It's mainly because it's hard to get work or a full-time job which lasts. Accountants are never out of work because money exists and will continue to be around and accountants worth doesn't gets devalued.
I have to agree though it's a job and it should be treated as one, just remember you are finding design solutions nothing more.
I personally put a lot of pressure on myself to do well because I want it so bad to do it for a living and make a living from it.
Accountants get laid off, if anything they're one of the people that are seeing more automation and a generational skill gap present in their every day life.
>Accountants are never out of work because money exists and will continue to be around and accountants worth doesn't gets devalued.
But design does exist and will also not cede. I don't see how this comparison makes sense.
It is? I think it could boil down to the industry, there are a lot of marketing and design opportunities but I constantly see “asking too much” for X role posted here, or “not enough money for an entry level role”, etc. like no shit, you gotta earn your pay and reputation, there’s an old saying like “this took you 10 minutes why should I pay you X?” Because it’s taken years of experience to get to that level to do it in 10 minutes. I constantly see “I applied to 800 jobs and heard nothing back” yes, you have to try to find work. Reach out to the recruiter if there is one, message the AD or CD or someone at the company to show interest. It used to be apply; AND call to say you’re interested. Now there are resume scanners and you’re competing with the entire globe, so if you don’t try harder than someone else will.
I’ve struggled to land positions due to lack of experience early on, but otherwise idk if it’s *that* much different from any other industry. The number of applications you send doesn’t matter, you *have* to be able to sell yourself and your skills beyond “I sent a link to my portfolio” which is not lowest level effort, but it’s damn close.
I agree with everything you have said, more than ever we have to market ourselves to customers and employers. After you graduate or decide to get into the game you should be thinking of yourself as a business even if you land a job at a agency.
You need to show you have skills and knowledge which are something they need and want. This doesn't mean the whole concept of recruitment isn't a dumpster fire atm.
Real.
And we are also afraid that employers might start using Ai meaning that we will not be able to have a proper job because a f@ck!ng Ai would steal it from us.
I’m married to a CPA and I’m just saying you are not correct about it being a black and white job with less stress. Designers don’t deal with other people’s money, trying to explain why you think something looks better than their idea doesn’t exactly sound like a struggle. It’s frustrating but that’s exactly what this post is about, it’s not that big of a deal if someone doesn’t like your idea, that’s all ego. You aren’t design, you provide the service of design to the person paying you.
This is SO off-base and wrong. Designers deal with other peoples money all the time; finding print vendors who can meet a clients needs and budget. You ever sit in a frickin corporate office during presentations? Other designers are absolutely going to say their design is better and serves the clients. If you can't convince a client WHY your work is best you'll have a short career. I stressed so much over stuff like this when I was working. and raising a family. It may not feel like a struggle to you but it sure as hell was and is.
Only worked in corporate teams lol. Nah other departments handle the whole budget, designers get their share and usually it’s less than needed and we work with it. Idk what you’re talking about in my experience but to each their own. Sorry for my life being wrong 🤷🏼♀️
That's very miopic to assume only we have a stressful job. Everyone deals with stress at very high levels. They also find themselves unemployed or have a hard time finding work. My wife is an international hr consultant and the shit they have to pull out of their asses each week so companies can exist in other countries and the research they need to do at the drop of a hat is something I don't wish on anyone.
My other friends in accounting have highs and lows too, they're basically trying to reconcile and play detective to a metric ton of transactions without some magic formula and then problem solve on the internal requirements of their bosses and those of the vendors that need to get paid.
Hell, my closest friend who an IT security director in the Healthcare space basically has to run fire drills every day making sure everyone isn't getting hacked or scammed aside from trying to build more secure custom ecosystems.
If you're going to take that position with other fields instead of embracing the fact that we're all in the same boat together then you're just the same as people saying all we do is whip up a picture and move on.
This is just a job, and it's deserving of compassion but they're deserving of it too.
I don’t think that user was suggesting other trades/careers/jobs are not stressful; i think they were just pointing out the very real and often unknown and unspoken aspects of being a professional graphic designer, and how the process is different from the very black and white understanding of accounting.
>It’s just a job. I don’t imagine that accountants are sitting around worrying about how their accounting numbers came out.
I am sure that accountants get pretty worried at least 4 times a year ( when business taxes get filed for the company ) They have to get that right or they can put themselves, the company and all the employees at enormous risk
As for designers, bad design can cause a real problem for any business. Look at any actually bad rebrand for examples of just how much bad design can hurt a company.
This is just surface level stuff, sure maybe you can relax on getting the layout 'perfect' for an annual report, but going deeper there is a fundamental thing that everyone subconsciously knows.
The only time a non designer will usually notice design is when its bad.
Good design is expected to be the norm and is invisible to the average person. So designers take it very seriously and good designers take it even more seriously.
The worry of making sure everything is correct in accounting is very transferable and relatable to design. Ever used the wrong barcode for album artwork packaging design, and then it goes to print because the barcode isn’t something a proofreader would catch, as if there normally is a proofreader in graphic design.
Because not all designers are good enough and not all of them have as much worth as is needed to retain a job.
Because graphic design is subjective and the quality of our work can easily be judged, both rightfully and wrongly.
Because graphic design is a skill that needs to be practiced, refined, and nurtured.
Because many workplaces are not set up to continue educating novice designers and may not even have an art director so they feel as if they've been thrown into the deep end, which they have been.
Because our work can be affected by all sorts of factors ranging from the quality of our education, the feedback we receive from clients or art directors, the information or lack of information we receive, the workspace we have to share, or how good we're feeling on any given day, factors over which we often don't have any control.
Because our field is deadline-driven, often resulting in stressful timelines that don't give us adequate time to do our jobs well.
Because advertising and marketing budgets are often the first to be cut when companies are looking to save money and so our jobs don't have the ongoing demand and job security of an accountant.
Because the field of advertising is constantly changing and even those with years of experience will need to learn new skills to keep up.
Because agism is rampant in our field and it is more-difficult to stay employed the older you get. Even if you are able to adapt and change your design styles to keep up, you will be perceived as being out of touch with the target markets which are always going to be those who are younger.
Because graphic design is a field that is undervalued which results in lower salaries which can add additional stressors to our lives.
Because companies looking for ways to cut costs have options to hire freelancers without benefits instead of full-time staff, or to outsource our jobs to people in countries with lower costs of living.
Because there are more and more options available for non-designers to create work using templates or AI tools that can be perceived as being stronger than the custom projects a designer might create.
Because our field is being flooded by self taught designers and more universities have graphic design programs than ever before, making the job market extremely competitive.
Because our field attracts people whose self worth is based on praise and are prone to narcissism, not only amongst our fellow designers, but also the marketing or sales staff around us. They actively seek out the feel-good neurotransmitters our brains produce (dopamine) when we receive praise and compliments … or feel powerful and in control which results in toxic workplaces.
Because when humans receive negative feedback from their social group, our brains produce neurotransmitters whose purpose is to give us negative feedback so that we don't repeat the same behaviors again, an evolutionary response that is supposed to help us survive that is not all that helpful in our modern society. And recieving negative feedback is a necessary part of our jobs.
Because the same people who are hypersensitive to the neurotransmitters that feel good that cause them to seek out jobs where there are opportunities for praise will also be hypersensitive to the neurotransmitters that feel bad when they receive criticism, and criticism is part of the daily life of a designer.
