cracked up to be
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- nooner
i'm in a pickle. work for a well established family company. if i stick with it i stand to make around 150 a year and i'll be my own boss. lots of vaction, perks, etc... printing and signage, no design really. major drawback is that it's really fast paced and stressful. not really cutting the cake for me in general as far as job satisfaction goes. i just found someone who wants to buy my house for over 30% what i paid for it 3 years ago. this would be a great opportunity to move away from my home town and all my friends to spread my wings and see what i'm capapble of as a designer. anyone been through this type of situation or something similiar that would have some good input?
anything would help.
- MisterNiddles0
i find the following to be true....
good cash + being my own boss + lots of vacation + perks > spreading wings
spreading wings is what spare time is for..... IMHO.
- ********0
sounds like a sticky situation , maybe you can have that job as something to fall back on if u decide to move out if that is an option to comeback, if so I say Fly the coupe , move to up and coming markets like Austin or Dallas , or go for Broke in a Major city
- seed0
Are you you getting commisions or helping to run the company?
- monkeyshine0
Life is short. You have never left your home town and are feeling the itch to spread your wings. Why is this even a question?
150k a year is not much money when one is unhappy.
- nooner0
my fathers company.
i hear ya on the 150k. i just think i'm going to run into the same bullshit even if i find a hott design gig. clients asking for ridiculous turnarounds and what not.
keep the advice coming.
here's my portfolio. might change some opinions for better or worse.
- seed0
Maybe stick it out for a while. Design some nice work in all your spare time. Save tons of $ and be able to move to any city you wan't with no worries.
- ********0
crossroads.
do you what makes you happy
- gruntt0
your porfolio is damn excellent.
give me the 150k and i'll tell you what to do.
- machito0
I don't c y u dont try and parley your design work into the pre-existing business. You can run a sub division and see hwat kimnd of clients you can get and then get experience in regards to how they would treat you. From there you could then decide to move on or stay. At least that way you can do it at your own pace rather than jumping into something else where you may have no say what so ever.
- nooner0
i totally hear what your saying but that becomes a very sticky situation. most of my clients especially if they are national. they usually already have an agency working for them and everyone else wants the design thrown in for free with the production. that's why we i those things seperate somewhat, but i still bill for design, layout, and setup it's just not very appealing work.
nothing in my portfolio came from where i work. that was all freelanced through my own networking, and i have several jobs working right. full package id / brand and website kinda gigs. guess i just feel unused and am looking for something more challenging, but in a good way. not just " it's crazy as hell here and all our clients are fortune 500 asssholes."
- machito0
I still think you can do a seperate entity and market it to those people you want to work with. I am not sure hopw the time schedule might work, but it sounds like you have the business management skills needed to make such a venture grow.
- arthur0
Have you saved up a bit of a nest egg to live from while you're getting on your feet somewhere new?
Maybe try to land a new job in a new town before leaving your current job - test the market.
- jevad0
spread your wings
you are obviously pining for pastures greener
don't get stuck in a rut - money isn;t everything
take a risk - thats what life is for. sounds like you could always go back to your dads company.
get out...see the world....make success off your own back....
- nooner0
thanks all for the much needed advice.
jevad, you're spot on brother.
- 305artist0
Hahaha Nooner. Excellent.
- nooner0
sad thing is that it's true 305.
- tparsons0
get out now..... making it on your own is the real deal.
- nooner0
parsons i've actually got some friends in the portland area and that is def one of the locations i would be interested in moving.
how do you like it?
- nooner0
and to making it on my own. i could have supported myself last year through freelancing.
- tparsons0
I'm in Bend, OR but make it over to Portland regularly. There are some really creative shops in Portland and it's one of the nicest cities to be in. A little on the rainy side, that's why I'm in the high desert.
Best,