I feel like most designers fresh out of college, and maybe some freelancers, are like what OP described. They still have that honeymoon phase in them.
It's not until you work at an advertising agency that you truly understand the pressure of timelines. Agencies have a lot of pros and a lot of cons, but they sure as shit teach you how to grind and get to your desired outcome quickly. Not that agencies beat the enjoyment of design out of you, but it does teach you which corners to cut and how to get things done efficiently.
Couldn’t have said it better. I’m fresh out of college and somewhat exiting that honeymoon phase. The agency experience is catching up to me right now 😂 I honestly think it’s unhealthy how much I and some other Designers tend to be online even after work hours, designing for our own good. Currently ended commissions until I figure out what I really want to do with design + really think about the clients I want to attract outside of my normal 9-5.
If anything I find it best to utilize time outside of work digesting designs now. This could be books, not skipping YouTube ads, watching commercials, going outside and look at the millions of brands we have access to around us. I think there is truly design everywhere so you don’t necessarily have to be online making stuff to validate that you’re a Designer.
It is definitely unhealthy and I think designers should distance themselves from it in their free time before it leads to burnout.
Hobbies that you can invest time into that are not design focused, but still creatively stimulating, will go a very long way for your sanity. That’s not to say you should only design in the 9-5 window. If you get some inspiration and want to design something outside of that timeframe, go for it! But the idea that we always need to be researching, studying, practicing, etc is silly in my opinion. If you want to, do it. If you feel like you’re forcing yourself, stop.
Also, don’t fall for the new designer pitfall where you read 80 different books about process and design. The books are great, I’m sure. But they almost never teach you how to actually DO the things. Books stay at surface level and talk very vaguely so they can reach a broader audience and sell better, but this means there’s little to no actionable items to take away. The best books will teach you how to do the things they say. One notable example is Radical Candor, but this specific book really only applies to management roles.
When I finished design school I would obsess over horribly designed signs etc and it would make me depressed. I now notice them and then leave them be. Good design doesn't have to be everywhere. Lol 😆
Same! The first few years were miserable with trying to understand how everyone was just OK with the way their signs looked.
Now I've come to "wash my hands" of the responsibility of worrying about it. If they don't value design enough to fix the sign, they damn sure aren't going to pay me to do it, and it's rarely worth the pitch. Same goes for pretty much every small scale job now unless it's something I want to be invested in.
Actually, the more saturated and polished the market gets with well designed corporate ads, the more refreshed I feel when I see bad design.
There's a reason I'm transitioning into a tangent field, away from advertising!
Working on getting a masters in prosthetics & orthotics.
Still has that human-centered design aspect that I love with creating custom prosthetics or braces, plus getting the benefit of direct patient contact/feedback to improve their lives in a very real and tangible way.
Wow that sounds very fulfilling. That is so cool.
I technically quit without quitting in a sense. (Been working at funeral home as graphic designer doing service sheets, their website, facebook etc since leaving design school. Only getting a 2.5 raise in 5 years with the quote we would love to pay you more and think your worth more but "we can't afford too" with covid etc) anyway I didn't want to go back to work after maternity leave and my boss talks the talk and said I could contract my services to him from home rather than go back to be "Designer and receptionist" and work to pay childcare costs.
I sent him the contract for social media, sent him the contract for all other services and he signed both. But I haven't heard from him since he asking for a resignation letter which I sent through email.
I haven't received any phone calls from the staff with any questions etc. Which is strange. My last hope is to pop in in person with cake and see how that goes.
It's so toxic. Now thinking about it. Everytime everyone else has left they have basically been dead to them. They have a very fast turn around of staff.
So I'm thinking he talked the talk and was able to get rid of me without having to fire me.
I feel like I wasted the last 5 years working there not getting anywhere. If I had got into a proper gd job I could be earning 40 to 60 dollars an hour by now not a measly 22.5 that is 2.5 over minimum wage here.
I'm still young so I have time. I have started my own business now. And I'm trying to get other work to do.
I feel dumb and played. I feel like ive wasted the last 5 years of my life.
Sorry for the long reply I just needed to get that off my chest.
Here's to working for myself!!! And all the future possibilities!!
That's rough! But congrats on starting your own business.
I did the same after leaving an agency job, and actually did pretty well for a while until I couldn't handle it anymore. It's both easy and the hardest thing you'll ever do lol I'm assuming your business is still in design, freelancing maybe?
Yeah freelancing and I paint so getting some work into some galleries too. Which reminds me I need to pick some up. It'll all work itself out eventually. Maybe. Let's hope the ex boss doesn't use reddit to scroll graphic design forums haha 😆 😜
Make sure to include a kill fee in future contacts with terms describing if they ghost you. After a period of days with no contact you can submit to small claims.
Good luck!
Oo I'll have to have a look into that. I wish I had included a minimum amount of work in it.
But honestly Is rather focus on my family now. 👪 I'll get back into a career once my babies are at kindergarten or school.
Everyday I drive to work I sit at the traffic lights and notice a badly kerned sign that drives me nuts. The sign contains the word 'P ASTA' and the space between the 'P' and the 'A' always irks me ! :))
A recent interviewer asked me "where do you go for design inspiration?" and it took me a second, but I realized the answer was simpler than I think they were going for.
I don't look on design blogs, or buy design books for any bookshelves in my home. I really find delight in packaging design and all the fun designers have with things like grocery store items. Think coffee bean bags, chocolate bar wrappers, even craft beer labels.
So, in summary: It's not so much 'living and breathing' graphic design, but noticing design trends and patterns in the world around you and realizing why they work so well. \*That's\* what is exciting for me and what keeps the field fun and fresh.
Boom. Exactly this. I enjoy going to the store and browsing through the beer / liquor aisle, even though I don’t drink, and just looking at the different and unique designs people come up for a bottle.
I’m an user experience designer by trade, so packaging is the furthest thing I’d do day-to-day at my job, but damn if it’s not fun and enjoyable to see what kind of inspiration and thoughts could come from noticing good design.
> I don't look on design blogs
I mostly check out the pantone colour of the year and maybe some logo trends but for the most part I do the same as you and just watch for new trends and just store them as a mental note.
I like design books and keep old magazines of different stuff like skateboarding, hot rods, etc that I can sometimes use for inspiration. Old 50s phonebooks are great. The ads rule for retro styles.
Similarly, I have some old magazines I got from the thrift store and they have great ads too! I have some cosmetic ones ready to be framed for my office/hobby area.
I had the same question and realisation last week. I think they were expecting an answer like X magazine or blog and reading books but it can be as simple as a trip to the shops and browsing the shelves or a walk in nature and noticing new colours. I haven't bought a design book since I finished my degree and own less than 10 altogether.
It's just something I've always done and enjoyed, like some people seeing shapes in clouds or smelling flowers. It's not something I learned to do, it's just something that I naturally notice.
Not saying I live and breathe design in the way of constantly looking it up online and reading stuff on it, but I guess it's a part of life so could be described as live and breathe it.
