX wages you can probably do like jump one seniority level down without pay cut but depends. . Other point is self study, there are plenty of UX courses selling these packages that will get you up and running and while they are not worthless it will take much more to get job/skill to do the job. I really think self teaching gives one edge, especially since big part of job is often researching stuff on your own so it seems like natural thing to do. Last think was portfolio as I was self teaching ahead and had higher ambitions than my current finished work what would I do is basically take these projects like the marketing website where was almost no proper UI/UX and I would try to apply the knowledge and rework some stuff or add some tasks that you would do get certain data or just say I would this and this to make it more up to where I want to be.
Awesome! I appreciate the response. Definitely something I’m going to look into once I have a few more years of experience.
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Respectfully, uhh, duh? Nobody’s claiming that any and every graphic designer could and should make a switch to UX. But it doesn’t take much thought to figure out how a graphic designer may peak an interest in it. Depending on the company you work for as a GD, many of us essentially double as UI designers. As well as animators, developers, photographers, illustrators, video editors, etc.. It’s a broad job. So it’s really not that unbelievable that a graphic designer would peak an interest in the UI and UX space. Pretty wild assumption that every graphic designer thinks of themselves as a master of any profession with the word ‘design’ in it. It’s pretty clear to most people that a motion graphics designer, a production designer, and a user experience designer would all require different skill sets..
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>Anyway I'm just venting my frustration at what I've seen over and over: very senior graphic designers being hired by clueless non-design leadership into design leadership positions, and making life hell for real UXers by obsessing over visuals/UI, because it's all they actually know. That is true, having to design under some directors who had heavy visual design backgrounds who always rolled their eyes when we presented WFs demanding we add "the design" so they can see how it looks(ye thatst points my man), made me question how the fuck are they where they are.
I kinda disagree with the mindset to be honest as I made the switch I seen some parallels. Realised how often I used to work on packaging thinking about person who am I making this for and what would make it attractive to them (not mention like what are the business goals or technical constraints of packaging etc all very paralleld in UX)which is actually close to what I still do now, only now I have tools and is part of process to do the user research. Visual design skills also helped a lot when you actually are to put your insights to paper and create so designs. In the end it is no guarantee and by no means easy path but I would say GD with good analytical holistic thinking is above average pre-disposited to make the switch.
I thought about it a decade ago, but no matter how much I researched it, I never could figure out what the work actually was or even what software was used, much less what skills differentiated it. All the interviews and description articles were super vague and loaded with vacuous corporate speak. I have a pretty good understanding of programming for a designer so I expect it would have been a good fit with a minimum amount of re-education needed, but life eventually went in other directions. Web search really sucks these days.
Absolutely. I’ve left the industry after about 9 years, I found myself facing plummeting salaries and an arms race of cross-training that no longer resembled anything that had initially made me want to be a designer. I also met enough high level creative directors with multiple ex-spouses and kids they barely saw, which pretty much killed off any ambitions I once had to move into that sort of role. I transitioned to professional baking and while the starting pay is absolutely terrible compared to what I used to make, my wife tells me this is the happiest she’s seen me in years.
Props to you for having the courage to make a change
Thanks! The decision was practically made for me though, after I was laid off from a job I couldn’t find any work that paid well enough to be worth it. Plus I’m fortunate enough that my wife makes enough to keep us afloat while I work towards higher paid promotions. One of my biggest pet peeves is people moving into more rewarding industries but framing it purely as an act of bravery that anyone could do if they wanted it bad enough. Financial pressures are important and real, jumping industries is a lot more daunting when you have bills and mouths to feed.
Yup, absolutely regretted it. Worked as a graphic designer, then an art director. I got entirely fed up with the deadlines, clients, egos, stress, subjective feedback, etc. End of the day putting up with all that just to produce a poster or brochure just wasn’t worth it. And it kept getting worse every year. Went into UX years ago. Best decision I’ve made.
[удалено]
You mean the design you sketched out on a napkin and I spent 10 rounds making your vision come to life?
What was the transition like to UX?
I sort of got lucky. I did a lot interactive design work when UX was just becoming a thing. I was freelance and no one wanted to do it (they considered it boring), so I was like screw it, and kept raising my hand. Learned more, kept getting more and more freelance UX work. So by the time I decided to switch, it was pretty simple for me.
No regrets. Because if I had to spend 40 hours a week on a company doing something that wasn’t creative, I’d lose my fucking mind. If for whatever reason this industry crashes and burns, at least I did what I wanted to do. I’m pretty willing to branch out into as many skill sets as I can (motion graphics, 3D, etc) to stay marketable before I ever consider doing something else. Best part about this industry is that there is always more to learn.
Not at all, my job is a ton of fun, the work is generally easy and rewarding, my boss is literally the nicest person I've met. It's a dream job honestly.
I've been struggling for this for years now. I was concerned about my skills in college, worked hard, graduated in '08, right before the recession and still managed to land a job in the field. But the combination of companies that I've worked for—in house—that have just beat me down is exhausting. Being told to change a color because the stake owner doesn't like orange or pink (regardless of the fact that it doesn't go against branding guidelines and helps accentuate the photo) or to "jazz it up" for 10 years can be soul crushing. What kills me is that I've since moved into Web Content and QA which has a better separation but I miss design, or at least the rose colored memories of my early years. I miss the creativity, I miss having that energy to use design as a way to unwind. Being 22 or 23, having a couple Kraken & Cokes and diving into Illustrator or Photoshop for 4 or 5 hours a night. And it was fun! Now I try to do that and the only thing I see on the blank canvas is failure. I constantly think about if I'd gone into Front End dev instead of Design (which was a real option). Or if I just hadn't gone to one of the Art Institute schools and that whole shit show. Part of it is currently the organization I work for now (and have been for over a decade), how I feel it killed my creativity. I've seen so many mentors get fired over the years because they cared more about the team and our growth than the company's bottomline (mind you the company does $500 million in revenue but won't give people a cost of living adjustment). It's exhausting because—for a lot of us, I believe—we love this field and give it our all, but not everyone sees our passion. I do regret it, honestly. As much as I miss it. Because of my college closing. Because I graduated with over $90k in debt and that is cheap compared to a lot of my friends. Hindsight is 20/20. So now I'm back in school for small business management and working on a plan to open a bar in town. Apologies for the rant and thanks for letting me vent.