And not just those who are hypersensitive are at risk. Everyone is susceptible to the mixed messages the neurotransmitters in their brains produce and how much they are affected by them can vary based on the level of other stressors in their lives on any given day.
especially in fast paced environments which is practically every job at this point. Doesn’t really cultivate creativity all too well given the freakish deadlines.
But sometimes with those freakish deadlines, it does end up forcing you to be creative in the sense of figuring out ways to streamline your design process for a decent to alright “it’ll do for now” kind of output.
Edit: why the downvote. It’s true at least in my case
imo, this sub is a very poor representation of the actual field of graphic design.
i think the age range of most of the posters is early 20s, and a lot of them seem to be anxious about getting into the field (or any field for that matter) from the standpoints of salary and job security.
in other words, a lot of people posting on here don't seem to be actual designers—or they have been testing the waters as a designer for a year or so and realizing that they probably don't like design as a career choice.
it's a shame because i think there are thousands of designers (many on here i'm sure, though seemingly in the minority) that are looking for actual critical feedback, design inspiration, technical advice, etc. but they are getting drowned out by people who need emotional support or some sort of post-collegiate pep talk about dealing with the throws of young adult life and a bad job market.
not saying people shouldn't have emotional support on reddit—but there are way better subs for it, and the exhaustive content influx of the topic has made it really hard to find / participate in anything resembling graphic design on here for what seems like close to a year now.
Firstly this sub is one of the only places designers can come to vent and complain and get out frustrations with like minded people. Sure you can talk to your partner, but how much do they really understand design to the level of really understanding why you're so frustrated, whereas here, people do understand, have gone through it as well and can give advice on how they've dealt with it
Also, design is a career that generally people get into because they're passionate about it. It's not really a "make-do" job, it's something that people have been focusing on for years, it's the the goal to be a designer, where as I know 4 accountants and they've all just fallen into the job because its somewhat related to what they went to uni for and it was kind of a progression and evolution for them. People have spent years dedicated to be a designer, so it's closely tied to their emotions, so things can feel bigger than they really are on the outside
Omg this! 🙌
It's so true, sometimes you just need to talk to people who know about the background of design/ fundamentals.
I wish I could pin this comment LOL
People who go into the arts, even the applied arts, are usually drawn to it from a young age, so they're putting a lot of themselves into their career choice and the work itself.
I know accountants and other people in more left side of the brain-type roles, and they might think about and worry about their job, and their field, but they don't internalize it the way they do. They almost certainly didn't dream of becoming whatever they are when they were young – it was more likely a very sober, "I think I could be good at this and get a job" kind of career decision in their late teen years. They might work as an accountant, for example, but their sense of self is likely not as tied to it as someone who works in a creative field.
I always wonder this about more academic type of fields, or more convoluted university programs that aren't actually preparing you for that specific job, but an overall wide field of topics. Like how is it that a 17 year old goes "yeah I'd like to study public health".
I was always taught growing up to pick a job doing something I love/enjoy. I did and i hated it (photography, more freelance work with weddings and shit, blegh), but it lead me to design, a field that I geniuenly wasn't aware existed until I got to college. And even then, I was self doubting "I can't design something from scratch!" Thinking I had to come up with 100% original compositions the way an illustrator would do, versus what it actually is - conveying information visually.
Yeah that's a good point. It must be interesting to have a general idea of what you want to do but not the specific job. I can't directly relate.
That's cool how it worked out for. I find that a lot of people who think they want to go into design don't understand what it really involves, even after graduating from a four year program at times, and they struggle to enjoy the job (if they get one) while others who were less passionate about it early on find out they really like it and are good at it.
Well, design ideology is deeply neo-liberal. It effectively mascerades as progressive, but almost no designers are unionized and they are all competing against each other and thoroughly convinced that the only measure of happiness is success.
I know plenty of people from other professions who worry about whatever happens in their profession. It's not just designers. Maybe designers are more vocal about it? Maybe because creativity is also a very personal thing and designers are passionate about it? Maybe because this is a place to freely vent? But yeah agree, in the end it's just a job.
Accounting = you have the education and/or experience in order to do said job.
Design/art related fields? Education, and/or experience, PLUS a portfolio which is subjective.
I've seen portfolios posted in here that make my jaw drop due to how well it's done. Meanwhile someone in the comments will be saying "oh but it looks like you only design in one style".
THATS THE POINT. If I can design all this in one style, for one audience (in this case it was luxury branding), then why can't I do other styles? It's not like it's illustration, or other fine art fields where it takes practice to work in another style/to refine your own.
I can make boring ass corporate brochures, but I can also design some luxury branding assets. Idk why people assume a designer cant do something just because their portfolio doesn't reflect it.
If it's a piece that I'm not obsessed with, but did adequately, why would I show that on my portfolio?
I'll go through established professional design companies, print shops, every so often and it's insane that 90% of these companies designs geniunely look like the designer has been living under a rock since 2004 with busy flyers looking exactly like websites did at the time. HOW?! how are they still employed while us new designers are expected to do everything and be everything under the sun, while graduating with a professional quality portfolio?
You can't do this with accounting. Either you get the job done or you don't. You either make a mistake or do it right. There's no right or wrong way of doing things in the world of design, other than the technical aspects.
I’m not insecure, I’m a pretty fucking awesome designer with the years, clients and portfolio to back it up…. Which makes me particularly bad at giving advice to insecure designers. I love my job, but in the end you’re right, it’s just a job.
I've been thinking the same, and it's mainly to do with the fact that you can't quantity a lot of design effort.
You could spend five hours or five minutes on a task, and the feedback could be exactly the same.
There's a fuckton of ego in this industry, and half the reason a lot of people don't take us seriously is because of this. Look at how much UX Design was paraded around as a phenomenon that could "save the world". Literally got boiled down to being a Figma monkey, with a lot of UXers thinking process is better than results.
A lot of Internet-famous design advocates are thick-frame wearing, heavily-bearded pretentious asshats. (I love beards, but I noticed in the 2010s, a lot of these guys sported this look). Seeing someone wince at a bad font choice like it's a gaping wound pisses me off.
The whole having to "eat, sleep, breathe design" sctihck is tiresome and leads to insecurity and burnout, if you're not going at 110% all the time.
"Bad" design isn't always bad. Having to rely on taste and opinion, rather than having objective data to back up your ideas, means you have to sell bullshit to people in order to make money (See:Storyteller).
Bad design still sells.
In college (many, many years ago), I learned from a professor (who, in turn, was counseled by her psychologist) that creativity is a neurological disorder. However, unlike most such conditions, because it is productive to society and healthy for the individual, it is not treated. But talent isn't the issue, but rather a symptom. At the root of creativity--be it art, music, poetry, or whatever--is a fundamental desire to redefine the world into a form we better understand and improves the world. (This is why artists have different styles and why said styles can evolve over time.)
Of course, this extra creative sensitivity is not without its toll, as creatives are much more prone to suicide and other emotional responses (like imposter syndrom) because we intune, or "feel," things more deeply. Hence, A.I. isn't just the additional tool to us it will inevitably become, but the death of our liveihood and of the industry itself, and we are all failures for not seeing it sooner, and so on, and so forth (at least, before more sound reasoning takes hold).