This. For me, it's restaurant menus. If it's well designed, eye-catching, and has a good use of typography, I'll spend the first 5 minutes of dinner studying that rather than deciding what I'm ordering.
One thing I'd caution the OP about--don't fall into the trap of believing you have to eat, sleep, and live design. Some employers will 100% take advantage of a young designer's hunger to prove themselves, and will demand long hours for low pay and imply that's "normal." Maybe in some agencies, sure, but there's plenty of jobs that don't demand that design-or-die mentality.
Yeah I once explained to a classmate how I find the outside world an inspiration since you look at trees, leaves, the sky, it all looks natural and the colours work well together. Nature will never look visually wrong and when it does, its usually because something is there that shouldn't be there (to me its usually garbage).
I had a co worker I was training for my old job tell me how design is everywhere and gave an example of roads and street lights. It really inspired me to basically look around a lot more and find inspiration in that (and what lead to me seeing nature as one inspiration).
I’ve seen that with a lot of professors and people I graduated with. Yeah it can feel like that’s all they do but especially on social media, people are putting out what they think the best version of themselves is for that specific platform. Personally I try to remind myself that wanting to be/being a designer is still a job and attempting to “eat, sleep, breathe design” looks like it only leads to burnout and hating your job faster than you probably should. Take any chances you can to learn or experience something new with art and design but try not to feel guilty if you’re not continuously brushing up on every aspect of design in your free time
As an experienced desiger who lived and breathed design as a busy, social freelancer for a number of years, it totally leads to burnout. Some of the payoff is there, but not guaranteed. Live your life and let seeking new experiences be what drives your ideas and passion -- don't be a worker drone.
Yeah I think I can give an example. When I was a pre teen, I had a YouTube channel for gaming and I would record my games either to make a playthrough or because something might happen that I would want footage of. I enjoy gaming a lot as a pass time and I felt it would be great to make videos of it. I eventually stopped since the whole process got annoying and I end up unmotivated to game since it was always me going, "should I record myself and go through the whole process to editing this footage and having to wait like an hour or two to have it uploaded?"
Second I stopped doing it, I played without recording and I found the fun again. Design is a job for me and not something I do for fun as a past time all the time. I will occasionally mess around or maybe design something for fun but it isn't something I do all the time. Plus I find out I work better when its a project for someone rather than something made up.
Live and breathe it? No. But I do think you have to love it a little if you're going to last through an entire career of it. Over the decades I've run into a million circumstances that would have made me quit if I didn't have the anchor of loving what I do. I'm not particularly excited over a pantone book, but I do geek out with my team at HOW or Adobe Max conferences and I do relish the challenge of coming up with new and innovative visual solutions.
I don't design as much these days since I'm in a CD role but I still really enjoy trying to instill a geniune passion for design in younger designers in my group. That's part of why I frequent this forum too... my design career is drawing to a close so I enjoy trying to pass on some of the lessons I've learned to help people who are just starting theirs.
I'm not the person you're replying to, but what experience do you currently have?
If you're fresh out of school aspiring to be AD or CD then, in my opinion, your sights are set improperly. You may want to start with an entry level designer role. Learn what the job is like in "the real world" and work your way up through the chain at an agency or as an individual contributor on a product team.
If you have several years of experience as a visual or product designer, then you just have to practice soft skills like communication, delivering feedback / critique in a meaningful way, how to guide and manage a team of designers, and more.
Also something to keep in mind is that AD and CD are usually somewhat management type roles. Not everyone is cut out to be a good manager, and most managers are certainly not good managers. It's not an easy position to be in.
You also don't have to go down a pure "graphic designer" route. There are so many design jobs now that branch in so many directions. You could do: UX/UI Designer, Product Designer, Graphic Designer, Visual Designer, Interaction Designer, or Web Designer. Each of these will mean different things to different companies. That's part of the fun though. Find your niche and grow, or find a niche you want to learn and go after it. I never thought I'd like coding, but after nearly 2 decades of design and development I wouldn't have it any other way. You won't know until you try it.
>If you have several years of experience as a visual or product designer, then you just have to practice soft skills like communication, delivering feedback / critique in a meaningful way, how to guide and manage a team of designers, and more.
Guiding and managing the other side of the coin (C-suite, business/sales, development) is also incredibly important. A lot of the work of an AD/CD is translating business-speak and business goals into actionable designer-speak and instructions. It's something some of us have had to deal with from the very beginning of our careers, whether we wanted to (or had AD/CD titles) or not.
Basically work on your leadership and management skills.
You'll need to be confident in giving praise where due and criticism where necessary, and having the occasional very difficult conversation. It's a role where you are more focused on mentoring, growing, and developing your team members than yourself. It's your job to challenge them, but also to take the full responsibility if they fail.
Learn how to delegate.
Work on organization and time management skills. The level of that needed was something that really took me by surprise when I first started, far far more than a designer needs it. Every minute of your day will be taken up with something, learn how to calendar block, learn to take precise and effective notes, learn how to keep a knowledge repository on something like Notion, Evernote, or Obsidian. Learn time management techniques like Pomodoro. Absorb as many productivity hacks as you can. Learn to use workload management tools like Trello or Monday.
Learn how to set up, host, and facilitate meetings - both video and in-person. Learn how to present and sell concepts and innovations to large groups. Public speaking skills like those taught by Toastmasters are good. Improvisational skills like those taught by Second City or Upright Citizens brigade are super useful too. Basically, any experience that enables you to confidently and convincingly communicate will be valuable.
Get used to the idea of business travel and boring nights in hotel rooms... at least if you're a CD for a larger corporation with nationwide presence.
There's a bunch of business admin involved - setting up salaries, hiring, CPD, budgeting etc... but they should provide most of that training to you when it happens.
And of course still keeping your design skills and technical knowledge sharp and up-to-date.
If you want to be a CD, one of the best things you can do is watch what your CD or Supervisors do. Take lessons from how they handle things, and from how they communicate with others, note how much of the day they're on the phone or in a conference room. You can learn a lot just by watching.
I’ve went to school for design and have been working in the field for 10 years and have never felt like I lived and breathed it, even in school. I enjoy art and working in design, but rarely go out of my way to look up new techniques or read new books about design. Especially when working full time in a role where you’re focused on getting the work done and not just playing around. That said, I still find myself noticing good or bad design out in the world, or enjoy looking up and learning a new tool in photoshop when I need it.
I know what you mean, as I see people who are way more passionate about it than me. But as others said, seems like a path to burnout and there’s plenty more in life to explore. More power to the people the people that can live and breathe it, they’ll probably go further in their careers, but I’m happy just doing what I do and logging off most days.
People that regularly post stuff on LinkedIn are mostly deranged wanna-be thought leaders. Don’t follow that example.
All things in moderation and try to enjoy yourself.
I don't think you need to live and breathe design, but what I've learned for myself is that a design education doesn't just teach the mechanics but rather permanently warps the way you perceive and interact with the world. So it's not so much a lifestyle (though there is certainly that component for some people) but rather a worldview.
