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  • pedromendez5

    I've had an interesting realisation over the past few days.

    I transitioned to a design management role last year where Im very happy... leading with a team of great designers and I have been moving more and more away from doing design work to enabling my team to do the work. Mentoring, planning, strategy, meetings about meetings, etc..

    I've enjoyed it all for the most part, learned so much, 1 year has flown by, but just this last week I've had the opportunity to dive back into designing on a project and wow I didn't realise how much I've missed doing real design work.

    I stayed up until 2am working on a project that I just got totally into it and lost all track of time. It was so refreshing and I wonder if there's a balance design managers can strike to stay close to the work instead of getting lost in the world of meetings and management.

    Now I'm not so sure if design management is for me...

    Have any other design managers / directors here come up against the same issue throughout their careers?

    pedromendez 5Permalink
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    • It's either IC > stocks > exit early and rich OR retire DM
      ********
    • OR set a less boring goal:
      keep your DM job, maybe you can move forward somewhere and you quit that shit whenever you want.
      ********
    • work on design jobs separately, but keep time in check. like spend max 2x6 hours/week, then 4h, and insert some days when you don't give a shit and just qbn :D
      ********
    • I’m pretty much in the same position with my agency. I like to keep it to 80% management / direction and 20% designChimp
    • I manage a small team but still design too. I know that I def dont want to be just doing planning/strategy/me... 24/7 - couldnt hack that.microkorg
    • i used to have an agency of 5 but it was all dreary paperwork and boring management tedium. so now i'm freelance and designing again. poorer but more relaxed.hans_glib
    • My last two or three CD gigs, I always kept maybe 3 or 4 briefs to myself, so that I could come up with ideas for them. Kept me sane.Continuity
    • If you've been away, it's easy to fall in love again, but then it gets less & less. At arm's length, you can still love it, but don't sacrifice the day job.ptrdo
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