Getting older and working in design
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- 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
- bklyndroobeki0
^
i also know a developer at a university. he's been there for 8 years and is 53, he is VERY happy.
- you're on to something w/ the local gov't jobbklyndroobeki
- btw. love this thread.bklyndroobeki
- Yes, this is some good sharing. Good food for thought and very interesting timing I will say.BabySnakes
- whinger0
I'm almost 45 — am not at an agency, am the boss of no one and really enjoy my work. I have pretty low levels of stress and I think that comes from having the experience to know that I can get the job done and that my client will be happy. I find that almost all of my clients appreciate my years of design experience. I, however, do not do any web design, so that may be a big part of the difference.
- Were you a web designer @ one point?bklyndroobeki
- Very first job, but then moved to print, mograph and back to print.whinger
- 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
- cbass990
I feel as you get older, you want to keep making more money with your experience, but at some point, they figure they can get younger people to do your job for less. That is what scares me..
It's almost like you need to be an AD or CD to keep going...
- Don't mean to be rude - but a prostitute could say pretty much the same thing.fadein11
- ^ Yes I canKnuckleberry
- utopian0
I have been slowly migrating to architectural design & architectural sculptural world from visual design over the past five years. I'm hoping to get out of the identity, branding, web and app world sooner rather than later.
- congrats on making floorplanspinkfloyd
- #autocadpinkfloyd
- I build dreams bitch!utopian
- I do environmental... it's fun most of the time.Knuckleberry
- 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
- _niko0
We should all start a QBN version of that douchey company that son used to be part of.
- 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!
- BK1
You guys are bumming me out.
- yuekit0
In terms of digital, I think the perception of "young man's game" may be skewed by the fact that the entire industry is still fairly new. I would guess there will be more diversity of age in the future.
- ArchitectofFate0
bump? not bump? surely this can't be all the stories?
- sausages2
35 years old here. Been freelancing for 7 years or so after working in big ad agencies. I used to work solely in print but have been coding websites for the past 4-5 years and it's the bulk of my work now. We moved from a large city to a small town on the coast and freelancing has been supporting my wife and 2 young kids. Work here is pretty scarce and while I work remotely for some good (and loyal) clients, we have times where we really struggle financially.
I echo a lot of what's been said above. Many clients are on a race to the bottom as far as budgets go while expectation remains high.
I can't see myself working as a designer much longer. I stopped enjoying my work a long time ago – just going through the motions these days and writing invoices. Thinking of transitioning to marketing and getting a cushy job with local government or something. Or stacking shelves... Neither would be much fun but to be honest, neither is this. (Sorry to continue the maudlin theme)
- cannonball19782
I'm 36. For me much of the burnout stems largely from doing what I do for other people and allowing their drawbacks to chafe with me.
I love designing things. I hate doing it for other people. I think my escape will be the rough and tumble world of design entrepreneurialism.
- cannonball19784
Damn. Go the job and everything I asked for. It seems like when you put your anxieties and needs out into the universe, it sometimes does provide.
Also, having been looking into work over the last few weeks, there seems to be a small groundswell where wisdom is becoming valued in the consulting sector for design. That's something you can't fake and that comes with age. So that is reassuring.
- Maaku0
This will be us before we hit ____(age)
- trooperbill0
i ran my own digital business for 7 years right out of uni and finally dropped it (gost) 8 years ago to work in house and at agencies. i threw the towel in with regards to design and moved to SEO tho it seems that im the unofficial CD at my current workplace and basically live in illustrator and photoshop 50% of the time.
i manage a small team directly and have basically spent the last 8 years at a standstil work-wise tho the money has increased as ive moved job
turned 39 last month and am having the same mid life crisis as many people here... is this what i still want to be doing, if not wtf could i be doing as i love the work so much.
transitioning to a management position seems to be working better here as theyre investing in helping this happen and the people in the wider business (parent company) come from some high profile positions which i hope to help.
in short moneys good, works ok, personal life is good but i feel unfulfilled and am worried for the future.
im just not good at anything else !!
...seems to be a running theme of all of the people on here as we're all +/- 10 years of each other as befits people who discovered newstoday early in their creative careers.
- shellie2
I'm still in my early 30s but I started working as an animator and designer at a very young age. My first big corporate job came at 19 years old and it wasn't my first in design. Worked 5 years on staff and the rest as a roaming agency freelancer, eventually working entirely at home. I became a hybrid producer/developer near the end of my run. The last 3 years I've transitioned out of it completely.
Now I am an entertainment talent manager and tour manager. I still work with agencies now and then but in a much different capacity. I'm greatful i spent all these years growing those relationships. I've found it much easier to pull in a nice big advertising jobs for my clients than other talent managers because I'm much more familiar with what is going on and how to pitch an agency to work with this painter or that musician. Most recently one of my music clients did an online series for national geographic that I was able to produce on the talent side with no sweat and that funded all our other projects for a year. A lot of my peers in the talent managrment industry have to grind a lot harder to find traditional ways to work their clients.
A lot of my ideas are grounded in completing the online/offline loop which had increased my clients earning power. I've found my peers to be left scratching their heads when it comes to doing that. But now I can also be creative in ways I couldn't behind an agency desk. A client of mine is an endless well of merchandising opportunities which I've been able to design, help manufacture and launch. I find a lot of what I learned over the years has been useful if applied in a different way.
I may join a management group sometime this year. I found some other managers that have a more traditional experience in that field that really value what I can do. I'm a bit lonely working solo for such a long time and this new career path allows for work in groups and freedom to move around and do what you want as long as you're brining in the dough. It's kinda nice.
- MrBixler0
Recommended reading and guides for life:
- Bluejam0
damn good read ...