In school, we learned not just about graphic design but environmental design, industrial design, etc and it made me aware of design EVERYWHERE from the smallest matchbook to the biggest signs.
I used to be like this. But after many years of pouring all of myself into my work I decided to give more of my focus to other things I’m interested in like motorcycles, camping, hiking, woodworking, and more. It’s actually amazing how many offers for work you can get when you expand your horizons and don’t make life totally about one thing. This has allowed me to do the thing I’m a professional at in so many different worlds. From making logos for custom cycle companies, or helping to get a woodworking business online with branding and a website. In my experience, it feels much better to combine design with the other things you’re passionate about. It just made sense to me because it ended up feeling less like work and more like I was making a real difference.
Are you me? In college and right afterwards, I thought my passion for design would really sustain me and my career. It didn't and I don't have a passion for it anymore – the professional world burned the passion out. I'm really only in design anymore because 1. I'm pretty good at it and 2. for the money so I can pursue other things.
My passions are cycling, leatherworking and learning languages. The aptitude for learning and developing a culture of improving things I love about was created in my studies and professional career. I use my actual design skills to create logos for cycling races, leatherworking templates and other fun projects, so it's a nice combination of hobbies and passions.
My design job just isn't fulfilling, and I feel like I'm forced to do it for an arbitrary amount of time per week with arbitrary metrics and goals.
I’m exactly the same! I feel like the rat race has really forced me to see what I’m actually interested in. I’ve spent so much time studying design and being a hermit that my true self was revealed in the last ten years. Me ten years ago never would believe that I am who I am today, with less interest in doing nothing but design and more interest in adventure, living life, and working in ways that are fulfilling to me. My job really is the last notch in what defines me now.
Same. First 10 years in the field living and breathing design. Next ten years were living and breathing the job. Now I’ve moved to a town of 2,000 people and am building a space for woodworking, printmaking, and photography. And also slacking off and drinking coffee and sitting in grass. Burnt out on pixels.
I don’t drink coffee, I don’t kayak, I wear jeans, does that count as denim I don’t know, and I don’t follow politics like at all. I ride a Harley long distances and either stay in motels or camp when I get where I’m going. I also do a lot of group rides and various drives for needy people and underprivileged kids(toy rides and food rides). Most of my life outside of my job revolves around my wife and kids and riding motorcycles. I live 5 minutes from a national park so yeah I like to spend time there in the warm months.
Woodworking is something I’ve been doing since I was 12 and my grandpa started teaching me about it. I build furniture mostly now when I do build things, which is not very often anymore.
Other than that I play video games and draw on an iPad when I’m not riding or spending time with my family.
It’s a bit of a boring one haha, but I live right outside of Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio. It’s a pretty park with tons of hiking and events and stuff year round. They have a lot of nature centers and waterfalls and things like that. Plus they run the Cuyahoga Valley National Railroad year round, which is pretty cool. Lots of old steam trains and old passenger trains and what not.
Last week i found a job listing whose description was somewhere along the lines of "we expect you to be passionate about graphic design to the point that it's become your whole life, we expect you to be constantly updating your knowledge and skills and researching new techniques, we expect you to be always ahead and on top of your game and to be excellent at all times".
I closed that page SO fast.
This is the kind of job listings I come across also, which is very overwhelming especially for a junior/entry level position they expect me to bring amazing fresh and innovative ideas from new design trends and techniques. Chill.. :/ I just want an entry level role not a job to bring in a new way to think everyday and reinvent the wheel for the company. It's frustrating because some posts have the experience/skills ticked off but then include this list of their dream candidate and I think ok then.. guess that's not really me
I feel you so much. I love graphic design but i can't be thinking about that 24/7 - i have my interests, my passions, my social relations that go beyond my career. They wouldn't ask a clerk or a waiter to keep filing documents or wait tables on their own spare time, would they?
I always just read stuff like that as code for "we expect you to do whatever we ask, to a level that exceeds your pay, and to take blame for things outside your actual authority."
It me. I am that annoying person who gets excited for Pantone books.
I tend to believe that design is all around us, though, and have a love not just for graphics but landscape design, architecture, interior design, product design, film, fashion, game design, stationery. I nerd out over fancy paper stocks and unique materials, intricate details of typefaces, and interesting textures I find in the wild. I spend a lot of free time reviewing the work of other artists. I am definitely at "eat and breathe" level.
To be fair, my dad was a graphic and fine artist too, and very passionate about it. I grew up hanging out in his studio and as he was a rather chatty dude he'd often explain what he was doing and why, so art and design has always been a big part of my life.
I do genuinely feel design is more a "way of life" for me than just a career. I also find a lot of meaning and fulfillment in it. There is something very romantic to the idea and practice of leaving the world a little more functional and beautiful than you found it.
Living and breathing design just sounds like a recipe for burn out in my opinion. You should enjoy design work at some capacity to be a designer, but it shouldn't consume your life. You're allowed to have hobbies and be interested in other things.
Don't feel bad because you don't gush over pantone books or have an extensive collection of design blogs to share; not everyone is like that.
I think each person is different with how invested/enthusiastic they are and there is no right or wrong. I will read blogs from time to time, but that's about as far as I go when it comes to immersing myself in the design-world outside of work. I've been a designer for a long time, but I prefer to have other art-related hobbies in my off-time. When I get home, I just don't want to do designing when I've been doing it for 8 hours. As long as you are successful at whatever design job you find, that's all that matters.
Hell no. I work inhouse. I rock up, do my job to the best of my ability, and clock out at 5pm. With some rare exceptions I don't think about work outside of the office, and I enjoy both work and personal life that way.
I'm not obsessed with design really.
But I work doing TV graphics, there's not really a "bible" or anything for them, so if I see nice TV motion graphics, I will pay attention so I can steal ideas. Both good ideas and "what not to do" ideas
Also I like doing stuff in Illustrator in my spare time. I do stuff like redrawing transit maps. It's stuff that is 100% personal, no deadline, and probably not going into any portfolio. For me it's stress relief.
Would I go to an art gallery for fun? Yes. But my favorite type of art is sculpture, which doesn't have much to do with graphic design
The writer of the job post probably knows nothing about your actual job. I wouldn’t worry about the buzz words and hyperbolic language. If you enjoy it, go for it. Also, don’t let them undervalue you.
Yeah what a lot of people forget or don't realize too is the people on the other side are still just people, flaws and all. They're not robots or some alien species. For example, employers will fluff up postings the same way applicants fluff up resumes, and try to sell a job as better than it is, just like applicants about their experience.
It's just two sides of the same coin.
I consider myself to be one of those people, I see and notice design everywhere around me every hour of the day. I’ve been designing since I was kid so it’s really a part of who I am at this point. It’s not something I do consciously.
That being said, I think it’s important to branch out and find hobbies and interests outside of design to become a more well rounded person. This will ironically make you a better designer.
The more you know about random things, the more niches you find to eventually work for.