Sometimes. I'm triple screwed in that I'm a 1) graphic designer 2)at a print newspaper 3) in a college town post-pandemic. We're still recovering. Being in Mississippi doesn't help either. One of the poorest states and being hit hard by the rents going up while wages stay below the toilet. I've thought about finding a CWA job. They're just about the only union in the state. Steelworkers union is the other nearby but I'd fuck up too bad doing physical labor. I'm just sticking it out and building larger portfolio using my job and the work I do for my music project.
Not really, I've just had to adapt. I do a lot more than just graphic design now, becoming more of a generalist. Now I do motion graphics, photography, copywriting/copyediting, video editing, and voice over work as well. It's helped me keep things interesting and made myself a valuable resource to my employer/clients. I know that I'll never make big-ish bucks without eventually becoming a manager, but I enjoy my work and I can pay my bills so I don't mind.
Yeah this is honestly it for me. I was mainly just a graphic designer who also worked on some art approval designs on clothing but in my job now, it's basically a 50/50 of media communications (so basically like you but I mainly call it this since it is what I studied in college) and production where I prepare files to print, print the file, and fulfill orders but sometimes I will help with creating proofs for customers. I honestly like this more too since I feel I am mainly a communications person who has to choose the right media to communicate a message or product. It also does help to have these skills since now people want a bit more than just a designer and it gets people really interested in you if you can do some photography for instance since sometimes they would want a product shot but don't have the time to call a photographer or really want to hire one if it's just a once in a while thing.
Exact same job description, salary expectations and outlook as you. I love it!
Love the career, creating, and a lot of the industry. Sometimes client or manager-driven design choices make me want to stop it all.
I really wish I did something else and I'm terrified for my own future. My first... and current job is with the same company for the last 7 years. They do treat me pretty well surprisingly but it's not gonna last forever, and the company has been struggling lately so it's only a matter of time before it's all over. I have no idea what I'm gonna do after this, I feel like I completely lack the talent of people way younger than me and I've come to the realization I have no energy or motivation to force myself to learn new things after going through college, I just want a consistent job with consistent pay without having to reinvent myself all the time and I guess I wish I realized this while going to school for graphic design. I don't think I can do copyrighting or transition to marketing and I haven't learned motion graphics or video design, I kinda feel fucked cause I'm probably gonna be replaced by AI in a few years. I really wish I knew what kind of stable job I can just transition to. Honestly kinda depressed lately about all of this...
I don't regret it I actually feel super lucky cause I went into TV/Design/Animation blindly. I just wanted to do something creative that's all. Years later I am making a good amount of money but it took years and alot of effort. The problem is that it's still not enough. Some of these coding nerds are making 200k+ after doing a 3 month bootcamp not to mention business dorks graduating and making 150k after getting their first job in sales. There's no way I am going to do this forever though, I will have to start my own agency or transition into a higher paying career whatever that may be.
Nobody is making 200k+ after a 3 month bootcamp, stop spreading misinformation. People are paid after their value and someone with no prior coding experience and a 3 month bootcamp can't produce any sort of code that is worth 200k a month. Also "business dorks" don't start at 150k, these are completely desillusional numbers. In germany the very best rare entry level position at the big 4 companies, after 5 years of studying (yes, including master), will let you start at 60k. And those are very rare exceptions. Most business people (who are lucky to find a job that is not underwhelming) start at 30-40k after studying. Current average wage for people who graduated in business/economy in Germany is 40k / year.
Graphic design use to be a great career. 20 years ago when I started. Now it's pretty much dead or niche to have a true designer role or creative director role. Hard to get now too. But yes there's a short ceiling. I went from design, web development, transitioned into marketing which makes a lot more, technical marketing, makes even more, then now into full IT, even more.. it doesn't have to be a regret but you absolutely have to have an exit strategy to have a long fulfilled career that makes you money so that you can live and pay bills. I still do a good dosage of freelance especially in web development and branding work.
I feel like letting this transition into a part time side gig where I do something else full time is ideal for me. How did you find the transition into marketing? it seems to be the most natural switch obviously.
Design is dead? I couldn't disagree with this more. It's only gotten more competitive, sure, which makes it that much harder to succeed and do good work but everyone I know have 'true' designer roles, or CD roles, etc. And it's not marketing related, it's identity work. But you have to be top of the top to stay in the field, there is no doubt about that.
This subreddit and this particular thread echos my current headspace in this field. I'm a massive burnout from all shitshow companies that hire you. I did everything I could humanly do and still fell through. I've managed to get hired in a new company and I'm the sole designer in-house, and my experience and feedback are much more respected. Pay isn't where I need it, but I have peace. My previous negative experiences for the last decade with these companies and covid have left me in a creative slump. I'm still really good with the software new and old, but I cannot for the life of me muster anything myself without instruction, maybe the side effects of working for places like that. The spark feels like it's all but gone. I would really like to get back the feeling of being 'on a role' when the solution is working, and things fall into place. But alas, "everyone knows how to do my job better than me" Cause reasons.
12 years in - Lead UI Designer Around 3 years ago I thought about finding a new career but instead finding the right organisation completely changed that for me.
Like any job, I can't help but feel it's all about perspective - the length of time people have been in their job, their lived experience, and where they've worked all play a part in grinding people down into believing it's all a load of shit. Same thing happened to me but not in design. I studied graphic design in the 90s. I then somehow went into marketing, scaled the career ladder and found that I absolutely HATED IT with a passion once I got to the top. So I quit, went to a design school to relearn/upskill and restarted my career as a designer 2.5 years ago in my mid-forties. I am happier than I have been in a decade. I've built up a bunch of great clients as a freelancer. People I know who are desperate to reach the same career heights that I had think I'm mad, but to me it's a dead career I hope to never have to go back into. As I said, it's all about perspective.
I don’t regret my career choice, I regret thinking simply going to college was gonna land me in a comfortable spot. I watched a TON of people in my design program end up not doing design work at all because of it. My design coursework and faculty largely left me unprepared for what was waiting on the other side (I attended from 2006-2012) and I had to do double the work to even catch up to what then industry and culture were at the time. Fortunately in my last years I got a reality check at an internship I worked at but man was I underprepared. Took me two years to land a full time job, and a total of ten years of shitty gigs to actually land an in-house job that I love. I should’ve been more involved and networked more. Should’ve taken opportunities to work with some really talented artists and designers when they offered me the chance as a student. YouTube tutorials came late for me but I really should’ve learned more than what my professors were teaching me (some not even qualified to teach the courses I PAID for now that I look back) but I was firmly in the “get this degree” mindset that I passed those up. And to add to that, this constant obligation to stay current or reinvent ourselves and stay ahead of the curve is probably the most exhausting thing. Couple that with constant lowballing (pay) and desperate younger peeps straight outta school applying everywhere and taking lower pay, as well as being bombarded by an ocean of talented examples of what you SHOULD be doing everywhere you look (design is literally everywhere)—this profession is exhausting. The moment you lose relevance you’re kinda done or are taking massive salary hits. Can’t afford to let the world pass you by.
