Caught in a pickle
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- 24 Responses
- cbass99
What do you do when you're at a graphic design
job where you're not maturing into a better more experienced designer but making more money than you would elsewhere. I want to work on more challenging and exciting projects but all of the jobs I'm familiar with that offer this pay considerably less. Anyone ever been in this mess before?
- 7340
maybe its time for freelance?
- emukid0
i don't have a job
- Spookytim0
If I wee you'd I'd suffer a bit longer as the world is spinning on an uncertain axis at the moment. I've been in exactly your situation and every ounce of your being is telling you to do soemthing better with your skills, your talents and your life. Just not right now would be my advice. You might find change gets thrust upon you anyway, but I'd stick witht he salary for another 12 months personally/
- Wolfboy0
Be very careful over the next few months and think long and hard about what you want - I've not been in that particular situation myself but i have a friend who kept trying to leave a job for that reason and when he did his employers gave him a rise that kept him there. This happened a few times over a couple of years until he had priced himself out of the market at his level.
I the end he ended up quiting and going to be a teacher.
Having said that, he is now at an all girls school.
- spendogg0
freelance outside of your job and do your own projects - it's the process that keeps me interested. Keep growing your process on your own and you will be happy doing anything.
- PonyBoy0
freelance a bit... build up some clients... then quit.
... or just do what I did and quit w/no plan and hope $ magically appears in your pants.
:D
- Spookytim0
Can I just say as an aside how entertained I am each time I read this thread title in the list and imagine you trapped inside a jar of Branston, clawing in vain at the glass walls and sinking ever deeper into the chunksome depths of tangy despair.
- tasty0
cbass99 i feel i'm in a similar predicament.
I'm not growing where I am, i've been here for two years and i'm afraid the only way to shift with a pay eqivilant or raise is to get an art director position. So i came up with a route to do that....
I am taking a month to plan some projects. then i will take those plans and create them in a studio with the physical materials needed to do so, no computers in the mix.
It's an opportunity for personal expression and shows i have the ability to think outside of photoshop - i'm feeling very confined to the computer world and i need an escape.
- Spookytim0
Oh God Tasty, me too. I made a name for myself with this digital shite years ago and crave the chance to do some hand work now, but all I get is requests for the same old digital tosh. I am so close to stopping all digital work completely and living on solid air until the first pencil-based sale or commission comes my way. I used to do that, I was a big believer in burning bridges, but now I look at my little girl and know that she needs the security and the continuity so I keep doing this digital shit and hating myself more for it every single day.
- flashbender0
make money at work - go home and do cool shit.
- morilla0
Is your work good enough to get the challenging projects?
- vespa0
i was in the same position 2 months ago - wanted to leave cos hadn't learnt anything for a year, finally made up my mind to go and of course they offered me LOADs of money to stay. But i thought if i stayed for the money, they'd totally own me, i'd find it impossible to leave in the future and i'd hate myself...
so i left and started freelancing, and it's been great. i don't take any jobs longer than a few weeks, so the variety is fantastic. the money is brilliant. i'm building in time between projects for music which is what i really need.
the only advice i'd give is that i didn't save or anything before i left so i was kinda screwed for money the first month. save up enough to last yourself 2-3 months, then you'll be under less pressure to take work you don't want.
- cbass990
Thanks for all of the comments. I try really hard at coming up with personal projects and have been doing some freelancing. Doing the cool shit outside of work and sometimes when I'm bored at work has helped keep me sane. I'm with flashbender on this one for now.
- horton0
i would never sit unhappy at a job just because i was making "considerably more money"... unless you're in a tight financial jam and have no choice.
- dbdesign0
just eat acid daily and live in your own little fantasy world. you could be a mystical designer with clients ranging from puff the magic dragon to real japanese ninjas.
- Llyod0
hire better designer and give them 30 %
- cbass990
Well living in San Diego at our current economic situation and owning 3 properties makes for "needing a consistent pay check." I will think about the acid comment...and I love ninjas. especially "American Ninja"
- Spookytim0
cbass, when I envisaged you stuck inside a little jar of pickles, I was touched by your plight. Now that the full story emerges, and you're not stuck in a little jar of pickles, and in fact you live in my favourite part of the world and have three houses, I have to confess that my feelings of sympathy have become rather toxic and are currently bordering on psychotically enhanced hatred. Stop fucking whining. You live in San Diego. Its fucking ace there. I love it and dream of living there. You have three fucking houses. Sell two and relax a little. You don't know you're born. People don't even have drinking water in large areas of the world. You're plight is really a luxury beyond comprehension for 99.9999% of the planet.
Fucking San Diego man. I fucking love San Diego.