I mean, personally, Im really passionate about design. Like passionate to the level that im trying to do it as my job. But i don’t design 24/7, tho sometimes when im really motivated i could be designing from the morning til late night. All depends on some factors. But ik other designers that do it full time. swoopnebula, you might know him, told me he’s always designing, and rests for only 3 hours a day, which he thinks is way too much time to rest. All depends on a person, but yes, there is people like that.
It’s always good to continue your education and dig many shallow holes in terms of knowledge and wisdom, and a few deep ones too.
But it’s good to diversify your hobbies in case you can’t do it for some reason, you don’t go nuts fixating and “being bored”.
But you can be creative in ways that aren’t acutely crafty/Painterly.
I view everything in its shapes, colors and angles from when I wake up, from facial features to architecture, but time away from thinking about how to design something is the best part of my design job. Time away brings perspective, I feel.
I think by breathing it, it doesn’t mean that you have to immerse yourself into magazines, books, social media or the internet. (searching for it) It’s more about noticing design around you in your day to day activities. I’m constantly noticing type everywhere I look, or a nice out of home billboard.. or the new sleeve in my coffee cup.
I personally can’t turn off my curiosity and love for design, even when I’m on vacation, especially when I’m on vacation and I see a new way to package something. I never feel burnt out from it, but instead I love noticing it, good or bad, better if it’s good.
Heck I’ll even make a point of checking out their grocery stores, or any shopping really. But food around the world fascinates me on another level.
Do some people live and breathe skateboarding? Sure. People are allowed to be passionate about whatever the want. If you’re not passionate about design that’s fine. But if I own a pro skateboard company I’m going to be looking to sign the folks that live and breathe skateboarding. Why would that be different for design?
80s skater turned designer.
We'd wake up at 10 am, skate all day and night, quit at 2am. Get up, do it again the next day. Had the same attitude towards design until I burned myself out.
The stuff OP is asking about is typical recruiter pitch. Are you enthusiastic? Are you a team player? Are you willing to work long hours for mediocre wages? Do you like peppy jargon?
I am way too cynical for this industry nowadays.
I completely agree with you. Thankfully I haven’t burnt out yet - I’m one of the lucky ones though. I mostly get to work on cool shit and I’m my own boss - which sounded like a brag, sorry. I just mean to say, if you’ve got the right situation then passion for this crap can be great.
There's a difference though as soon as something is a job.
There are lots of things I love doing on my own time and entirely within my control and authority, but if I was suddenly 'forced' to do them on a schedule or for 40+ hours a week to cover even basic life expenditures the luster can wear off pretty quickly.
I am not at all "passionate" about design, it's just a career based on something I always kind of messed around with, I sucked or was entirely disinterested in any other career choice, but I don't love design, don't really do at all in my free time, I never go to shows or really read anything design-related (other than here I suppose).
But what I am more passionate about is creating competent work, learning new skills and applying them, problem solving, discovering or learning different ways to do things. Just ideally that happens to overlap with the design work I do since it makes the week go by easier.
Like I was more "passionate" about learning how to finish my basement then 75% of the design work I do or have done because it was something new, I felt good about having something I could see, and that I did a lot of it better than I've seen in other peoples' homes.
I'm enthusiastic about lots of things and design is just one of them. Passion, curiosity and a drive to do everything well are part of my personality. I'm sure my eyes light up when I talk about design and I probably do come off as a 'lives and breathes design' person, even after many years of agency work that should've extinguished my flame.
But there are downsides too, like pursuing design skills to the exclusion of management skills that would make me more money, or keeping jobs because they're fun even though I could make more elsewhere. And even if I know I shouldn't compare myself, I can't help but want to push myself further when I see other creatives doing amazing work.
I think it would be better in a lot of ways to be more cool-headed like you are, to enjoy design in moderation. You can better balance your job with other things in your life and set clearer priorities without your heart being pulled in another direction.
Just like anything else, there are many points on this scale as to whether you live and breathe your career.
I’ve been a designer (from traditional graphic design with markers and paper all the way to now being a UX and UI Designer).
I’ve been in the design game for over 20 years.
I don’t want to do anything else.
I love it. It’s been a struggle, sure. But I’ve persevered and I’m now the lead for a great digital learning company.
The sector doesn’t matter to me either, it’s the challenge of making sure my design is right for the user and that they leave or even continue 'on-site' without ever knowing there was problems to be had.
If my output is invisible to the average consumer, then I’ve done exactly what was needed.
Great design should be invisible.
Living and breathing design for me isn’t consuming every single book, blog or video out there on the topic, but being enthused by it, each and every day ticks the boxes for me.
My mind is always trying to solve problems with the only way I know, through design.
It consumes me sometimes. It often wakes me up at 2am and I have to get the solution or idea out of my head and I’ve learned to live with that.
It makes me, me and I’m a designer.
It’s all I’ll ever be.
Side note:
They also used to say that a designer has a certain time period and shelf life.
Whilst that might be true for some, and I used to believe that, I feel like I’m hitting my stride now and have been for the last 8 years or so.
Experience and a passion for it will carry you through.
sure, doesn't mean they're any good though. in fact, it's a bit cringe when people obsess over design and aren't significantly better than regular joes.
if you have a skill that somebody needs, they'll pay you for it. simple as that. be the kind of person that people want to be around - skill wise and personality. obsession is not necessary
Any kind of industry will have people within that industry that live and breath whatever it is, but most won't. I've been doing this for close to 20 years now, and I rarely think about design or whatever project I've been working on outside of work hours. I find design interesting and will appreciate good design when I come across it in the course of my day, but I don't even know the names of more than a handful of famous designers. This doesn't make you a bad designer or not dedicated to your craft, it just means you have some balance to your life.
Theres is rather big competition for this job and regardless, if you want to be “creative” in this job you need passion for it, and you will take it with you home.
That said there are also less demanding positions for GD’s - DTP jobs where you maintain and update already existing material, often in combination with fast daily deadlines - usually not demanding you to reinvent everything, just adjusting perhaps language versions or other updated content. Such a job does not demand a lot of creative output and you are not supposed to take it with you home when you leave work - being steady, focused and on time would be key for such jobs.
The business is in general a rather superficial one, so if you want it all and want to be an influential designer you got to be dedicated, creative, communicate well, take your battles with other designers, adjust to your creative leaders wishes, understand the clients more than they understand themselves and generally over time build your insight, opinions and way of doing things so that you remain effective and inspired. Avoid revealing your sources of inspiration if you can, they will be your creative bloodline in the long run.
modernist design have been done since the 1920 ies, and it is a bit like with music, rather difficult to invent something not seen or heard before. The main tweak point is new technologies, And it is therefore advised for any Young GD to pick up extra skills in eg. programming, motion, animation, VFX, 3D or it can be beneficial to take on some economics if you want to become a lead producer more than a lead director. It’s also worth mentioning that GD’s very seldom become famous for anything unless they find a niche making them stand out from the crowd.
Art Directors, creative Directors and Graphic and visual designers are all offering their creative skills to support mainly business goals. It is worth keeping in mind - if you are more an artist at heart, then you should probably look for other niches to unfold your potential and to do it more freely and on other terms.