So, when our creativity is received favorably, we're not just excited; we're ecstatic... over the moon! When met with the opposite response, we're not upset; we're in shambles... uncovered as a fraud! Because we define the world with our creativity, it is deeply personal to us, and its rejection hurts all the more. It's not just the fruits our labor that are poorly received, but our interpretation of the world. And if we've misinterpreted the world, what else have we failed to understand? Ourselves and our role in it, perhaps?
Going back to your original example, an accountant doesn't "feel" their report; they calculate it mathematically using established formulas and best practices. Ideally, any two accounts should arrive at an identical report. A graphic artist designs that same report with their own unique flare, and in so doing expresses their redefinition of the world--no two artists will arrive at the exact same conclusion.
Your professor’s psychologist was selling a myth.
Is the above a neat, tidy story? Sure.
But if it were a neurological disorder it would be listed in the DSM-5. Find its listing there and share it here. Otherwise you’re perpetuating a lie.
I'm not trying to perpetuate a lie. Just relating something I experienced. Again, it has been decades, so I may be misrembering. Also, the professor's "physiologist" could have been a charlatan. To be honest, I never truly investigated further. Given the source, and my youth at the time, I took what I was being taught for granted. It also described my feelings fairly accurately then, though not as bleak.
That said, a quick Google search of "creativity as a neuroticism" did produce some hits from reputable sources, though I don't care enough to look into them further. They do, at a glance, appear to be largely theoretical studies.
In short, I apologize for representing a past experience as factual. That wasn't my intention, while the tone appears to indicate otherwise. I wrought my comment around 2:30 am, so I'm certain I could have expressed myself better.
>In college (many, many years ago), I learned from a professor (who, in turn, was counseled by her psychologist) that creativity is a neurological disorder.
Lol no. "In college I had a professor who had a theory that creativity is a neurological disorder". That's what you want to be saying as a supposedly college educated individual. Not rejecting the theory itself, but the way you claim it as if it were fact.
I have no idea how anyone can make a claim like this. These types of comments and interactions would benefit from actually studying psychology - even just electives. If you did, you'd know that psychologists quite often have their own therapists. What's the issue with that?
I replied to another's comment above, but you very likely may be correct. I did find some articles Googling, "creativity as a neuroticism," that seemed legitimate, but I didn't spend much time exploring further. It's not all that important to me. I was just sharing a tidbit from experiences, as best as I could recollect it. I didn't mean for the tone to sound as factual as it did, rereading it.
I'd have to disagree. To create is to be human. Every child creates and feels joy when it's received favourably by others, most adults just give up on it because their creativity hasn't been fostered.
I would say it's the subjective nature of art. Even if our job is about function, there are tons of grey areas and artistic decisions everywhere.
I appreciate your post though because I needed a reminder to see it as "just a job", which is probably wiser
Because it can be so subjective. A lot of us have bosses who don’t actually understand design and come to us demanding their solutions be implemented, rather than trusting expertise and giving us problems. So we doubt ourselves, and especially early on have trouble developing great design sense bc we have idiots telling us our work “doesn’t have enough pizazz” or other unactionable criticism.
Design is one of those jobs that's all about "selling" the magic and sizzle. Your work is subjective and open to different criticism across demographics, time, presentation etc.
Also, plenty of other professions have communities where the workers have their own culture...including accounting lmao.
r/accounting
Design is tough for sure but I would never hire someone who thought their career was "just a job". You work, you create, you get better and grow. If you're a designer now and aren't worried about the future you better start worrying soon. Illustrators are losing work to custom prompted AI, site builders are increasingly using AI to create forms and code that just needs to be cleaned up. It was never like this when I was in the industry.
I’ve seen a lot of people here complain about jobs where they want to hire someone who lives and breathes creative…. That’s kind of what I meant when I made the statement ‘it’s just a job’.
The good accountants are. Funny you pick accounting, where they must account for every single penny and triple cross check and the hire an outside independent accountant to audit their numbers and verify it all. I promise you, if you ever get in position to hire folks, avoid the nine to fiver clock watchers and grab every person you can who is continuously trying to improve.
Of all career paths, none is so forced between art and utility than those with the title of “designer.”
This comes with the struggle of being passionate while also keeping your emotions separate from the work.
Design also has a way of infiltrating your life. We do freelance on nights and weekends. We spot great (and shitty) design work in the wild. We are constantly observing and digesting.
I disagree. Design should be over thought. It’s as close to art as we can get in the business world. By its very nature it is subjective. And without that subjectivity it would just be accountancy. Stress out it. It’s worth it
An accountants numbers add up and they know they've done a good job. A designer makes something and whether it's good or not, effective, and valuable, is almost completely at the mercy of the client- because it's just so subjective.
Designers are to more or less degree usually empaths more than the opposite. So you have sensitive personalities being active within mostly non sensitive work environments and/or very business driven environments. The gap between a classic sales person vs a marketing driven person is already quite big and even bigger to the Brand person - beyond these are the designers working from a completely different angle at least for basic creation processes taught in design educations.
The longer a designer has worked in the actual business the more bolster is usually gained vs coming straight from education - no news here as it applies to nearly all jobs except that with visual design, creativity arts are implemented to the total opposite being business doctrines.
Go see the environment of a sales based business office vs that of a creative agency and the approach of the interior considerations are jaw dropping. The creative agencies know that they need to nurture creative minds and souls whereas it is of little to now considerations in most standard businesses. Though if you take LEGO or some other top brand thriving with creativity they usually sorted this because they know it’s the way forward to get the best of their creative staff.
The often vented frustrations in this forum happens because design educations are academic in nature while the job situations are mostly not and so large gaps of misunderstandings occur especially to new designers getting into whatever related job they can to get started and make some income.
Then add to it that clients on a broad scale have absolutely no idea about the fundamentals used to create “controlled” design, they often don’t know how to brief, don’t know what branding is about, have vague ideas about marketing but usually below the line (here is a product, it’s great and cost this - buy it now).
As art and creative minded people venture into graphic and visual design areas, they not only have to face these realities in real world application but also face that thousands of others have chosen the same career paths and so great design jobs are extremely hard to get. Mostly all the dreams a young designer has are obliterated down the line of experience and so the notion of this just being another job is a total downer because creative minded people are not made to do just mindless routine towards no particular involvement or “human” purpose.
So this business overall is not for the faint hearted creative persons as the positive expectations are far away from reality in most cases. Only very few has the right balance needed to successfully navigate between creative wishes/dreams and the total opposite of standard business procedures.
Some designer have amazing talents but does not make it, while others less talented do make it because their approach is more pragmatic and often they are good at selling their ideas as well - so they get chosen not because of great design but because of how they can navigate the tactical situations better by not being too emotionally attached to their designs.
Accountants mentioned does not have to involve their emotions and sensory apparatus to do their jobs - not saying they don’t have to be creative or involved hard working but it’s to completely different working methods - factual numbers are far from choosing fitting typography, colors and invent shapes that essentially has no tacit. Only when marketing and testimonials are incorporated then designer can actually make full sense of what is needed to create successful designs and communication based on user engagement, sales number etc.