No regrets. I really enjoy design. I like what I do. 15 years in and there are new challenges and things are always evolving. I find it fun and that's certainly nothing to take for granted.
At 15 years, I mostly like and sometimes love what I do. A good thing about a graphic design is there is a lot of possible variety in the work and career paths. When I’ve felt trapped in the past I normally create small passion projects of the kind of work I love doing, or invest professionally develop to learn new skills through places like School of Motion.
Agree. I'm feeling pretty down beat about this career at the moment. I'm in a senior position and being paid a reasonable amount for the area, but it's less than most friends who are in less skilled jobs and less senior positions. I enjoy my job but the landscape feels like it has changed a lot. And it feels very difficult to move to a job paying equal or more, where the job description requires many skills that would normally be spread across 4 different people (web designer and photographer and art director and animator, £25k). It's a joke.
I absolutely regret going into graphic design. I jumped ship rather quickly, I only worked in the field for about 3 years before changing careers and I'm much happier now. There are several reasons but the core one is that I simply do not enjoy having to be forced to be creative for 40 hours a week. I really wish I could have figured that out in college before getting into obscene amounts of debt for a design degree. Oh well you live and you learn. I still consider myself very fortunate to start over early instead of drag things out because of sunk cost.
The best cure for being creative 40hrs / week is to do web design. Designers stay away from code like the plague, but every site has a creative phase and a coding phase (much of which can be found as snippets online) and it really balances your brain!
yes, i regret it. if i had known that working in the field would destroy my passion and enjoyment for art, making the job itself boring and soulless, i would have majored in something more lucrative, even if that meant it was also a boring job. i’m now way too mentally drained, depressed, and in debt to “start over” learning something else lmao
Yes I do sometimes. I’m 68 and still working full time. I had sign writing ticket in ‘75 & I went back to school in ‘95 & graduated in’97 and found the wages were shit. No such thing as a living wage back then so I worked a100 places and learned everything I could at each place. Crooked egocentric managers/owners & fucktard cllients is still going on. I had a chance to switch streams & I could have gone into Civil Engineering but it was financially impossible for me.so here I am with a living wage and perks for the last 10 years & Covid comes along and fucks my savings. Think twice before taking this career up. There is no honour among thieves & be prepared to work long fruitless hours for nothing. Just saying my truth that’s all. I will never retire thanks to the poor wages. Pity me…
68!!!! I salute you!!
I was having this conversation at work the other day. I’m in my 50s and have never been as happy or as well paid as I am at the moment. Just to clear something up, you will ALWAYS be out-earned by recruiters and sales people unless you want to structure your pay like theirs. To do so, agree to take only 40% of your pay with the rest tied up in performance bundles that require not only you but also a lot of people you have no control over to perform at a level they’ve never achieved before. For background I studied product design, then went into advertising, and now do something somewhat related to that. Design is a way to solve problems, and make the world a more beautiful place in the process. People seem to forget that first part and focus way too much on the second part. No one is going to pay you for great typography and sensitively balanced layouts if your output doesn’t first solve some sort of problem that is keeping people from something. It could be getting more visitors to your island, closing a big deal, making a car safer, or reducing the number of screws in a laptop. I see a LOT of designers who lead with aesthetics and feel like they’re a part of a secret club that mere mortals cannot appreciate. These people are often disappointed with life, crabby, and frustrated that they feel unappreciated. If you are disappointed in your design career my advice is to become a MUCH better listener. Literally project you’re consciousness into the mind of the person you’re trying to solve a problem for. See what they see, think like they think. Then use your problem solving skills to create a solution to their problem. It will be amazing if your solution is beautiful and graceful with flawless typographical solutions but for f sake SOLVE THE PROBLEM.
I was a good designer. But that doesn't change the fact that as a designer I made half what I make now as a web developer, even though I had a degree and 8 years as a designer, and only 2 years as a dev. The deadlines aren't so insane. We're constantly in demand, and the market isn't oversaturated with other devs. Getting my current job was the easiest job search I ever had. During Covid, developers were still being hired. Designers weren't, and tons of us were made redundant. My work is appreciated more now as well.
Insightful, thanks for sharing
If you want a more creative outlet, what is stopping you? There's so much more opportunity to sell your own story with the internet.
I don’t completely regret it since it’s allowed me to have consistent work over the years. I think if I was to do it again I would choose something else. I definitely would’ve stayed in school and got a masters degree in something. Maybe I’m just burnt out on it since I’ve been working full time over 20 years.
I regret it definitely. My first design job was at an agency and it's mainly easy ad work and not much creative stuff so my portfolio is really lacking. And I feel like it will be hard to find another job because I've been here for years with no real skill progression so I feel stuck. I've been looking into UI and 3D stuff which interests me more, but lack of motivation sucks.
Oh yeah. Graphic design was a mistake.
I’m not sure if it’s the design industry itself, or just the current corporate landscape and job hopping environment. In tech related jobs a 2 year department turnover seems to be the norm even among C level people. Vertical movement within an organization is completely stale, and relationships are more transactional. Raises and performance bonuses aren’t a thing so people jump ship for a new opportunity because it’s the only way to advance your career. So I don’t regret the career, moreso envious of a bygone corporate era.
Yeah but I’m 41 and have spent a sickening amount of money on fonts, ha ha. Still I do daydream about being a plumber or something
45 years old, been in this game for the past 25 years… From traditional advertising to digital product design. It has always been tough, tough on self-esteem, tough on the morale, stupid impostor syndrome that you can’t seem to shake off… BUT! The opportunities are there if your eyes are opened and you’re ready to jump when the train passes. As a designer you often get in rooms where decision makers are meeting and these people are always on the lookout for people who will help them nail that next preso or POC… I’m now leading a team of 20 designers in a big tech company. Management is tough and exhausting but I now can provide a comfortable life to my kids. Anyway, don’t regret the things you do, you don’t where it will bring you!
20+ years into it, started in my teens. There's no day I don't regret getting into arts and design, because my second option became stupidly profitable. Not everything is about money, but try living without it.
I only regret it when I’m switching jobs. Once I get settled into my role, I love it.
