Getting older and working in design
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- Gucci0
35 this year. I find the transition from identifying as a "doer" to a more hardcore managerial role difficult. Putting others in a position to succeed when you've seen yourself the same way for so long can be torturous. Redefining what you equate accomplishment with can be damn near impossible.
Someone likened it to going from a player to a coach in sports. Meh.
We're all in this shit together and we all struggle with the exact same things. A lot of creatives sit within their own thoughts to find answers to problems that it becomes a poisonous, unhealthy norm. Kudos to talking about stuff.
So many feels in this thread.
- necromation1
You will be okay! Find strength in your loves ones... and remember if you go, they will be left to feel your pain and theirs of not been able to help you. The cycle never ends. You will look back and smile one day... I know it sounds clique but there are millions people would trade your troubles for theirs in a hot minute.
- ArmandoEstrada0
Im 43 and I've been freelancing since I started 20 years ago. I hear what you're saying. These two things worry me:
1- If my freelance dries up and I have to get a 'real job', I am not sure how many agencies would hire me based on the fact that I don't have 'real world' agency experience. I rent space from a smaller design firm but thats been the extent of it.
2- I don't know how to do anything that is not creative. I work on TV commercials and photography shoots, so everything that I do is in the creative world.
I understand where you're coming from. I don't want to end up working in a non-creative job, like Best Buy or something like that.
Maybe just keep doing what you're doing and plan ahead. I wish I had more advice.
- I'd hire a freelancer any time. You've proven you don't need supervision to get things done. Plus you understand that 9 to 5 is bullshit...zarkonite
- _niko0
We should all start a QBN version of that douchey company that son used to be part of.
- pinkfloyd-1
In the future, unless it happened already, anyone can make a website without coding.
- they have been saying that for at least 15 years... same applies to games but will never happen. code is the language and the young will learn in easier that myfadein11
- generationfadein11
- In the future, you'll be able to do everything automagically. Just have a second or third plan in place and you'll be fine.Jaline
- ArchitectofFate0
bump? not bump? surely this can't be all the stories?
- 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.
- MrBixler0
Recommended reading and guides for life:
- bklyndroobeki0
The more and more I speak w/ young folks about how their jobs, I find that they are finding work based on who they know. Also they are straight out of Design & Tech programs @ Pratt, SVA, Parsons.
- ArchitectofFate0
Fuuuuck this was 6 years ago now I know why I feel the same way now that I'm 36
- colin_s0
the funny thing is being 38 with a degree in design doesn't really help for much else.
but yeah, i'd say my passion for design is the same as it ever was, in that when i use it for myself - in art or my personal work - i still love it, but i hardly have a desire to work in-house somewhere.
i'd like to be part of a collaborative / team effort, or do something like find an old town newspaper that i could work with.
- the_reverend0
mid 30s doing advertising design (been same place last 8 years). as I look around I'm probably one of the old ones. I expect to be replaced by younger and cheaper version of myself sooner or later. at which point i probably won't be able to find a similar paying job and will be fucked trying to pay my mortgage.
- Ben990
Again CrimsonGhost, thanks a lot for sharing this. Really.
Personaly i feel i'm heading toward the end of an important chapter in my life, professionally and personally. And I just turned 36 and i really hate the fact of aging and time passing by. Lots of question in my mind since a few months. The future is very unclear. I try to stay positive. And i'm really happy to read the comments in this thread and see that i'm not alone.
- formed0
The architect world is hell compared to graphic/web! I did the opposite, came from two degrees in architecture and moved to graphics/web.
Things evolve and change, like everything. You get older, you do more management stuff/direction, less hands on. And that's a good thing (most of the time).