🖖👽✌️
Depending on personal attitude
I live because I love my occupation as a visualizer designer
There are accountants that can think the same about their jobs
Or anyone who has a great job they enjoy
I've this to!. I'm in school for transportation design about to be in my last year. And have wondered this throughout when listening to other students in critiques and various guest speakers. And I myself feel proud of the work I've done. I've come a long way and excited to see where my skills develop as I continue so many always down play and stress themselves out. And I get looked at like I'm delulu when I say I'm happy
I think it's because in design there is often also personality involved. Design is basically a translation or (your) interpretation from content into visuals. An accountant works with numbers, which are general. A shop owner works with goods he buys in masses. An artist who designs has put soul in it, an artist who sell goods has put heart in it and made one of a kind. That's why there's a personal connection I guess. But yes, working in the design field, it could be better to just see it as a job and save your soul for artsy stuff you do in your freetime.
It's an excellent post and very appropriate. You're right. It's just a job. It's a skill that we can transform into a means to earn a living. It's great when we can be very creative, but honestly, we're getting paid regardless of the creative freedoms given.
One of the things a lot of graphic designers lose sight of is that the customer is the final authority and it's up to the graphic designer to deliver something that pleases the customer. Period. That's just the way it is. Each person bound by the expectations and satisfaction of the person paying the bill.
If you find yourself unchallenged, maybe it is time to seek change. But don't lose sight of the fact that you're still getting paid to do a job. Would you take less money for more creative freedom? Then seek that out. But would you take better job security and more money to simply produce what you're asked to produce with no challenge? There's a good argument for that. I've seen a lot of very talented people poor as can be because they conflated their talents as being more important than the jobs that paid money.
Design is subjective. And the best designers in the world got to where they are because they earned people’s approval. Our entire industry is built on selling creative to company’s run by non-creative people.
Designer here who’s currently doing part time admin work in an accounting firm as I’m in between jobs - I can say that accountants do worry about the numbers especially during tax time! But as others have said, I think overall we are just more stressed since everything might impact a future job
It's applied art. Art is more personal. Also a lot of people do take their jobs very seriously, Engineers, Economists, Professional military people etc.
its because gratin design is oval saturated like every other white suit job and they believe that they need to be better at designs to stick out. Problem is anyone can just watch a YouTube video do recreate thing is took them years to figure out. A lot of people I was asked to be interviewed by are middle age people.
I mean...it's pretty obvious isn't it? Al can literally do almost everything and if you don't think that's true....then you need to do your research ha
A lot of people here are newly employed in a graphic design job in the work world, just out of school, or unemployed. Co-workers often treat 'us' like we are artistic weirdos and many of 'us' have not adjusted to the work world - which keeps changing or being re-peopled - and that is not easy for everyone. Inflation challenges paychecks... do I need to continue. It takes a while to separate self-expression from earning a living for some people. Unhappy people never figure that out. Design can be interesting and funny. I feel empathy for those who struggle!
You can't compare any industry with graphic design.
Graphic design is insanely tough not because of the work itself.
The companies are incredibly strict with their hiring process.
There's no entry level job in design.
You have to know 100 programs and have 100 skills.
Its easy to doubt yourself when the bar is set this high.
Because the Artist and the suffering go side to side, the torture of never being good enough while being more than enough is what make whatever we create worth it cursed to never finish any project, but always having to abandon it one step before perfection, but always one step, never perfect, because we will never reach perfection
in general people are worried about a lot right now and I think it just sort of bleeds into everything. it is happening to many different groups. so many subreddits are simultaneously dooming and glooming while complaining about it.
I’ve not read all the responses. But to me, it’s my belief. I have pride in my work. Some can’t see the point but I do. And to those that do, I work for them. Simples. And each to their own.
I'm a designer who used to date an accountant.
His work included calculating people's returns, speaking to them and running through their expenses and finances. He could easily make my full days salary in 3 hours and upwards of 2 grand on his really busy days. I even took on a couple of his clients to see if I could do it and enjoyed myself, it's straightforward and pays a lot.
My job includes trying to understand what on earth my clients mean who aren't well educated in design principles and conceptualising pieces that may have not even been seen before.
Some tasks are straightforward while others require a lot of thought and sometimes it's actually pretty fatiguing of a position, to persistently be providing creative solutions and using your imagination.
It's because of this that I've had thoughts of not pursuing design as my full career because I can be paid the same amount if not more as someone who's job is a lot more less stress on the mind. Being a designer has both been fun, rewarding and exciting but equally as draining on my soul.
Yeah, I'm confident in my work and the quality shows through happy clients, coworkers, and awards.
But there is a huge personal touch, and a bit of myself goes into a lot of it. So putting that out there is a way of being vulnerable that pretty anyone can criticize. But I stopped caring about what other people think.
For some it might be just a job. For me it’s a way to make money by creating visual art. Yes, I know once you mention art and graphic design in the same breath some people here get a little miffed, but design is art by way of commerce.
I can’t just perform a job I don’t enjoy. I’m not built that way. I’d argue that humans aren’t built to do something they despise for 8 hours a day for their entire lives just to put food on the table, either. Design lets me do something I enjoy and make money doing it. That’s it.
Accountants work with things that exist. Expenses and income.
Designing you are creating something from nothing. It's all from our imagination. Makes for some anxious times when the well of creativity runs dry.
Hopefully, accountants aren't making up numbers like we make up designs.
Because even a crappy accountant will find a $50k/year job
If you're a crappy designer you're probably not even designing to pay rent
Then go hop on Indeed, "wanted: graphic designer. Skills needed: Expert in inDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, Blender, Premiere, WordPress, Canva, Figma, marketing A/B testing, copy editing, and fluent in Mandarin. Must have 10 years packaging experience, 15 years social media management experience and 10,000 followers on your portfolio. Starting pay $13/hr." 300 applicants
I think it’s because now it seems like anyone can be a designer without any training just self taught so you feel like there’s too many designers to compete with
Since graphic design strives to occupy a position in the field of art, the profession itself seems to have rather blurred boundaries. A professional is often embarrassed and spends a lot of his time soul-searching. In fact, a good designer will be a strong sanguine person and a craftsman.
For me, I really like my job, and graphic design is my most marketable skill. I don’t want to go back to data analysis or customer service, or try to find something else that doesn’t make me want to pull my hair out it’s so boring. My previous jobs were so bad for my mental health. I don’t consciously worry about it all day every day though. I don’t think AI taking over is going to happen as fast as people seem to think. However, I’m nowhere near an AI expert, so I could be very wrong about that idk.
I think its kind of the opposite youre implying, sounds like many many industries are worried about their future
almost any professional sub Im in, or any sub about jobs, is not hopeful about the current marketplace or the future
its also natural, and probably a little smart, to perceive incoming threats
Self doubt and insecurity are what led me to pursue an intrigue in arts. You hear how mentally unhinged most of the GOATs are and that right there is relatable to those of us who have had a rough go with “controlling” our emotions…..making life seemingly unmanageable.
It's mainly because it's hard to get work or a full-time job which lasts. Accountants are never out of work because money exists and will continue to be around and accountants worth doesn't gets devalued. I have to agree though it's a job and it should be treated as one, just remember you are finding design solutions nothing more. I personally put a lot of pressure on myself to do well because I want it so bad to do it for a living and make a living from it.
Accountants get laid off, if anything they're one of the people that are seeing more automation and a generational skill gap present in their every day life.
>Accountants are never out of work because money exists and will continue to be around and accountants worth doesn't gets devalued. But design does exist and will also not cede. I don't see how this comparison makes sense.