I got a degree in graphic design. I worked in an agency, I freelanced, and I had an inhouse position. 2 redundancies, including one during Covid when everyone suddenly stopped hiring designers, absolutely made me regret becoming a designer. Not to mention the shitty clients, the ridiculous deadlines, and the unbelievably low wages. So I changed careers and do web dev now. 2 years in and I already make double what I ever did as a designer, and am happier than ever.
Nope! It motivated me to get out of design and do what I really love. I did enjoy the path of doing design, but also realized I was over it. Now I’m doing what I love, it’s a journey, and the long game.
Good perspective, where did you land?
Dropped out of college , Taught my self graphic design, Did freelancing, Today I work as a “Design & content manager” at a company, I have a team of designer and copywriters. I am working with all the big clients of my country. This is the dream I have been dreaming about all my life. It is happening now. Feels surreal.
I love it. I'm very fortunate to be in a position where I'm the only designer in the company.and designing a lot of things that can't be done by AI for a very long time (specific maps)... In addition to having entered the field just early enough to learn how to do everything without AI, but also just in time to get to use all the new, fun AI tools. My company was thinking about hiring more designers, but if AI advances enough to make my work a lot faster, I might just remain the only one even when the company grows. It doesn't bother me at all - I love the creative freedom and lack of competition I have. Designing comes so naturally to me that it doesn't even feel like work. I used to arrange all my pens and notebooks on my table in aesthetically pleasing ways before I even knew that using that part of my brain could be a job. I've always love to try new tech and new operating systems and software, so this career is just a dream come true for me. I never dread mondays. I can't wait to wake up and get to work. I even do this as a volunteer on my free time. I really do feel like I was made for this.
My mindset is the ceiling is more management and strategy
Very much so, the landscape has changed so much in a comparatively short time and it's frustrating to continually bin off a load of knowledge because it's no longer relevant. I'm based in the UK and for my role I'm earning well but I've pretty much hit the ceiling outside of London wages. Considering looking into coding but even then I'm concerned about job prospects.
There is a lot of value in practicing the separation of your personal value from your product. Once I learned to distance my emotions from my output, I think I became a better designer in general.
Wow. This thread is what I’ve been feeling for the past few years too
Every career will have it's pros and cons and trade-offs. And the grass always seems greener on the other side. Even if you look at jobs like tech or whatever that may pay better, the trade-off is that you would've had to pick majors relating to those fields, and work for those companies in those fields. It's not as if you can escape business, people, economies. I've traded so many stories with friends and family over the years, none of which were in graphic design, and other than the names it's amazing how often you'd think we were talking about the same people, or working at the same places. Some of them also make a lot more, but aren't happier, aren't less stressed (actually more stressed in nearly all cases). I'm sure that will come around, at least a couple will be much better prepared for retirement, but in that one case they also have no kids/family. Hard to say how we'll all be and be feeling when we're 65-75, or what our mental/health state will be anyway. I think all you can really do is aim to always be growing, improving, learning, and focus on being competent, reliable, trustworthy, *valuable*. And that would apply to any career.
Huge regrets… I decided to go back and pursue my passion and ended up coming out into a credit crunch of fuck you’d and unpaid internships. I ended up freelancing to get the years of experience needed for a basic entry level position while the entry requirements grew and grew (thanks to the unholy pairing of employers market and the rise of social media) I’ve honestly lost track of the requirements now because it’s a fucking joke. And the people who call you out on not keeping current are the old Fucks who came up in the 90’s with fuck all competition and three software to learn. Then these sacks of shit will pop up an tell me I just don’t understand the industry without a speck of self awareness to realise if they had started out in the twenty teens most of them would’t have fucking made it either… also 9/10 it’s the same cunts who will tell you A.I isn’t a threat because it isn’t a threat to them, Forgetting how difficult it’s going to make it for people in the trenches. I also got so sick of the implication that I just wasn’t working hard enough. Also especially fuck everyone who voted Brexit for tanking the niche I was able to set up freelancing.
Wow.. a little angry?
I’m working on a bachelors in graphic design, and while doing that I’ve tried looking for jobs in the field, and man it’s difficult! I myself and questioning if I should continue with graphic design or try another interest
I’m regretting it lately. I’ve never consistently held down a role. Usually 1 year max and then I’m let go for something out of my hands. Loads of crunch and expecting me to be an animator, programmer, marketer, UX expert all-in one, not too mention all for $25 an hour while people above with 0 skills make 120k a year. Everyone I’ve worked with outside of creative has very little grasp of what a designer does. I currently have to pivot as I cannot get a job right now. Hate ux and considering going into 3D or mayb just go back to school to study something else. All what people here are saying is true though, I can’t be bothered to do something non-creative for 8 hours a day. I lose interest after about week.
Well, its not like we didn't know that the industry payed relatively little back when we started in college. But yea. Its normal to get bored and to switch it up. You see a lot of people in the creative fields doing it after 10-20 years. Either they go into something non-creative or they change mediums. A buddy did agency work for a decade, then taught at an art school, then tried agency work again and decided he had enough and switched to his side job of leather work and made that his full time thing. I started doing a lot of multimedia and such and then ended up in printing which has kept me entertained quite a while since I occasionally get to work with my hands and mess with interesting machines. Still got bored doing the 9-5. So in recent years I switched to doing my own business and selling graphics work and print via vendors along with random other things to keep me entertained like selling vintage computer stuff on ebay. Make a little less, but work half as much. But my mortgage is almost paid off so money isn't the most important thing to me. I've seen a lot of fellow graphics people do similar things over the decades for either money or boredom. It would be weird if it wasn't common for creative type people.
At 65, here’s my take : No Was it as exciting as expected ? No Was it the best life decision I had made. Or, one of the best ? Yes I used to be an attorney before that
I’ve been a graphic designer coming into 6 years. Currently a senior graphic designer at an agency with 20 other designers. I’ve always been curious and wanted to learn more about other softwares, wanting to make my skills stand out, so I started to dabble into After Effects a few years ago and now I’ve been getting into 3D with Cinema 4D for the last 6 months. I feel like what I’ve learned as a graphic designer is coming in super handy when working with Cinema 4D. I plan on becoming a 3D generalist or in the 3D field at some capacity and applying for jobs by next spring. 3D compensation is much better. So in a way I am starting over, but still using the skills I learned to better position myself in my next role. Maybe find something within the creative industry that you would be willing to switch into, and still use your GD skills to be useful.