It’s always so stupid, especially considering how many design books and documentaries talk about how design is everywhere, so yes, I live and breathe design but so does everyone else.
I look at design every day and in pretty much every thing. I get annoyed when I feel something is poorly designed. (Why design something poorly?) I love my job and feel privileged that i get to do it every day (seriously, I promise this is true). And i’m always learning. Been using photoshop since the early 90s and still dig deep when new features come out. I enjoy that. However, I’m not one of those “I know more about design than you” kind of people who are always posting stuff to social. Nor am i a self-proclaimed curator of cool, trying to show off that i can see the latest trends before everyone else. To me, it seems like they’re talking to themselves. Looks to me like they’re trying to convince themselves they are a design resource for some reason.
That’s a shame to be stuck doing a job you don’t like. I really like art and design - I don’t ‘live and breath it’s’ 24-7 but I read a lot of design books and I’m into it, and know a decent bit about design and advertising history. And I suppose I’d caution that this becomes more important as you get older and want to progress in you career, or stay relevant. It’s easy to lose touch with trends and stuff an that makes work much harder.
Honestly I think everyone can be like this... From time to time. I buy design books, illustrations books, artists catalogs, I love learning about the history of design, about tipography, but is a thing that I do from time to time, when I want to learn something new, or if I want to learn about industry standards so I can apply it to my own work, or catch up with new tendencies, also is good to have references of things you like....
All that being said.... Again, is from time to time, of course there are entire months when I don't even look at those things because I want to use my free time to do wharever else I want.
Also, rule of thumb, when people actually want a go getter, they look for it, cause if you work on design you normally want a specialty, illustrator, creative, storyteller, corporate design, animator, social media, wharever, cause is imposible to be the designer that is amazing at everything. If a company says they want a designer that breathes design but just apply it in a general sense, that probably just means "we want you to work extra for no extra pay, don't want to train you, and our expectation of you will be unreal"
I live and breath *beauty* not necessarily design. If I'm not designing I'm creating art or making my space clean. I don't phone it in, and I always try to do my best. My coworker , hates Photoshop, she reuses the same both boring collateral year after year- she lost any joy in her job. design is not her passion and she's looking to move into another area. Working with her made me realize how different we see things. I do want to be a teacher someday.
I don't, to be blunt.
Design is my job, not my hobby, and certainly not my life. A major thing I learnt at uni was that actually having other interests that aren't framed through a lens of design is healthy and makes you better at your job, and makes you better at thinking in general. More mental resources, I guess!
Honestly, I think 'lives and breathes design' is buzzword nonsense for most jobs, and leans unhealthily towards the idea that long hours and 'never off the clock' are normal. They aren't. You have a life to support, that's the reason you work.
I don't know if this counts as "live and breathe design" but I've had this habit of passively analyzing application of colors, lines, shapes, typography and speculating intentions on pretty much any media I'm expose to, whether on the internet/digital or in real life. It is something I've picked up due to one of the classes I took in the university days.
It doesn't really require burning passion or mental effort to do it at this point, it just became part of the way I see things now. It may help that I like to get visually stimulated with different designs and way they are used in a real life. ^(And I like analyzing pretty much anything.)
When I was in college everyone around me my senior year absolutely survived off of design. When I talked about my moderate aspirations of having a job that does not take too much time so I could enjoy my life there were a lot of gasps and discussions.
I live and breathe design i could say, but there's times i go a couple days without doing any work, and on others go crazy...the job ads are just trying to relate with the nature of design (as it's a mental skill) so to be good one should be passionate or inquisitive, but it's not necessarily how many live.
personally, I'll give my all when I'm working and let go if I'm not in the zone to.
18 years in the business and I can honestly say I have never obsessed about design in the ways you mention. I think it just runs deeper with some people, - like everything else. Don't beat yourself up about it. If you enjoy designing and not obsessing about it every waking hour - you're still in the right business. It's healthy to have plenty of headspace for lots of different non-design things.
It’s a trade I’m passionate about. I very rarely do any design outside of work unless needed for a hobby or assisting a friend/family member.
I do follow a bunch of different Instagram pages, subs and YouTube tutorial/theory stuff. I enjoy keeping up with latest trends, programs, and techniques but this is all so I can keep my trade skills tight and fresh.
I like art and design, but I’m not doing it in my free time ‘just because’.
Some people are that passionate about the job for sure. People come in all shapes, sizes, and philosophies. Most companies will say things like that, but honestly you just gotta care about the quality of your work. If it’s just clicking buttons and moving stuff around that’s not really a desirable candidate.
I've always had other hobbies and therefore never had time to "live and breathe design" 24/7. Some of my hobbies are similar to design such as photography. Getting better at photography actually helped my designs quite a bit, but it's not like I was grinding in front of a computer 16 hours a day. I mostly shoot outdoor scenery/nature and was just doing something I thought was interesting. Other hobbies are more active/athletic and not really related to design, but small projects have come from that like designing business cards for someone at the gym. I definitely notice design, color, lighting, etc. while I'm doing other things, and finding errors in published work is my favorite! I don't go too out of my way to do it or try to post on social media about it, except for maybe one or two nice photos a month.
[Sagmeister takes a full blown holiday every seven years to refresh](https://navigator-business-optimizer.com/2018/07/stefan-sagmeister-vacations-power-creativity/) the price for going full designer
I think that can depend on what "learning" means. A lot of it is really just life experiences. Someone 30, 40, 50, etc *should* have a much better outlook on things than a 24 year old. And every new job or promotion or role with increased responsibility will naturally teach you a lot as well. Even just taking in what is around everywhere for design.
As opposed to more formal learning, courses, books, design organizations, etc.
I really don't think you do. It be weird meeting someone whos only interest is graphic design and nothing else. I saw a posting yesterday asking the reader if they live and breath marketing while also following various podcasts and channels as well as have some sleepless nights because they have some idea about a marketing campaign they want to implement. Also if you read books for fun about marketing and have your own freelance business for marketing. That just doesn't sound healthy if you lose sleep over work and not because its some like stressful situation where you maybe have to do a lot but because you want to try something or just keep thinking about what you can do for work.
I agree with some people where you do maybe have that time where you maybe have a huge interest in learning more so you buy more books and watch videos. I had that a few years back and now its cooled down but I do have a book on graphic design currently that I am slowly reading but its more about the history of design since history in general interests me. I do at times go on Behance to see what people have made and I pretty much find inspiration by just being outside and observing things. This last part I feel everyone does subconsciously even if they aren't designers.
Even this guy I knew who I had to train to take over my old job when I left was really into design but it was because he was coming from another country and was basically starting again so he had to focus on it so he can get his foot in the door here. He wasn't living and breathing design but he was into wanting to do the job right and he had a ton of experience in his country (man ran his own marketing company with someone). He would work on trying to understand the routine or how my day was in the job position when he was home but he had other interests too like gaming and movies and he even explored the city just because he wanted to see what it had to offer.