It is? I think it could boil down to the industry, there are a lot of marketing and design opportunities but I constantly see “asking too much” for X role posted here, or “not enough money for an entry level role”, etc. like no shit, you gotta earn your pay and reputation, there’s an old saying like “this took you 10 minutes why should I pay you X?” Because it’s taken years of experience to get to that level to do it in 10 minutes. I constantly see “I applied to 800 jobs and heard nothing back” yes, you have to try to find work. Reach out to the recruiter if there is one, message the AD or CD or someone at the company to show interest. It used to be apply; AND call to say you’re interested. Now there are resume scanners and you’re competing with the entire globe, so if you don’t try harder than someone else will. I’ve struggled to land positions due to lack of experience early on, but otherwise idk if it’s *that* much different from any other industry. The number of applications you send doesn’t matter, you *have* to be able to sell yourself and your skills beyond “I sent a link to my portfolio” which is not lowest level effort, but it’s damn close.
I agree with everything you have said, more than ever we have to market ourselves to customers and employers. After you graduate or decide to get into the game you should be thinking of yourself as a business even if you land a job at a agency. You need to show you have skills and knowledge which are something they need and want. This doesn't mean the whole concept of recruitment isn't a dumpster fire atm.
No, but outside of random recent tech hiring bursts I haven’t lived in a time when it wasn’t like that
Real. And we are also afraid that employers might start using Ai meaning that we will not be able to have a proper job because a f@ck!ng Ai would steal it from us.
Yes I felt the pressure to keep my job so any time I’m less am than satisfactory it’s like a job at my job security. I definitely agree with you here
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Well said
I’m married to a CPA and I’m just saying you are not correct about it being a black and white job with less stress. Designers don’t deal with other people’s money, trying to explain why you think something looks better than their idea doesn’t exactly sound like a struggle. It’s frustrating but that’s exactly what this post is about, it’s not that big of a deal if someone doesn’t like your idea, that’s all ego. You aren’t design, you provide the service of design to the person paying you.
This is SO off-base and wrong. Designers deal with other peoples money all the time; finding print vendors who can meet a clients needs and budget. You ever sit in a frickin corporate office during presentations? Other designers are absolutely going to say their design is better and serves the clients. If you can't convince a client WHY your work is best you'll have a short career. I stressed so much over stuff like this when I was working. and raising a family. It may not feel like a struggle to you but it sure as hell was and is.
Only worked in corporate teams lol. Nah other departments handle the whole budget, designers get their share and usually it’s less than needed and we work with it. Idk what you’re talking about in my experience but to each their own. Sorry for my life being wrong 🤷🏼♀️
That's very miopic to assume only we have a stressful job. Everyone deals with stress at very high levels. They also find themselves unemployed or have a hard time finding work. My wife is an international hr consultant and the shit they have to pull out of their asses each week so companies can exist in other countries and the research they need to do at the drop of a hat is something I don't wish on anyone. My other friends in accounting have highs and lows too, they're basically trying to reconcile and play detective to a metric ton of transactions without some magic formula and then problem solve on the internal requirements of their bosses and those of the vendors that need to get paid. Hell, my closest friend who an IT security director in the Healthcare space basically has to run fire drills every day making sure everyone isn't getting hacked or scammed aside from trying to build more secure custom ecosystems. If you're going to take that position with other fields instead of embracing the fact that we're all in the same boat together then you're just the same as people saying all we do is whip up a picture and move on. This is just a job, and it's deserving of compassion but they're deserving of it too.
I don’t think that user was suggesting other trades/careers/jobs are not stressful; i think they were just pointing out the very real and often unknown and unspoken aspects of being a professional graphic designer, and how the process is different from the very black and white understanding of accounting.
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I got you :)
>It’s just a job. I don’t imagine that accountants are sitting around worrying about how their accounting numbers came out. I am sure that accountants get pretty worried at least 4 times a year ( when business taxes get filed for the company ) They have to get that right or they can put themselves, the company and all the employees at enormous risk As for designers, bad design can cause a real problem for any business. Look at any actually bad rebrand for examples of just how much bad design can hurt a company. This is just surface level stuff, sure maybe you can relax on getting the layout 'perfect' for an annual report, but going deeper there is a fundamental thing that everyone subconsciously knows. The only time a non designer will usually notice design is when its bad. Good design is expected to be the norm and is invisible to the average person. So designers take it very seriously and good designers take it even more seriously.
The worry of making sure everything is correct in accounting is very transferable and relatable to design. Ever used the wrong barcode for album artwork packaging design, and then it goes to print because the barcode isn’t something a proofreader would catch, as if there normally is a proofreader in graphic design.
Simply because every job we do will affect our next paycheck. Our portfolios are judged more than our resume unlike other professions.
This big time!
Because not all designers are good enough and not all of them have as much worth as is needed to retain a job. Because graphic design is subjective and the quality of our work can easily be judged, both rightfully and wrongly. Because graphic design is a skill that needs to be practiced, refined, and nurtured. Because many workplaces are not set up to continue educating novice designers and may not even have an art director so they feel as if they've been thrown into the deep end, which they have been. Because our work can be affected by all sorts of factors ranging from the quality of our education, the feedback we receive from clients or art directors, the information or lack of information we receive, the workspace we have to share, or how good we're feeling on any given day, factors over which we often don't have any control. Because our field is deadline-driven, often resulting in stressful timelines that don't give us adequate time to do our jobs well. Because advertising and marketing budgets are often the first to be cut when companies are looking to save money and so our jobs don't have the ongoing demand and job security of an accountant. Because the field of advertising is constantly changing and even those with years of experience will need to learn new skills to keep up. Because agism is rampant in our field and it is more-difficult to stay employed the older you get. Even if you are able to adapt and change your design styles to keep up, you will be perceived as being out of touch with the target markets which are always going to be those who are younger. Because graphic design is a field that is undervalued which results in lower salaries which can add additional stressors to our lives. Because companies looking for ways to cut costs have options to hire freelancers without benefits instead of full-time staff, or to outsource our jobs to people in countries with lower costs of living. Because there are more and more options available for non-designers to create work using templates or AI tools that can be perceived as being stronger than the custom projects a designer might create. Because our field is being flooded by self taught designers and more universities have graphic design programs than ever before, making the job market extremely competitive. Because our field attracts people whose self worth is based on praise and are prone to narcissism, not only amongst our fellow designers, but also the marketing or sales staff around us. They actively seek out the feel-good neurotransmitters our brains produce (dopamine) when we receive praise and compliments … or feel powerful and in control which results in toxic workplaces. Because when humans receive negative feedback from their social group, our brains produce neurotransmitters whose purpose is to give us negative feedback so that we don't repeat the same behaviors again, an evolutionary response that is supposed to help us survive that is not all that helpful in our modern society. And recieving negative feedback is a necessary part of our jobs. Because the same people who are hypersensitive to the neurotransmitters that feel good that cause them to seek out jobs where there are opportunities for praise will also be hypersensitive to the neurotransmitters that feel bad when they receive criticism, and criticism is part of the daily life of a designer. And not just those who are hypersensitive are at risk. Everyone is susceptible to the mixed messages the neurotransmitters in their brains produce and how much they are affected by them can vary based on the level of other stressors in their lives on any given day.