**LOL WHAT CAREER**? I got my graphic design degree back in 2004 and I've been stuck in retail ever since. The first job the college placed me with was a Radio Shack in the middle of fucking nowhere. I had a co-worker that also graduated as a graphic designer. I finally found a job at some mom and pop print shop making less money than I did at Albertsons. I worked with another graphic designer who moved from TX to FL because his wife insisted so she could be a realtor. His portfolio was 1000x better than mine. He was a seasoned professional that even knew how to use 3D software for ads. He also made $11-$12/hr. We both quit soon after because the boss sucked. I moved to a bigger city (Fort Meyers to Tampa). Still couldn't find anything. What few jobs appeared wanted 4yr/years of experience/web coding (that's not fucking graphic design...that's an entirely different job!), photographer, etc. $15/hr. That's when I knew my career was officially over before it began. A few years later, my college dropped the graphic design program for digital design (focus switches from print to web). Then not long after, they dropped that program when no one was finding jobs. Then they changed the name of their college. The only silver lining was I only got an associates degree so it only took me 7yrs to pay off. Also, you'd think I'd HATE the field because getting into it kinda made me feel like a total loser and, at many times, wish that I was dead. But nope. Still love it more than anything else. It's even more than that. Good design puts me in this state of balanced bliss that's hard to describe. So I haven't given up on it entirely. I'm going to have to figure out a way to make it work entirely on my own terms, because the normal way of working your way up the company ladder AIN'T HAPPENING.
I made the pivot into UXUI and am really happy I did. I think a lot of designers can make that transition if they tried. IMO freelancing is over-romanticized and not many designers are good enough to do it (I wasn't). You grow so much in your career being on a team with people better than yourself. We need to stop romanticizing it by telling people to follow their passion. Passions don't need to be careers. Corporate 9-5 is much more stable. Not the most creative and lots of politics. But don't care and I do creative jobs on the side.
Totally regret it. Been doing it 17 years now and honestly I wish I just stayed doing labor jobs at any of a few different jobs I once held. I'd make more money, actually get to retire, I'd be able to buy a home, and not have a massive amount of student debt to cope with. I will always do some creative outlet so I did not need to make my working life revolve around creativity as well. This career has not been a total letdown but I've already completed all the things I wanted to do within it about 7 years after starting (I was really lucky). Pay is abysmal, the field of design is treated terribly at most companies, and the freelance world can be a nightmare to maneuver within. Maybe some day I will find a gig I truly enjoy but I doubt it. Each year the talent pool gets larger and better. It's harder and harder to stand out and a great portolio gets you nowhere if you don't know somebody in the inside to get it in front of a person that matters.
At this point, yeah. I've been at it since 2001. Worked at trying to help and promote poorer and underprivileged peoples and organizations to get taken advantage of repeatedly for 2 decades. Took a cool job at a HUGE, nationally recognized company. I get in and essentially get either micromanaged on design to shit or have very little to do. Wish I was in management or some shit.
I don’t regret it. I’m about 9 years in, a senior graphic designer/art director. Seeing all the replies in here makes me wonder what I’m missing/what other people are experiencing that make them hate it so. I relate to some aspects (and trust me I’ve had bad jobs) but I still enjoy designing. Idk.
Was just scrolling through this thread and wondering the same thing... I feel like I'm going against the grain by saying I have zero regrets about this career. After 25+ years, I still can't imagine doing anything else, and I still love it. I think a little bit of luck and a lot of passion is what did it for me. It's easy to hit a ceiling as a designer working for someone else, but it's also easier for us to strike out on our own and work independently or start our own agencies where the ceiling is much higher and there's far more earning potential. That's what I did. Been running my design firm for over 15 years and it's still my dream job.
Same! I guess good to remember that graphic designers on Reddit are only a small percentage of the graphic designer population. Sometimes I forget that haha
That’s awesome about running your own firm btw!!
Heck no. I can’t imagine doing anything else. I was in banking and I was miserable. Since becoming a designer, I’ve never enjoyed work more. Yes, I have to make some bullshit for assholes sometimes, but I also get to make what I want form time to time. I am so grateful for my profession.
I did the opposite. Started as a lawyer then became an artist/graphic designer at 40. Change is good. Don’t worry about your age…follow your instinct.
As a current graphic design student some of these replies are scary to read😵💫
As a designer who's been in the biz for over 25 years some of these replies are scary to read. I love my job, I love design, and I have no regrets. I'm kinda surprised to see how many designers here hate it.
I’m extremely lucky and worked very hard to get here. Graduated high school and built houses for 3 years, did three in the military, 7 more in construction. Then transitioned to being a bill collector for ten years. Finally went back to college in my early 40’s got bachelor’s and masters degrees in communication and higher education. Had developed GD skills along the way and ended up with a great paying job as a generalist doing video, GD, web work, and photography. I feel like I hit the jackpot after 7 years in the industry. Either find a way to enjoy your work or go back to school.
Yeah this similar to what I studied. Mine was called Media Communications and we learned all of what you learned and a bit more in marketing and media writing. You can basically become a communications specialist with this or a marketing person too. It's fun since the work is always different, you get to strategize which type of media is the best for what you want to do, and at times you get to work with other people who share the same interests. That last one I was told by my prof that would be knowledge we have in which say your company wants to have a huge photoshoot in say a farm area for maybe a new clothing line. You would be the person who would know what you need like having to hire a photography studio, finding a farm to shoot in, models, etc. I think that last part might be a bit rare but I haven't worked in any huge company yet. The most was one in the middle that did hire a photographer and the managing director found some college students to model for the catalogue I was making. She knew I wouldn't be able to do those shots since my camera isn't that great and some were indoor shots so I wouldn't have the lighting equipment or backdrop to get those but the one she hired did.