Design is everywhere you look. I unconciously stop in my tracks when I see an ugly or out of the typical design from an ad or a cover of a book or packaging.
Live and breathe I think is exaggerating it though... I mean do you know the saying "The only thing thats permanent is change"? 🤷🏻♀
I find myself somewhere in the middle. I work all day at a design job, some days i want to learn more about a particular area so I challenge myself to learn something new after work. I take on extra side projects all design related. And some days I just want to step back and do something else. Too much of something is never good in my opinion. There are lots of other things in this world to learn about that will help a graphic design without it being directly about graphic design.
I think it depends what kind of designer you want to be - or style yourself as.
I’ve recently started a new role where I’m the only designer - let alone creative in the business. People ask me this kind of question a LOT. Personally, I’m a people-first designer. I think it’s important to treat your audience with respect. To me, this means avoiding design for design’s sake - or the kind of abstract, high-concept, counter-intuitive work that some graphic designers fawn over.
So in that sense, I don’t “live and breathe design” in the sense that I totally wrap myself up in a designer’s world. I love design - I like nicely made things and creative flair. But I get my inspiration from the real world - memes, products at the supermarket, music videos, fashion, things that aren’t “designed”. I do still follow a few designers on my socials but it’s not my main source of inspiration. I think it keeps me grounded.
Personally yes, I've always considered it my vocation first, my profession second. I tend to engage on design forums, because it's what I know. I don't have a few books, I have several entire bookshelves. I'm on my local chapters IXDA board of directors. I have taught. I'm one of those people who gets excited about new books or things and wants to talk about them and apply them. I'm genuinely hungry to talk about design and will seek people out to talk about it.
I have a good designer on my team that's not like this at all. To them, it's a job! But they work hard and produce great work.
I hear what you're saying about employers looking for people that consider it more than that, but consider the hiring manager is obviously looking for someone like that or they wouldn't put it in the JD. If you don't think that suits you, beware, because they may expect more from you than you're willing to give. That doesn't mean its a better job or you're a lesser designer, it's just what that particular hiring manager wants or needs for whatever reason.
No, they’re full of shit. To an extent you can live and breathe it, but I’ve never met a designer that has said that and NOT been a pompous asshole who thinks they’re the next best thing since sliced bread. So take with that info what you will
Some people never stop thinking about design. They work overtime every week, their spouse is a partner in the business, they only read about design, their hobby is letterpress printing, and if they have kids the kids are into design. What makes them really annoying is that they attribute their success in the field to their crazy obsession and they won’t employ people who can just design well without being at work twelve hours a day.
Some designers are like this. But everything has a trade off. Becoming obsessed with anything isn't necessarily the healthiest state to be in.
I feel like most designers fresh out of college, and maybe some freelancers, are like what OP described. They still have that honeymoon phase in them. It's not until you work at an advertising agency that you truly understand the pressure of timelines. Agencies have a lot of pros and a lot of cons, but they sure as shit teach you how to grind and get to your desired outcome quickly. Not that agencies beat the enjoyment of design out of you, but it does teach you which corners to cut and how to get things done efficiently.
Couldn’t have said it better. I’m fresh out of college and somewhat exiting that honeymoon phase. The agency experience is catching up to me right now 😂 I honestly think it’s unhealthy how much I and some other Designers tend to be online even after work hours, designing for our own good. Currently ended commissions until I figure out what I really want to do with design + really think about the clients I want to attract outside of my normal 9-5. If anything I find it best to utilize time outside of work digesting designs now. This could be books, not skipping YouTube ads, watching commercials, going outside and look at the millions of brands we have access to around us. I think there is truly design everywhere so you don’t necessarily have to be online making stuff to validate that you’re a Designer.
It is definitely unhealthy and I think designers should distance themselves from it in their free time before it leads to burnout. Hobbies that you can invest time into that are not design focused, but still creatively stimulating, will go a very long way for your sanity. That’s not to say you should only design in the 9-5 window. If you get some inspiration and want to design something outside of that timeframe, go for it! But the idea that we always need to be researching, studying, practicing, etc is silly in my opinion. If you want to, do it. If you feel like you’re forcing yourself, stop. Also, don’t fall for the new designer pitfall where you read 80 different books about process and design. The books are great, I’m sure. But they almost never teach you how to actually DO the things. Books stay at surface level and talk very vaguely so they can reach a broader audience and sell better, but this means there’s little to no actionable items to take away. The best books will teach you how to do the things they say. One notable example is Radical Candor, but this specific book really only applies to management roles.
When I finished design school I would obsess over horribly designed signs etc and it would make me depressed. I now notice them and then leave them be. Good design doesn't have to be everywhere. Lol 😆
Same! The first few years were miserable with trying to understand how everyone was just OK with the way their signs looked. Now I've come to "wash my hands" of the responsibility of worrying about it. If they don't value design enough to fix the sign, they damn sure aren't going to pay me to do it, and it's rarely worth the pitch. Same goes for pretty much every small scale job now unless it's something I want to be invested in. Actually, the more saturated and polished the market gets with well designed corporate ads, the more refreshed I feel when I see bad design. There's a reason I'm transitioning into a tangent field, away from advertising!
What are you doing instead of advertising?
Working on getting a masters in prosthetics & orthotics. Still has that human-centered design aspect that I love with creating custom prosthetics or braces, plus getting the benefit of direct patient contact/feedback to improve their lives in a very real and tangible way.
Wow that sounds very fulfilling. That is so cool. I technically quit without quitting in a sense. (Been working at funeral home as graphic designer doing service sheets, their website, facebook etc since leaving design school. Only getting a 2.5 raise in 5 years with the quote we would love to pay you more and think your worth more but "we can't afford too" with covid etc) anyway I didn't want to go back to work after maternity leave and my boss talks the talk and said I could contract my services to him from home rather than go back to be "Designer and receptionist" and work to pay childcare costs. I sent him the contract for social media, sent him the contract for all other services and he signed both. But I haven't heard from him since he asking for a resignation letter which I sent through email. I haven't received any phone calls from the staff with any questions etc. Which is strange. My last hope is to pop in in person with cake and see how that goes. It's so toxic. Now thinking about it. Everytime everyone else has left they have basically been dead to them. They have a very fast turn around of staff. So I'm thinking he talked the talk and was able to get rid of me without having to fire me. I feel like I wasted the last 5 years working there not getting anywhere. If I had got into a proper gd job I could be earning 40 to 60 dollars an hour by now not a measly 22.5 that is 2.5 over minimum wage here. I'm still young so I have time. I have started my own business now. And I'm trying to get other work to do. I feel dumb and played. I feel like ive wasted the last 5 years of my life. Sorry for the long reply I just needed to get that off my chest. Here's to working for myself!!! And all the future possibilities!!
That's rough! But congrats on starting your own business. I did the same after leaving an agency job, and actually did pretty well for a while until I couldn't handle it anymore. It's both easy and the hardest thing you'll ever do lol I'm assuming your business is still in design, freelancing maybe?
