Getting older and working in design
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- monoboy0
I would recommend reading this book...
http://abookapart.com/products/d…I've just started up on my own after 15 years agency side.
Everything you do for a client, prospective or current should be billed. This includes meetings. Your time is valuable.
Always take a business approach. What we do isn't creative magic. It's work. And your experience dictates how much you charge.
Good brand work transforms businesses. We know more about effective business than most CEOs.
Get paid. And good luck.
- + on reading that book, great info in there for anyone not good with the business side of the work.zarkonite
- Hmm, not sure I agree with "everything should be billed". Creatives aren't lawyers, generally don't bill hourly.formed
- Lawyers get paid well, right. Joking aside. Doesn't have to be hourly. Just billed.monoboy
- Problem is Mono - no cunt wants to pay for ANYTHINGnylon
- It can be hard. Good brand work makes good business. Focus on the value. Try this... http://www.liquidage…monoboy
- spot133
I've been transitioning to management (in my mid 30's) and now have five staff under me including a graphic designer, web designer, a developer and a motion designer. Some people will be 'doers' forever but generally the more people who work for you, the more money you will make. You also become a mentor and influencer through this direction, which I really enjoy.
- uan0
we all die at 45. or have you seen Horp around here lately?
- utopian2
I am currently working on my second architectural project as we speak..my next house will be built from a blank slate. I am hoping that this will launching pad into my career as a residential architect. And now my architectural friends are bit envious, which creates a new set of challenges and obstacles. FFS, I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't!
- a_aachen1
thanks to all for your open thoughts. here are mine:
i am freelancer, been that for 12 years now. always worked good for me. i dont make like 100.000 a year but then again, i wouldnt need the money. now beginning this year my two biggest clients jumped off due to internal reorganisations cutting my income dramatically. I was expecting this, so no big surprise. and although this is not easy, cause i have wife and a child, soon two, i am trying to see this as a opportunity for me.
i just finished an exhibition, working on a book project and planning a theatre project for autumn – everything pays less than design but i am excited doing it. my prof always said that a good designer has the ability "to think with the heads of other people" and i believe this ability gives us the ability to do different things besides designing logos and websites.also i was always lucky to be interested in different things (although, looking back, doing so also hindered me seeking 100% in design) so i am giving cooking classes and improv workshops.
I found it easier to live your life if you try to avoid comparing yourself to other friends/colleagues etc (who earn more).
this is all a bit incoherent, nevermind.
- omahadesigns3
Anyone who starts in their 20's and is any good is just bossing people around by the time they are 35.
The real money is telling people what to do and going to meetings, not sitting around and setting type and figuring out break points.
- you don't have to be good, but it's smarter. If we did this just for money, we'd all be broke.ArchitectofFate
- Ben991
We live in a very materialistic world (us, Westerners). And our image and what we shine to the others is important in an era of social network. It's easy been scared of not having enough money and a job to be proud of.
When we reach our 40's+ I think we should be able to progress at another level and put our priorities on other stuff like being in shape, healty and happy with our friends, family and wife/husband.
Easy to say, i know.
- I want this as wellKnuckleberry
- But life is so freakin expensive! Kids, mortgage, bills, food. Everything just goes up so quick...except my wage!BusterBoy
- True.. i knowBen99
- palimpsest3
Stay away from NFTs.
- cannonball19781
There is also the question of whether it interests you anymore, digital design...
It would make sense that those who were captivated bu the early frontier stages of the industry would wish for something else now that it has ossified into a business capability with all the rigidity and frameworks applied.
That phase of an industry would naturally attract designers who are less artistically inclined.
- Yes but also isn't money lovelynb
- Find other things you like to do for money.cannonball1978
- dee-dubs0
Bump, was wondering how things were looking for CrimsonGhost over last few months?
- how are things going with you?Gnash
- Doing OK, but anxiety about what the future holds persists...dee-dubs
- ^ i hear you. hang in thereGnash
- https://www.youtube.…bklyndroobeki
- sothere1
I was just made redundant. It seems I was too senior for the company. The assumption is they can hire younger guys at a lower cost to do a adequate job so why pay the salary.