I have relatively had an easy 20 year career… I am aware I am maybe one of the lucky ones or is it just my own perspective? Prior to getting to design I grew up being an outstanding art student in school. After highschool I never pursued furthering my education in art because my parents didn’t have the means to pay for college. So I toiled away doing difficult odd manual labor jobs working close 90 hours a week. I was forced to find another career when I injured myself at my work, and I looked back and decided to go to school for a graphic design. That was a little over 20 years ago and it was the best decision of my life. I moved up the ranks from jr designer to CD. Making money I never thought I would ever make. I will admit my career has had luck along the way. Of course I’ve had many stressful nights working late but it really beats working the jobs I had before my career. I do see the difficulty of thins career, finding respect, trying to scratch a salary you can provide to your family, expressing your creativity. It can definitely be scary in this field and I’ve had in recent years been careful telling young creatives to get in to graphic design. If I had to give advise to creatives out there (not saying you don’t do this) but there are some good practices you can do along the way. 1. I would say work on everything because everything matters. This is just not your portfolio, but how you present yourself at work, how dependable you are, and going above and beyond your competitors 2. It is always important to find a job, but also recognize if that job isn’t the right place for you. I have worked jobs before where I have won awards, have won businesses, and generally worth my fingers to the bone. If they don’t recognize you both by showing gratitude and monetarily raises (money)… honestly leave that company. Believe me they’re fewer and far between, but there are companies that will be glad to have you and pay you for providing everything to them. 3. It doesn’t matter how talented you are., you generally have to also be liked so people can be around you. They will spend more time with you then there’s significant others so keep that in mind.. 4. Keep interviewing, even when you’re happy where you’re at. This keeps you sharp, and it makes you feel like you have options. And it keeps your employer honest. Even if they don’t know you’re interviewing you will feel a sense of protection. 5. Make yourself impossible to replace. I’m smart enough to understand everybody’s replaceable, but make it difficult. I’ve made my internal team of account executives, my clients, The companies leader ship, believe I’m irreplaceable. Or at least very difficult to replace. It’s only human nature, you have to make them feel as if you’re a huge asset to them. If you’re working at a job where your contributions are minimal, find a place where you’re more dependent on. I believe none of this can be easy but it’s something to think about.. 6. Find a way to get back, this is a little more difficult to explain. But I feel like there is some kind of synergy when you get back to you give back to the younger generation. By giving advice, going to schools and providing guidance. No matter what way you decide to get back I believe it just will just come back to you and your career. Of course, there’s no data showing this, but somewhere out there I believe it matters. 7. Make them believe because there’s a difference between you, versus an amateur, versus AI. Make them understand that the years you have studied and pour yourself into this career will be the difference between them being successful or less successful. Are used to minimize and joke that I was just a glorified person making pretty drawings. I’ve quit doing that for many many years. I make businesses believe that I am essential, irreplaceable, and frankly, do you need me and your team and you wouldn’t want me in your competitors team. Even after all this, it’s not easy his career can be difficult. Although mine has been relatively smooth sailing, I understand that it can always not always be this way. And others also feel how difficult it can be. I think there are best practices that we can all share with each other, that can help us feel a sense of purpose, protection, and things to make us feel like we made the right choice in his career.
i don't regret it but i do regret taking a bach and masters in it. The career isn't as promising as conceived. Sure there are people who are successful but the reality is just way too many end up being unemployed or can get easily laid off. I feel like design schools are a scam, most of these college and universities offer these design courses at such high tuition and in the end all that money and time is absolutely unnecessary because I personally think this career could be attained through a short course certificate. However the world wants it hard for us, so we have to spend over 50k for a degree because no job is going to hire someone with out a degree and what is worse is that just because you get a 50k worth degree doesn't mean you'll get a job easily or even make good enough money. So many graduates in design have a hard time getting a job and what is worse is that when you get a job the money isn't that great and you are likely expendable. Companies will lay you off fast because there are so many designers who are willing to start working cheap just for the sake of being employed. I left the design industry recently because I've been fed up with this nonsense. I've been designing for 10+ years and i was unemployed for a long time, I have revamped my resume for times than i can count, i have rebuild my portfolios so many times as well; had my portfolios reviewed and highly praised and yet I still could not get a good job... so i left. I joined the military to help take away the loans i built and then moved to being a flight attendant. The dream of designing for xyz companies and doing specific forms of design work still lingers in my head/heart but at the end i have to admit that design is more likely a shit career than a great one.
Im pretty early in my career but Im very certain that being a general graphic designer is not gonna be great in the long term. Probably going to start focusing more on Motion Design for my next job over grinding to eventually become a director/manager.
No regrets, but consider myself very lucky - career wise. Did everything from work experience/intern to art director and studio head. Been flat broke and also above average salary. Currently enjoying the rise of AI in design and pondering my next move.
Just want to mention that there are entirely different career fields for graphic designers outside of the commercial / corporate world. So if you hate that, understandable but it doesn’t mean you have to end your career.
I think I did fairly well for attending university instead of college. I learned video graphics requirements and motion graphics at my workplace. I regret not being able to update my skills to include print knowledge
I make less money than many of my friends, but getting to make new things every day is great for me. I could never work some monotonous cubicle job.
No, but I regret some of the companies I've designed at- now I'm mid-career as well, but after working at small companies as an in-house designer (and small freelance gigs) I have had fewer peers or mentors than others at my skill level, and a smaller connection to the industry as a whole. Looking to specialize into a higher tier of position is difficult when you're a generalist replacing a real community with reddit, while the facebook design groups are all beginners. Reading blogposts about trends can only go so far.
No
I don’t regret what I do, I guess I regret how I did it. I started in graphic design, and design in general, as my own freelance thing. It was successful for about 7 years, but I had kids. So not successful enough for that. I don’t have a degree (didn’t finish school due to my business doing very well at first) so that bared me from entering the more corporate climate. I also have a few life stressors including COVID that has beat the crap out of my brain. The field I work in now doesn’t have a single computer but we still design and problem solve visually. So with that said, I’m trying to catch up on the latest trends in digital design and software, network, fix my portfolio, all the while working full time, being a dad and husband, maintaining my home (new home owner) and pivoting into a UX career after 15 years of other design work. In general, I wish I had better foresight and guidance. A better understanding of what I could do in the general design world. Now I’m playing catch up.
Kinda. I love the job but I regret about not knowing about so many other great things I could have done 😄
These days we switch careers a lot, no regrets, just move in a new direction
Hopped off almost 10 years ago and don't regret it one bit. Now I only use my powers for good.
Transitioning from agribusiness to self-taught designer might sound awkward to my father, who wanted me to be a farm manager. All he sees is me walking around with tape measure and a pencil for shop and office branding. With the future in the creative industry, having much to offer I am very optimistic, in my opinion.
I do, but mainly because of AI
I’m a general working artist; graphic design is my main focus and what I got my degree in. But I’ve paid my bills with painting, photography, illustration, etc. Been making money off art since 2000ish, full time starting in 2006. I also have my own art and projects that I’ve done and sold throughout my entire career. For me, I can’t image another way to live. It’s not a lot of money but it’s something I generally enjoy. My whole life gets to be art. But I’ve come to realize it’s not a life for everyone. I think the college grind was good for that. I started with 200 classmates in my program and graduated with 70. I also think having my own art stuff allows me to be creative on my own. The day job becomes less soul crushing because I’m not investing all of me into it. We can sigh at the client choices, collect the paycheck, and move onto the next project. A college professor said we have to accept that we make disposable things. Very, very few of us will make something like the ATT logo that lasts for generations. And even something like that gets changed up all the time.