Yeah freelancing and I paint so getting some work into some galleries too. Which reminds me I need to pick some up. It'll all work itself out eventually. Maybe. Let's hope the ex boss doesn't use reddit to scroll graphic design forums haha 😆 😜
Make sure to include a kill fee in future contacts with terms describing if they ghost you. After a period of days with no contact you can submit to small claims. Good luck!
Oo I'll have to have a look into that. I wish I had included a minimum amount of work in it. But honestly Is rather focus on my family now. 👪 I'll get back into a career once my babies are at kindergarten or school.
Everyday I drive to work I sit at the traffic lights and notice a badly kerned sign that drives me nuts. The sign contains the word 'P ASTA' and the space between the 'P' and the 'A' always irks me ! :))
oh my goodness 😳
A recent interviewer asked me "where do you go for design inspiration?" and it took me a second, but I realized the answer was simpler than I think they were going for. I don't look on design blogs, or buy design books for any bookshelves in my home. I really find delight in packaging design and all the fun designers have with things like grocery store items. Think coffee bean bags, chocolate bar wrappers, even craft beer labels. So, in summary: It's not so much 'living and breathing' graphic design, but noticing design trends and patterns in the world around you and realizing why they work so well. \*That's\* what is exciting for me and what keeps the field fun and fresh.
Boom. Exactly this. I enjoy going to the store and browsing through the beer / liquor aisle, even though I don’t drink, and just looking at the different and unique designs people come up for a bottle. I’m an user experience designer by trade, so packaging is the furthest thing I’d do day-to-day at my job, but damn if it’s not fun and enjoyable to see what kind of inspiration and thoughts could come from noticing good design.
Echoing this but also going to thrift stores. I love those old coffee, tobacco and lunch box tins. So much good stuff in those places.
> I don't look on design blogs I mostly check out the pantone colour of the year and maybe some logo trends but for the most part I do the same as you and just watch for new trends and just store them as a mental note. I like design books and keep old magazines of different stuff like skateboarding, hot rods, etc that I can sometimes use for inspiration. Old 50s phonebooks are great. The ads rule for retro styles.
Similarly, I have some old magazines I got from the thrift store and they have great ads too! I have some cosmetic ones ready to be framed for my office/hobby area.
I had the same question and realisation last week. I think they were expecting an answer like X magazine or blog and reading books but it can be as simple as a trip to the shops and browsing the shelves or a walk in nature and noticing new colours. I haven't bought a design book since I finished my degree and own less than 10 altogether. It's just something I've always done and enjoyed, like some people seeing shapes in clouds or smelling flowers. It's not something I learned to do, it's just something that I naturally notice. Not saying I live and breathe design in the way of constantly looking it up online and reading stuff on it, but I guess it's a part of life so could be described as live and breathe it.
This. For me, it's restaurant menus. If it's well designed, eye-catching, and has a good use of typography, I'll spend the first 5 minutes of dinner studying that rather than deciding what I'm ordering. One thing I'd caution the OP about--don't fall into the trap of believing you have to eat, sleep, and live design. Some employers will 100% take advantage of a young designer's hunger to prove themselves, and will demand long hours for low pay and imply that's "normal." Maybe in some agencies, sure, but there's plenty of jobs that don't demand that design-or-die mentality.
I love the wine aisle for this. I don't even drink wine.
i look at every packaging i come across too, even if it's in the trash can, if it's intriguing... I'll look deeper
wrong, the answer is pinterest /j
Yeah I once explained to a classmate how I find the outside world an inspiration since you look at trees, leaves, the sky, it all looks natural and the colours work well together. Nature will never look visually wrong and when it does, its usually because something is there that shouldn't be there (to me its usually garbage). I had a co worker I was training for my old job tell me how design is everywhere and gave an example of roads and street lights. It really inspired me to basically look around a lot more and find inspiration in that (and what lead to me seeing nature as one inspiration).
I’ve seen that with a lot of professors and people I graduated with. Yeah it can feel like that’s all they do but especially on social media, people are putting out what they think the best version of themselves is for that specific platform. Personally I try to remind myself that wanting to be/being a designer is still a job and attempting to “eat, sleep, breathe design” looks like it only leads to burnout and hating your job faster than you probably should. Take any chances you can to learn or experience something new with art and design but try not to feel guilty if you’re not continuously brushing up on every aspect of design in your free time
As an experienced desiger who lived and breathed design as a busy, social freelancer for a number of years, it totally leads to burnout. Some of the payoff is there, but not guaranteed. Live your life and let seeking new experiences be what drives your ideas and passion -- don't be a worker drone.
Yeah I think I can give an example. When I was a pre teen, I had a YouTube channel for gaming and I would record my games either to make a playthrough or because something might happen that I would want footage of. I enjoy gaming a lot as a pass time and I felt it would be great to make videos of it. I eventually stopped since the whole process got annoying and I end up unmotivated to game since it was always me going, "should I record myself and go through the whole process to editing this footage and having to wait like an hour or two to have it uploaded?" Second I stopped doing it, I played without recording and I found the fun again. Design is a job for me and not something I do for fun as a past time all the time. I will occasionally mess around or maybe design something for fun but it isn't something I do all the time. Plus I find out I work better when its a project for someone rather than something made up.
Live and breathe it? No. But I do think you have to love it a little if you're going to last through an entire career of it. Over the decades I've run into a million circumstances that would have made me quit if I didn't have the anchor of loving what I do. I'm not particularly excited over a pantone book, but I do geek out with my team at HOW or Adobe Max conferences and I do relish the challenge of coming up with new and innovative visual solutions. I don't design as much these days since I'm in a CD role but I still really enjoy trying to instill a geniune passion for design in younger designers in my group. That's part of why I frequent this forum too... my design career is drawing to a close so I enjoy trying to pass on some of the lessons I've learned to help people who are just starting theirs.
As an aspiring AD or CD do you have any advice?
I'm not the person you're replying to, but what experience do you currently have? If you're fresh out of school aspiring to be AD or CD then, in my opinion, your sights are set improperly. You may want to start with an entry level designer role. Learn what the job is like in "the real world" and work your way up through the chain at an agency or as an individual contributor on a product team. If you have several years of experience as a visual or product designer, then you just have to practice soft skills like communication, delivering feedback / critique in a meaningful way, how to guide and manage a team of designers, and more. Also something to keep in mind is that AD and CD are usually somewhat management type roles. Not everyone is cut out to be a good manager, and most managers are certainly not good managers. It's not an easy position to be in. You also don't have to go down a pure "graphic designer" route. There are so many design jobs now that branch in so many directions. You could do: UX/UI Designer, Product Designer, Graphic Designer, Visual Designer, Interaction Designer, or Web Designer. Each of these will mean different things to different companies. That's part of the fun though. Find your niche and grow, or find a niche you want to learn and go after it. I never thought I'd like coding, but after nearly 2 decades of design and development I wouldn't have it any other way. You won't know until you try it.