There just doesn't seem to be the respect towards what an older creative can bring to a company. Companies are too often run by accountants that just see the dollars and dont have any creative knowledge to really see the difference,
I'm not sure what I'd do for a new career and who would hire a 41 year old with no experience in something new anyway.
I am pretty worried about the future as my partner and I have our first baby on the way and prospects look pretty lean.
- See below. Go for the senior roles. It takes longer to land one, but they're out there.Continuity
- thanks mate. I'm not giving up yet.sothere
- OBBTKN3
42 here, CD at a small company, but still doing illus and design work aside from powerpoint typical CD work ;)
Have got plenty side projects out the agency, freelancing and collaborating with local art scene, trying not to think how old i am...
Lots of ups and downs on my career, but allways worked in creative jobs. Now barely feel the anxiety of thinking on being laid
Anyway, i am basque and got nice cooking skills... i can allways work as a cook!
- bklyndroobeki1
I know a woman who is 54 She's working for a huge space co. You guessed it. Has been there for a year and 1 1/2 and is very happy. portfolio is not anything more "special" than what I've seen on cr3 ative hotlist, and that's not an insult.
It can happen. I wonder how much "positive thinking" has to do w/ her success, she's one of the most optimistic / positive people that I know.
I know this guy seems a bit nutty but I kind of like him, check it out.
@ CrimsonGhost I know you're probably wanting to be in your hole, in all that discontent it's quite possibly the perfect time to reach out to your comrades, networks and friends or go to meet ups to get out of your own head no matter how hard it might be.
- With a video poster like that I'm scared to click on it.ArmandoEstrada
- Agreed, ... it's not as bad as you think. that is an awful still that they chose.bklyndroobeki
- *that is just an awful still that...bklyndroobeki
- fadein111
My view is yes it's a young persons game (due to energy levels and interest in trends etc.).
All creatives find a comfortable groove eventually and that often isn't suited to the current times.
My focus is on building my product-based business alongside my design business. It is very satisfying seeing your own brand you have nurtured and developed all yourself grow and become a viable business.
The problem I have always had with being a freelancer is you have 5-15 'bosses'/clients on your case all week - depending on how busy you are.
Unless you manage to become known for your particular style you are actually little more than a mouse for hire (but with the benefits of some freedom and the stress of making your own money).
It's something I think of a lot now I have a family and getting on a bit. My freelance business definitely has a shelf life.- just had a dark thought - most people on here are old - this isn't a cutting edge design forum, its full of bitter old designers... jesus.fadein11
- where are the cutting edge design forums *said in the simpson's grandpa voice*bklyndroobeki
- georgesIII0
no, I don't plan too,
I plan to be a designer of my life but my exit plan is to go back to the earthfarmer, etc, I already have a good sized plot
- Nutter0
Many years ago, when I was still studying, I was out in the city with some friends. We came across a homeless man and fell into a talk with him. A friend asked him what he used to do, his answer: "he use to be a graphic designer".
As my friends were leaving I gave him what cash I happened to have, hoping that some day that little bit of karma would prevent me from end up in the same situation...
- At the height of my profitability as a commercial illustrator, I got chatting to a neighbour and we asked each other what we did. I told him I was...Horp
- a commercial illustrator and he said 'ah yes, I know lots of those'. He then went on to say he knew a lot of once very succesful illos who were all now ...Horp
- on the breadline. He said that none of them saw changes coming and found themselves utterly redundant as technology and younger people's styles pushed them out.Horp
- Most of them were depressed, unemployed, big drinkers, he said. I realised that very day I would not be doing illo for the rest of my life as I had assumed.Horp
- and sure enough I started to see my once advanced photoshop working looking distinctly creaky against newer ideas and styles from kids who were 60% cheaper.Horp
- :(Ben99
- Oh man.versus