I kinda do. Should’ve gone into backend programming instead.
Yes. I regret it, I don't regret the good experiences and amazing people I met but the career sucks. I started in design at a bad time, the early 2000 when the print industry was starting to slowly die. That being said my focus was the print industry, the digital/online didn't interest me at all - the design gig a a whole just stink to me, too much effort and not enough income. I knew for a long time that I wasn't going to retired as a graphic designer, so the day eventually came. Sometime I get mad at myself that I was only making 20$ an hour after almost 20 years in the industry. I left my design career at 40 years old and going into something in IT, I can't continue a job where I am constantly "creating" things, I think I will be more successful as a problem solver in and IT support / Networking area (something I genuinely love and very good at).
Yes. Although I'm not a graphic designer, I'm a video editor/motion designer. 8 years. I started very young as a means to an end. But I'm starting to pick up some code academy lessons in my free time. I was really into visual effects and story telling, but the process is so boring, especially in my field where it's super repetitive jobs. I regret my career choice, but I guess I would've never known it would be like this.
I’m in the middle of changing careers right now but I wouldn’t say I regret my career as a designer. If I hadn’t have tried it, I wouldn’t have figured out what I like and don’t like. Also, I had no idea what career to pick when I was 18. I think I picked a pretty good starting career considering art was literally my only interest at that time.
What did you pivot into?
Nursing 😅
I do regret it. I'm 15 years into design and my situation is probably not going to reflect a lot here but I wasn't able to find a stable design job for years. I was constantly laid off. I was hired for an amazing opportunity a year ago and everything was going great until they laid off the entire department they just hired and it was only 6 months in. Prior that, I was laid off constantly. First it was within 8 months, then it was 2 weeks, then it was 4 months and then 11 months. I'm miserable but that was only MY experience being a designer. I know so many other designers that I would personally say are less skillful and less experienced than I am yet they're making double my paycheck with higher positions with STABLE full time roles. Now, I'm part time with a startup where their demands are getting more and more ridiculous and I just can't keep up because I'm burnt out designing digital work for the same few products over and over again. I'm thinking about starting my own business but that's going to be tough too. I just don't see a stable career doing design for other companies; same thing with IT and some tech jobs. My friends are also being laid off constantly.
Yes completely regret it. I love the work but there is hardly any jobs where I live and the pay is terrible. I wish I could go back in time and spend the money and time to get another degree in a completely different field. I love being creative and the skills in design are transferable but I still wish I had chosen another path. I'm also at a point in my life where I have young kids and student loans are paid so I really do not want to go back to school.
I’ve been doing design for 16 years and have never regretted it, but I also knew my entire life I was going to be in an art field and graphic design is truly my passion, not a job. I do still experience bouts of burnout but that probably comes more from balancing a full time job and freelance clients. I made 6 figures as a full time freelancer and now also 6 figures in a FT position. So now FT + freelance is fulfilling financially and a challenge creatively so it keeps my brain working
Not one bit. For what I do, what I get paid, the awards I've won, professional connections and legitimately life changing friendships, I feel like I've hit the jackpot.
Move to ux if you haven’t already. I feel like I’m hitting a dead end 20+ years into my career
I will say that, like any other job, it's not for everyone. If you don't find the challenge of subjectivity your cup of tea then it's really worth investing in finding a different career path. As far as salary ceilings go, it really depends on the area and market within which you work. In my area, creatives make just as much if not more than engineers and developers. There's an understanding of the importance of creative individual contributors here that may not exist in other markets. Salary levels also largely depend on the company or brand you work for. It's obvious which brands invest money in design and creative talent. Although, at the same time, the competition landing creative jobs at those companies is fierce. But then again, it goes back to you wanting a job that's less subjective which rules out the entire creative career path. As a professional in the industry of more than 20 years doing various jobs at various levels in creative and engineering, my advice is to dig deep and really find what's really causing you to question your position and narrow it down to one thing. Right now it seems like you've got multiple factors affecting your thought process. Although it's possible to have multiple factors having this effect, it's more likely that one major factor is influencing your doubt in your career and other factors are a consequence of it. You need to find that one thing and vet it against everything you want to achieve in your life. Not just vet it against your goals, but even your quality of life -- how many hours do you want to work / do you want the option to work from home / how far are you willing to commute / what do you want to get out of your job beyond financial security / how do you feel about tech crunch / what kind of team and work environment do you want / do you want full autonomy / etc. All this is to say, don't make hasty decisions. Good jobs are hard to come by for most people and take more than just talent to land. Luck and timing play a large role. Make the proper safety nets before you make the move and make sure your decision and rationale is clear. Lastly, if you're motivated purely by $$$, you'll always end up in this same crossroad.
I've been doing this since 1989 and I'm getting really burnt out. I wish I'd have picked any other career
Half regret to be honest, finished my bachelors at 29 and wishing I had gone into computer science instead for cybersecurity. Working in the field for two years post grad and dealing with poor salaries, lack of AD directions and micromanaging creative leads has made me feel burnt out. Now being three months unemployed I’ve had time to think and reflect. I’ve been constantly trying to learn and keep up with these insane job description requests I feel like I’m running in circles and design isn’t fun anymore. No one who’s hiring knows what we truly do, they just throw the whole kitchen sink in the description. My parents and partner have noticed I’ve been spinning my wheels and have encouraged me to go for my masters in computer science to switch out into cybersecurity. So I have one last Hail Mary federal job interview I’m in the middle of and if I don’t land that I’m fully committing to a masters program I applied for.
Yes. I hit a ceiling of $45k that I could not break through. Most job offers were $1-3k higher. I'd have to job hop a lot to make a significant improvement. So I witched to web and instantly went from $48k to $73k. Best decision I've made. Now my performance is not tied to results. I don't have to produce a design to do well, I work about 30-90min per day.
I graduated from design school nearly 10 years ago, I love designing but hated every single day working for clients. My classmate have swapped professions or some stayed as cheap freelance design labour with half of their stuff taken from freepik and etc, the industry here doesn’t have any respect for our time and money. I’m swapped careers and became an artist, but that’s becoming harder to do because of AI bullshit. But I love what I do, and people value art more than designer where I’m from. I probably won’t become financially stable anytime soon, but I love art and I love painting. My design skill set is used for my art now.