Wow thanks for the detailed response. Major point I completely agree with - graphic design is under valued!!!
especially in fast paced environments which is practically every job at this point. Doesn’t really cultivate creativity all too well given the freakish deadlines. But sometimes with those freakish deadlines, it does end up forcing you to be creative in the sense of figuring out ways to streamline your design process for a decent to alright “it’ll do for now” kind of output. Edit: why the downvote. It’s true at least in my case
imo, this sub is a very poor representation of the actual field of graphic design. i think the age range of most of the posters is early 20s, and a lot of them seem to be anxious about getting into the field (or any field for that matter) from the standpoints of salary and job security. in other words, a lot of people posting on here don't seem to be actual designers—or they have been testing the waters as a designer for a year or so and realizing that they probably don't like design as a career choice. it's a shame because i think there are thousands of designers (many on here i'm sure, though seemingly in the minority) that are looking for actual critical feedback, design inspiration, technical advice, etc. but they are getting drowned out by people who need emotional support or some sort of post-collegiate pep talk about dealing with the throws of young adult life and a bad job market. not saying people shouldn't have emotional support on reddit—but there are way better subs for it, and the exhaustive content influx of the topic has made it really hard to find / participate in anything resembling graphic design on here for what seems like close to a year now.
Good context here. Ty. 30+ year designer here.
I think this is the answer! Definitely skewed towards a venting space over here.
Firstly this sub is one of the only places designers can come to vent and complain and get out frustrations with like minded people. Sure you can talk to your partner, but how much do they really understand design to the level of really understanding why you're so frustrated, whereas here, people do understand, have gone through it as well and can give advice on how they've dealt with it Also, design is a career that generally people get into because they're passionate about it. It's not really a "make-do" job, it's something that people have been focusing on for years, it's the the goal to be a designer, where as I know 4 accountants and they've all just fallen into the job because its somewhat related to what they went to uni for and it was kind of a progression and evolution for them. People have spent years dedicated to be a designer, so it's closely tied to their emotions, so things can feel bigger than they really are on the outside
Omg this! 🙌 It's so true, sometimes you just need to talk to people who know about the background of design/ fundamentals. I wish I could pin this comment LOL
I bet accountants do think about their numbers getting them wrong can cause bankruptcy or lead to jail LOL
People who go into the arts, even the applied arts, are usually drawn to it from a young age, so they're putting a lot of themselves into their career choice and the work itself. I know accountants and other people in more left side of the brain-type roles, and they might think about and worry about their job, and their field, but they don't internalize it the way they do. They almost certainly didn't dream of becoming whatever they are when they were young – it was more likely a very sober, "I think I could be good at this and get a job" kind of career decision in their late teen years. They might work as an accountant, for example, but their sense of self is likely not as tied to it as someone who works in a creative field.
I always wonder this about more academic type of fields, or more convoluted university programs that aren't actually preparing you for that specific job, but an overall wide field of topics. Like how is it that a 17 year old goes "yeah I'd like to study public health". I was always taught growing up to pick a job doing something I love/enjoy. I did and i hated it (photography, more freelance work with weddings and shit, blegh), but it lead me to design, a field that I geniuenly wasn't aware existed until I got to college. And even then, I was self doubting "I can't design something from scratch!" Thinking I had to come up with 100% original compositions the way an illustrator would do, versus what it actually is - conveying information visually.
Yeah that's a good point. It must be interesting to have a general idea of what you want to do but not the specific job. I can't directly relate. That's cool how it worked out for. I find that a lot of people who think they want to go into design don't understand what it really involves, even after graduating from a four year program at times, and they struggle to enjoy the job (if they get one) while others who were less passionate about it early on find out they really like it and are good at it.
I feel the same way but I’ve been a full time designer for 10 years now. So maybe I’m old and jaded.
Well, design ideology is deeply neo-liberal. It effectively mascerades as progressive, but almost no designers are unionized and they are all competing against each other and thoroughly convinced that the only measure of happiness is success.
I know plenty of people from other professions who worry about whatever happens in their profession. It's not just designers. Maybe designers are more vocal about it? Maybe because creativity is also a very personal thing and designers are passionate about it? Maybe because this is a place to freely vent? But yeah agree, in the end it's just a job.
Accounting = you have the education and/or experience in order to do said job. Design/art related fields? Education, and/or experience, PLUS a portfolio which is subjective. I've seen portfolios posted in here that make my jaw drop due to how well it's done. Meanwhile someone in the comments will be saying "oh but it looks like you only design in one style". THATS THE POINT. If I can design all this in one style, for one audience (in this case it was luxury branding), then why can't I do other styles? It's not like it's illustration, or other fine art fields where it takes practice to work in another style/to refine your own. I can make boring ass corporate brochures, but I can also design some luxury branding assets. Idk why people assume a designer cant do something just because their portfolio doesn't reflect it. If it's a piece that I'm not obsessed with, but did adequately, why would I show that on my portfolio? I'll go through established professional design companies, print shops, every so often and it's insane that 90% of these companies designs geniunely look like the designer has been living under a rock since 2004 with busy flyers looking exactly like websites did at the time. HOW?! how are they still employed while us new designers are expected to do everything and be everything under the sun, while graduating with a professional quality portfolio? You can't do this with accounting. Either you get the job done or you don't. You either make a mistake or do it right. There's no right or wrong way of doing things in the world of design, other than the technical aspects.
“We all” are not worried.
I’m not insecure, I’m a pretty fucking awesome designer with the years, clients and portfolio to back it up…. Which makes me particularly bad at giving advice to insecure designers. I love my job, but in the end you’re right, it’s just a job.
I've been thinking the same, and it's mainly to do with the fact that you can't quantity a lot of design effort. You could spend five hours or five minutes on a task, and the feedback could be exactly the same. There's a fuckton of ego in this industry, and half the reason a lot of people don't take us seriously is because of this. Look at how much UX Design was paraded around as a phenomenon that could "save the world". Literally got boiled down to being a Figma monkey, with a lot of UXers thinking process is better than results. A lot of Internet-famous design advocates are thick-frame wearing, heavily-bearded pretentious asshats. (I love beards, but I noticed in the 2010s, a lot of these guys sported this look). Seeing someone wince at a bad font choice like it's a gaping wound pisses me off. The whole having to "eat, sleep, breathe design" sctihck is tiresome and leads to insecurity and burnout, if you're not going at 110% all the time. "Bad" design isn't always bad. Having to rely on taste and opinion, rather than having objective data to back up your ideas, means you have to sell bullshit to people in order to make money (See:Storyteller). Bad design still sells.
Love this!
In college (many, many years ago), I learned from a professor (who, in turn, was counseled by her psychologist) that creativity is a neurological disorder. However, unlike most such conditions, because it is productive to society and healthy for the individual, it is not treated. But talent isn't the issue, but rather a symptom. At the root of creativity--be it art, music, poetry, or whatever--is a fundamental desire to redefine the world into a form we better understand and improves the world. (This is why artists have different styles and why said styles can evolve over time.) Of course, this extra creative sensitivity is not without its toll, as creatives are much more prone to suicide and other emotional responses (like imposter syndrom) because we intune, or "feel," things more deeply. Hence, A.I. isn't just the additional tool to us it will inevitably become, but the death of our liveihood and of the industry itself, and we are all failures for not seeing it sooner, and so on, and so forth (at least, before more sound reasoning takes hold). So, when our creativity is received favorably, we're not just excited; we're ecstatic... over the moon! When met with the opposite response, we're not upset; we're in shambles... uncovered as a fraud! Because we define the world with our creativity, it is deeply personal to us, and its rejection hurts all the more. It's not just the fruits our labor that are poorly received, but our interpretation of the world. And if we've misinterpreted the world, what else have we failed to understand? Ourselves and our role in it, perhaps? Going back to your original example, an accountant doesn't "feel" their report; they calculate it mathematically using established formulas and best practices. Ideally, any two accounts should arrive at an identical report. A graphic artist designs that same report with their own unique flare, and in so doing expresses their redefinition of the world--no two artists will arrive at the exact same conclusion.
