Getting older and working in design

Out of context: Reply #67

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  • Horp4

    I'm 45. I started in graphic design for print at 15, and I gave it up around 2005 with a sideways segue into illustration. I saw the same thing happening to illustration as design so I lost interest and got out (1. It was overpopulated and therefore the value plummeted 2. It started to get invaded by a lot of computer complexity that I didn't wish to learn 3. It became very client driven as opposed to creative-leading).

    I dropped all creative pursuits entirely in 2009 and have never been back. I shifted into an area of consultancy and being seen as an 'expert' in an area that involves cultural insight, strategy, and material culture analysis. It was the best leap sideways I could make with the skills that I could repackage and transfer somewhere new.

    What I know is that I could never go back. I wouldn't earn what I earn from being in any of my previous roles (designer, creative director, art director, illustrator), I am definitely too old to learn the kinds of tricks it requires to survive now, and life is a lot less stressful once you step away from 'creative'.

    However, I couldn't say exactly that I'm happy. There's a whole lot of feel good self-identity stuff in defining yourself as somebody who makes their world work via creativity, and you simply do not get that when you step out of that mind-state and into an office/corporate environment where you are not judged, evaluated or appreciated for your creative production. In many ways I feel like Ray Liotta at the end of Goodfells.. a shclub, standing on his doorstep in his slippers, missing the energy and excitement of the old life... but I'm secure, I have a good income, my employers really value me, and life is generally a lot more stable and less fraught.

    I would never go back... I wouldn't want to even if I could, but I will always look back fondly on those times, which have now largely gone... or at least evolved into something radically different.

    • Spelling error: I meant Schlub, not S-Club7Horp
    • Interesting. Are you in a large city? Who are your clients?formed
    • I've often wondered about a similar transition.formed
    • S-Club7 probably have the same feelings.Fax_Benson
    • I'm in London. I work for a consultancy so we have a very broad range of clients. Some are very interesting and exciting, some are terrible.Horp
    • Interested in how you went about making the move sideways?dee-dubs
    • I've always believed that if you identify with your core skills rather than your vocation, you can go almost anywhere, even if it takes a couple of leaps.Horp
    • So you have a full time gig at a consulting company? I like your thinkingformed
    • I always thought you were THE horp lolfadein11
    • oops sorry my mistake - had a moment there.fadein11
    • Sounds like you're a little happier than before, at least Horp old fruit. You seemed to be carrying an ever present feeling of inadequacy and...set
    • ... the impending doom of being fired at any minute. Are you feeling like they value your shizzle?set
    • Also I really wanted to lay down an S club 7 joke but I have nothing.set
    • I think I'm a little more settled into this reality, and I've been doing it long enough that the private feeling of being an imposter has faded...Horp
    • ... I don't know for sure that I'm happier, but I'm less unsure now. As designers we combine personal passions with business. Divorce that, and you get two...Horp
    • distinct entities. I work, and it pays well, and it isn't awful, but I don't LOVE it. It doesn't define me or make me happy. So I now pursue other things that..Horp
    • bring happiness. I have an old racing car I work on and drive. It's what I love. As a designer, we tend to love 'designy stuff'.Horp

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