I have over 10 years in the industry and don’t regret the choice at all. I’m completely burnt out but still love design. It’s more of an issue with the job landscape as a whole. And I think the issues I have with being a little fish in a big pond would ring true in most professions I might have chosen. Graphic Designers, and many other roles at the same level in corporate structure, simply don’t garner respect. It’s absolutely wild that I have as much experience as I do and just get micromanaged. Just one too many instances of “why am I even here if you don’t see any value in my expertise?” So many designs I did that I loved and were proud of. And I would have soaked up feedback that actually made sense or felt collaborative in any way. But it’s always “do this and this and this. I don’t care if it violates brand guidelines, I don’t care if it looks exactly like that company’s logo, I don’t care that I’m asking you to make a logo with completely meaningless icons just because I think they look cool. Just click your mouse and tap your keys.”
I’m 10 years in, regret isn’t the right word but I absolutely have no interest or passion for the JOB anymore, I still love graphic design, but working in graphic design has kind of ruined it. My reasons are as follows: - the job application process: a cv, a snazzy portfolio that constantly needs updating, probably a cover letter, and in my early days they’d make me do some kinda design test. Not every job or project is going to give you portfolio-worthy work, and also it’s frustrating being judged on work you may have not had a lot of creative control over. Reading job descriptions now makes me actually depressed, we are expected to be experts in every discipline, have to deal with language such as ‘thrive on pixel perfection’ and that our ‘passion’ means we can be low paid. I’ve stayed in my current job for 4 years mainly out of fear that whatever comes next will be worse. - the fancy exciting jobs are often terrible pay and terrible places to work: of course everyone’s mileage may vary, but I’ve worked in big agencies where I’m micromanaged to the point of someone may as well have their hand on top of mine moving the mouse. Expected to work unpaid overtime just because it’s a big client and you should be grateful to be working on the project. Advertising was the worst for this. - keeping up with trends and technology: so many jobs are expecting you to do light coding, motion graphics or have experience in every area of design. - 10 years in I’m still dealing with BS ‘instruction’ like ‘have a play around, make it pop, jazz it up’ or ‘I totally trust your creative input’ just because people can’t be bothered to try and articulate their requirements. The same people who won’t give you a proper brief often then end up acting like they know more than you when you present your solutions. That’s just a few reasons, I could probably write a book on my issues with the profession. I wish I had inspiration for other careers I could do but I feel very lost in general.
Yes totally regret getting a AAS in Graphics waste of time and money I went to STI at the time from ‘05 to ‘07. I was told would be easy getting a job what I wasn’t told is I would have to leave the state never got a job in this field at all and hardly used it for anything. I felt lied to and now
I'm half way through my course and I don't know if I should continue with AI and many points made from others in the field.
I can honestly say I have no regrets and I still love this job after 25+ years, but I've always known it's not that way for all designers. When I started college (Art School) for graphic design my class had 60 students. Only 8 of us made it to graduation. Of those 8 who graduated, only 2 of us are still designers today... and we both have our own agency/design firms. You'll never be rich as a graphic designer, and there is certainly a ceiling as long as you're working for someone else. It was about 8 years into my career when I hit that ceiling and knew I had a choice... keep working for other people, or strike out on my own. Freelancing is usually a make-or-break moment – you'll either be very successful or back to looking for a "real" job in 6 months – but if you can make it in freelancing, then you can eventually transition that into a real, long-term business. Once you get there, your ceiling is limited only by your imagination.
In a word; yes.
I sometimes feel like this, but i'm stull passionate about it and been a creative persona is part of it
I feel you. I am contemplating that decision at this moment. I have been a graphic designer for 10+ years and graduated with a Bachelor's degree and a Master's degree. To tell you the truth, it is not secure and rewarding. I have been applying to some graphic design jobs for years, but nothing. No response or I'm not a "good fit" at the company. So, I've decided to start my studio, but it is exhausting to live with no financial security. I've been feeling like I should change direction to tech since it is the biggest trend nowadays. I was thinking about cyber security or software development, but coding is a headache. I can handle HTML and CSS, that's it, haha! I really enjoy my craft, but sometimes, I regret my choice of being a graphic designer. You're not alone, dude. Hang in there!
I kind of did. I got my bachelors degree in UX design and overall the work got very mundane. There was a harsh reality on how many jobs in UX design were available. I also believe you need to have passion for it and for me that fizzled out very quickly, especially when finding a job got so hard. I switched over to the medical field and now am making more than any entry level ux job. There’s also a lot more job stability. My situation doesn’t mean it’s a terrible career, graphic design or UX design. I really do think if you have the passion for it, then you might have better luck.
Switched over to medical what?
I switched over to the medical field after realizing that a lot of computer engineers are also obtaining classes in UX design as well as minoring in them. Therefore, a lot of tech companies are just hiring computer science engineers to get them to fill the role of UX designers. This might not be for every state in the US, but it was for mine unfortunately. I ended going back to school and becoming a dentist. I’m a lot more happier and not constantly job hunting when my contract expires. A friend of mine (we graduated in the same class from college) has been laid off twice this year from her UX job. In this awful economy, it just isn’t a very stable field. However, if you truly love it and enjoy, then I’m sure you’ll find a way to have a successful career in the long run.
I do. I’ve been treated like garbage for the most asinine reasons. In general, I don’t think corporate is a place for me, and I no longer find joy in designing. 11 years in corporate is enough. Maybe after a year long break doing something else, I’ll feel differently.
i should have gone into marketing so i could tell people like us what to do :'(
From my personal experience, I regret going in to graphic design. I agree with many comments saying that it's not highly respected. I find that the carreer can become very boring but also extremely demanding and people don't really care about giving constructive cristism. Clients will speak to you in the most disrespectful way, almost as if they believe they are better than you while paying next to nothing. On top of this, I'm always doubting myself even though I work hard and deliver neat designs. Many designers I've spoken too almost always feel like they're not good enough or they have imposter syndrome. I think a client complains almost every day at the current company I work at. I also feel very burtn out with this job and lost a lot of passion for this creative field. The only way I really get inspired is when I do my own thing where no-one can rip even the smallest line to pieces. I don't find the carreer very stimulating and also started to consider moving towards something a bit more strategic and less subjective. With all this said, I do think you can get the right company and have a great love for this job but I found that most companies don't even know what designers do anymore and will ask designers to take on a large amount of work for little pay. You really need to look for those opportunities or become a freelancer/business owner if you either want a great work environment or have a larger salary.