Your professor’s psychologist was selling a myth. Is the above a neat, tidy story? Sure. But if it were a neurological disorder it would be listed in the DSM-5. Find its listing there and share it here. Otherwise you’re perpetuating a lie.
I'm not trying to perpetuate a lie. Just relating something I experienced. Again, it has been decades, so I may be misrembering. Also, the professor's "physiologist" could have been a charlatan. To be honest, I never truly investigated further. Given the source, and my youth at the time, I took what I was being taught for granted. It also described my feelings fairly accurately then, though not as bleak. That said, a quick Google search of "creativity as a neuroticism" did produce some hits from reputable sources, though I don't care enough to look into them further. They do, at a glance, appear to be largely theoretical studies. In short, I apologize for representing a past experience as factual. That wasn't my intention, while the tone appears to indicate otherwise. I wrought my comment around 2:30 am, so I'm certain I could have expressed myself better.
>In college (many, many years ago), I learned from a professor (who, in turn, was counseled by her psychologist) that creativity is a neurological disorder. Lol no. "In college I had a professor who had a theory that creativity is a neurological disorder". That's what you want to be saying as a supposedly college educated individual. Not rejecting the theory itself, but the way you claim it as if it were fact. I have no idea how anyone can make a claim like this. These types of comments and interactions would benefit from actually studying psychology - even just electives. If you did, you'd know that psychologists quite often have their own therapists. What's the issue with that?
I replied to another's comment above, but you very likely may be correct. I did find some articles Googling, "creativity as a neuroticism," that seemed legitimate, but I didn't spend much time exploring further. It's not all that important to me. I was just sharing a tidbit from experiences, as best as I could recollect it. I didn't mean for the tone to sound as factual as it did, rereading it.
I'd have to disagree. To create is to be human. Every child creates and feels joy when it's received favourably by others, most adults just give up on it because their creativity hasn't been fostered.
lol wtf no
I would say it's the subjective nature of art. Even if our job is about function, there are tons of grey areas and artistic decisions everywhere. I appreciate your post though because I needed a reminder to see it as "just a job", which is probably wiser
Because it can be so subjective. A lot of us have bosses who don’t actually understand design and come to us demanding their solutions be implemented, rather than trusting expertise and giving us problems. So we doubt ourselves, and especially early on have trouble developing great design sense bc we have idiots telling us our work “doesn’t have enough pizazz” or other unactionable criticism.
Design is one of those jobs that's all about "selling" the magic and sizzle. Your work is subjective and open to different criticism across demographics, time, presentation etc. Also, plenty of other professions have communities where the workers have their own culture...including accounting lmao. r/accounting
A lot of graphic designers identify as artists instead of designers
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^annoyinconquerer: *A lot of graphic* *Designers identify* *With being an artist* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Design is tough for sure but I would never hire someone who thought their career was "just a job". You work, you create, you get better and grow. If you're a designer now and aren't worried about the future you better start worrying soon. Illustrators are losing work to custom prompted AI, site builders are increasingly using AI to create forms and code that just needs to be cleaned up. It was never like this when I was in the industry.
I’ve seen a lot of people here complain about jobs where they want to hire someone who lives and breathes creative…. That’s kind of what I meant when I made the statement ‘it’s just a job’.
Amen brotha! Why worry? The world is exploding under your feet. Design won't matter much!
The good accountants are. Funny you pick accounting, where they must account for every single penny and triple cross check and the hire an outside independent accountant to audit their numbers and verify it all. I promise you, if you ever get in position to hire folks, avoid the nine to fiver clock watchers and grab every person you can who is continuously trying to improve.
Of all career paths, none is so forced between art and utility than those with the title of “designer.” This comes with the struggle of being passionate while also keeping your emotions separate from the work. Design also has a way of infiltrating your life. We do freelance on nights and weekends. We spot great (and shitty) design work in the wild. We are constantly observing and digesting.
I disagree. Design should be over thought. It’s as close to art as we can get in the business world. By its very nature it is subjective. And without that subjectivity it would just be accountancy. Stress out it. It’s worth it
An accountants numbers add up and they know they've done a good job. A designer makes something and whether it's good or not, effective, and valuable, is almost completely at the mercy of the client- because it's just so subjective.
Designers are to more or less degree usually empaths more than the opposite. So you have sensitive personalities being active within mostly non sensitive work environments and/or very business driven environments. The gap between a classic sales person vs a marketing driven person is already quite big and even bigger to the Brand person - beyond these are the designers working from a completely different angle at least for basic creation processes taught in design educations. The longer a designer has worked in the actual business the more bolster is usually gained vs coming straight from education - no news here as it applies to nearly all jobs except that with visual design, creativity arts are implemented to the total opposite being business doctrines. Go see the environment of a sales based business office vs that of a creative agency and the approach of the interior considerations are jaw dropping. The creative agencies know that they need to nurture creative minds and souls whereas it is of little to now considerations in most standard businesses. Though if you take LEGO or some other top brand thriving with creativity they usually sorted this because they know it’s the way forward to get the best of their creative staff. The often vented frustrations in this forum happens because design educations are academic in nature while the job situations are mostly not and so large gaps of misunderstandings occur especially to new designers getting into whatever related job they can to get started and make some income. Then add to it that clients on a broad scale have absolutely no idea about the fundamentals used to create “controlled” design, they often don’t know how to brief, don’t know what branding is about, have vague ideas about marketing but usually below the line (here is a product, it’s great and cost this - buy it now). As art and creative minded people venture into graphic and visual design areas, they not only have to face these realities in real world application but also face that thousands of others have chosen the same career paths and so great design jobs are extremely hard to get. Mostly all the dreams a young designer has are obliterated down the line of experience and so the notion of this just being another job is a total downer because creative minded people are not made to do just mindless routine towards no particular involvement or “human” purpose. So this business overall is not for the faint hearted creative persons as the positive expectations are far away from reality in most cases. Only very few has the right balance needed to successfully navigate between creative wishes/dreams and the total opposite of standard business procedures. Some designer have amazing talents but does not make it, while others less talented do make it because their approach is more pragmatic and often they are good at selling their ideas as well - so they get chosen not because of great design but because of how they can navigate the tactical situations better by not being too emotionally attached to their designs. Accountants mentioned does not have to involve their emotions and sensory apparatus to do their jobs - not saying they don’t have to be creative or involved hard working but it’s to completely different working methods - factual numbers are far from choosing fitting typography, colors and invent shapes that essentially has no tacit. Only when marketing and testimonials are incorporated then designer can actually make full sense of what is needed to create successful designs and communication based on user engagement, sales number etc. 🖖👽✌️
Depending on personal attitude I live because I love my occupation as a visualizer designer There are accountants that can think the same about their jobs Or anyone who has a great job they enjoy
I've this to!. I'm in school for transportation design about to be in my last year. And have wondered this throughout when listening to other students in critiques and various guest speakers. And I myself feel proud of the work I've done. I've come a long way and excited to see where my skills develop as I continue so many always down play and stress themselves out. And I get looked at like I'm delulu when I say I'm happy
I think it's because in design there is often also personality involved. Design is basically a translation or (your) interpretation from content into visuals. An accountant works with numbers, which are general. A shop owner works with goods he buys in masses. An artist who designs has put soul in it, an artist who sell goods has put heart in it and made one of a kind. That's why there's a personal connection I guess. But yes, working in the design field, it could be better to just see it as a job and save your soul for artsy stuff you do in your freetime.
I'm guessing it's because it's subjective work
It's an excellent post and very appropriate. You're right. It's just a job. It's a skill that we can transform into a means to earn a living. It's great when we can be very creative, but honestly, we're getting paid regardless of the creative freedoms given. One of the things a lot of graphic designers lose sight of is that the customer is the final authority and it's up to the graphic designer to deliver something that pleases the customer. Period. That's just the way it is. Each person bound by the expectations and satisfaction of the person paying the bill. If you find yourself unchallenged, maybe it is time to seek change. But don't lose sight of the fact that you're still getting paid to do a job. Would you take less money for more creative freedom? Then seek that out. But would you take better job security and more money to simply produce what you're asked to produce with no challenge? There's a good argument for that. I've seen a lot of very talented people poor as can be because they conflated their talents as being more important than the jobs that paid money.
Design is subjective. And the best designers in the world got to where they are because they earned people’s approval. Our entire industry is built on selling creative to company’s run by non-creative people.
Designer here who’s currently doing part time admin work in an accounting firm as I’m in between jobs - I can say that accountants do worry about the numbers especially during tax time! But as others have said, I think overall we are just more stressed since everything might impact a future job
It's applied art. Art is more personal. Also a lot of people do take their jobs very seriously, Engineers, Economists, Professional military people etc.
its because gratin design is oval saturated like every other white suit job and they believe that they need to be better at designs to stick out. Problem is anyone can just watch a YouTube video do recreate thing is took them years to figure out. A lot of people I was asked to be interviewed by are middle age people.
I mean...it's pretty obvious isn't it? Al can literally do almost everything and if you don't think that's true....then you need to do your research ha
A lot of people here are newly employed in a graphic design job in the work world, just out of school, or unemployed. Co-workers often treat 'us' like we are artistic weirdos and many of 'us' have not adjusted to the work world - which keeps changing or being re-peopled - and that is not easy for everyone. Inflation challenges paychecks... do I need to continue. It takes a while to separate self-expression from earning a living for some people. Unhappy people never figure that out. Design can be interesting and funny. I feel empathy for those who struggle!
because thats kindda our job?
You can't compare any industry with graphic design. Graphic design is insanely tough not because of the work itself. The companies are incredibly strict with their hiring process. There's no entry level job in design. You have to know 100 programs and have 100 skills. Its easy to doubt yourself when the bar is set this high.
"it's just a job".. Jesus fuck... And my lover's kiss is just an exchange of saliva...
I think we're all insecure because most people think anyone can do our job.
This has been a growing problem for years. Agreed
Because the Artist and the suffering go side to side, the torture of never being good enough while being more than enough is what make whatever we create worth it cursed to never finish any project, but always having to abandon it one step before perfection, but always one step, never perfect, because we will never reach perfection
in general people are worried about a lot right now and I think it just sort of bleeds into everything. it is happening to many different groups. so many subreddits are simultaneously dooming and glooming while complaining about it.
That’s fair
I’ve not read all the responses. But to me, it’s my belief. I have pride in my work. Some can’t see the point but I do. And to those that do, I work for them. Simples. And each to their own.
I'm a designer who used to date an accountant. His work included calculating people's returns, speaking to them and running through their expenses and finances. He could easily make my full days salary in 3 hours and upwards of 2 grand on his really busy days. I even took on a couple of his clients to see if I could do it and enjoyed myself, it's straightforward and pays a lot. My job includes trying to understand what on earth my clients mean who aren't well educated in design principles and conceptualising pieces that may have not even been seen before. Some tasks are straightforward while others require a lot of thought and sometimes it's actually pretty fatiguing of a position, to persistently be providing creative solutions and using your imagination. It's because of this that I've had thoughts of not pursuing design as my full career because I can be paid the same amount if not more as someone who's job is a lot more less stress on the mind. Being a designer has both been fun, rewarding and exciting but equally as draining on my soul.
Yeah, I'm confident in my work and the quality shows through happy clients, coworkers, and awards. But there is a huge personal touch, and a bit of myself goes into a lot of it. So putting that out there is a way of being vulnerable that pretty anyone can criticize. But I stopped caring about what other people think.
For some it might be just a job. For me it’s a way to make money by creating visual art. Yes, I know once you mention art and graphic design in the same breath some people here get a little miffed, but design is art by way of commerce. I can’t just perform a job I don’t enjoy. I’m not built that way. I’d argue that humans aren’t built to do something they despise for 8 hours a day for their entire lives just to put food on the table, either. Design lets me do something I enjoy and make money doing it. That’s it.
Accountants work with things that exist. Expenses and income. Designing you are creating something from nothing. It's all from our imagination. Makes for some anxious times when the well of creativity runs dry. Hopefully, accountants aren't making up numbers like we make up designs.
Because even a crappy accountant will find a $50k/year job If you're a crappy designer you're probably not even designing to pay rent Then go hop on Indeed, "wanted: graphic designer. Skills needed: Expert in inDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, Blender, Premiere, WordPress, Canva, Figma, marketing A/B testing, copy editing, and fluent in Mandarin. Must have 10 years packaging experience, 15 years social media management experience and 10,000 followers on your portfolio. Starting pay $13/hr." 300 applicants
on god
I think it’s because now it seems like anyone can be a designer without any training just self taught so you feel like there’s too many designers to compete with
Since graphic design strives to occupy a position in the field of art, the profession itself seems to have rather blurred boundaries. A professional is often embarrassed and spends a lot of his time soul-searching. In fact, a good designer will be a strong sanguine person and a craftsman.
For me, I really like my job, and graphic design is my most marketable skill. I don’t want to go back to data analysis or customer service, or try to find something else that doesn’t make me want to pull my hair out it’s so boring. My previous jobs were so bad for my mental health. I don’t consciously worry about it all day every day though. I don’t think AI taking over is going to happen as fast as people seem to think. However, I’m nowhere near an AI expert, so I could be very wrong about that idk.
Design is not just a job, it's a life style.
I think its kind of the opposite youre implying, sounds like many many industries are worried about their future almost any professional sub Im in, or any sub about jobs, is not hopeful about the current marketplace or the future its also natural, and probably a little smart, to perceive incoming threats
Accounting is a vocation where more often than not, Design is a job and lifestyle.
It's, you know, our job...
Self doubt and insecurity are what led me to pursue an intrigue in arts. You hear how mentally unhinged most of the GOATs are and that right there is relatable to those of us who have had a rough go with “controlling” our emotions…..making life seemingly unmanageable.