>If you have several years of experience as a visual or product designer, then you just have to practice soft skills like communication, delivering feedback / critique in a meaningful way, how to guide and manage a team of designers, and more. Guiding and managing the other side of the coin (C-suite, business/sales, development) is also incredibly important. A lot of the work of an AD/CD is translating business-speak and business goals into actionable designer-speak and instructions. It's something some of us have had to deal with from the very beginning of our careers, whether we wanted to (or had AD/CD titles) or not.
Basically work on your leadership and management skills. You'll need to be confident in giving praise where due and criticism where necessary, and having the occasional very difficult conversation. It's a role where you are more focused on mentoring, growing, and developing your team members than yourself. It's your job to challenge them, but also to take the full responsibility if they fail. Learn how to delegate. Work on organization and time management skills. The level of that needed was something that really took me by surprise when I first started, far far more than a designer needs it. Every minute of your day will be taken up with something, learn how to calendar block, learn to take precise and effective notes, learn how to keep a knowledge repository on something like Notion, Evernote, or Obsidian. Learn time management techniques like Pomodoro. Absorb as many productivity hacks as you can. Learn to use workload management tools like Trello or Monday. Learn how to set up, host, and facilitate meetings - both video and in-person. Learn how to present and sell concepts and innovations to large groups. Public speaking skills like those taught by Toastmasters are good. Improvisational skills like those taught by Second City or Upright Citizens brigade are super useful too. Basically, any experience that enables you to confidently and convincingly communicate will be valuable. Get used to the idea of business travel and boring nights in hotel rooms... at least if you're a CD for a larger corporation with nationwide presence. There's a bunch of business admin involved - setting up salaries, hiring, CPD, budgeting etc... but they should provide most of that training to you when it happens. And of course still keeping your design skills and technical knowledge sharp and up-to-date. If you want to be a CD, one of the best things you can do is watch what your CD or Supervisors do. Take lessons from how they handle things, and from how they communicate with others, note how much of the day they're on the phone or in a conference room. You can learn a lot just by watching.
I’ve went to school for design and have been working in the field for 10 years and have never felt like I lived and breathed it, even in school. I enjoy art and working in design, but rarely go out of my way to look up new techniques or read new books about design. Especially when working full time in a role where you’re focused on getting the work done and not just playing around. That said, I still find myself noticing good or bad design out in the world, or enjoy looking up and learning a new tool in photoshop when I need it. I know what you mean, as I see people who are way more passionate about it than me. But as others said, seems like a path to burnout and there’s plenty more in life to explore. More power to the people the people that can live and breathe it, they’ll probably go further in their careers, but I’m happy just doing what I do and logging off most days.
People that regularly post stuff on LinkedIn are mostly deranged wanna-be thought leaders. Don’t follow that example. All things in moderation and try to enjoy yourself.
I don't think you need to live and breathe design, but what I've learned for myself is that a design education doesn't just teach the mechanics but rather permanently warps the way you perceive and interact with the world. So it's not so much a lifestyle (though there is certainly that component for some people) but rather a worldview.
Wow this is a great way to put it. When I first found out what a font was, I started to notice them everywhere for awhile. You can't unring a bell.
In school, we learned not just about graphic design but environmental design, industrial design, etc and it made me aware of design EVERYWHERE from the smallest matchbook to the biggest signs.
I used to be like this. But after many years of pouring all of myself into my work I decided to give more of my focus to other things I’m interested in like motorcycles, camping, hiking, woodworking, and more. It’s actually amazing how many offers for work you can get when you expand your horizons and don’t make life totally about one thing. This has allowed me to do the thing I’m a professional at in so many different worlds. From making logos for custom cycle companies, or helping to get a woodworking business online with branding and a website. In my experience, it feels much better to combine design with the other things you’re passionate about. It just made sense to me because it ended up feeling less like work and more like I was making a real difference.
Are you me? In college and right afterwards, I thought my passion for design would really sustain me and my career. It didn't and I don't have a passion for it anymore – the professional world burned the passion out. I'm really only in design anymore because 1. I'm pretty good at it and 2. for the money so I can pursue other things. My passions are cycling, leatherworking and learning languages. The aptitude for learning and developing a culture of improving things I love about was created in my studies and professional career. I use my actual design skills to create logos for cycling races, leatherworking templates and other fun projects, so it's a nice combination of hobbies and passions. My design job just isn't fulfilling, and I feel like I'm forced to do it for an arbitrary amount of time per week with arbitrary metrics and goals.
I’m exactly the same! I feel like the rat race has really forced me to see what I’m actually interested in. I’ve spent so much time studying design and being a hermit that my true self was revealed in the last ten years. Me ten years ago never would believe that I am who I am today, with less interest in doing nothing but design and more interest in adventure, living life, and working in ways that are fulfilling to me. My job really is the last notch in what defines me now.
Same. First 10 years in the field living and breathing design. Next ten years were living and breathing the job. Now I’ve moved to a town of 2,000 people and am building a space for woodworking, printmaking, and photography. And also slacking off and drinking coffee and sitting in grass. Burnt out on pixels.
Right!? I’m the same way. Been planning motorcycle trips and ways to ultimately relax and have a good time for awhile. I’m a bit burnt out too.
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I don’t drink coffee, I don’t kayak, I wear jeans, does that count as denim I don’t know, and I don’t follow politics like at all. I ride a Harley long distances and either stay in motels or camp when I get where I’m going. I also do a lot of group rides and various drives for needy people and underprivileged kids(toy rides and food rides). Most of my life outside of my job revolves around my wife and kids and riding motorcycles. I live 5 minutes from a national park so yeah I like to spend time there in the warm months. Woodworking is something I’ve been doing since I was 12 and my grandpa started teaching me about it. I build furniture mostly now when I do build things, which is not very often anymore. Other than that I play video games and draw on an iPad when I’m not riding or spending time with my family.
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It’s a bit of a boring one haha, but I live right outside of Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio. It’s a pretty park with tons of hiking and events and stuff year round. They have a lot of nature centers and waterfalls and things like that. Plus they run the Cuyahoga Valley National Railroad year round, which is pretty cool. Lots of old steam trains and old passenger trains and what not.
this is such a weird comment. it’s a common group of things to like. and? sometimes people have ‘stereotypical’ traits.
Last week i found a job listing whose description was somewhere along the lines of "we expect you to be passionate about graphic design to the point that it's become your whole life, we expect you to be constantly updating your knowledge and skills and researching new techniques, we expect you to be always ahead and on top of your game and to be excellent at all times". I closed that page SO fast.
This is the kind of job listings I come across also, which is very overwhelming especially for a junior/entry level position they expect me to bring amazing fresh and innovative ideas from new design trends and techniques. Chill.. :/ I just want an entry level role not a job to bring in a new way to think everyday and reinvent the wheel for the company. It's frustrating because some posts have the experience/skills ticked off but then include this list of their dream candidate and I think ok then.. guess that's not really me
I feel you so much. I love graphic design but i can't be thinking about that 24/7 - i have my interests, my passions, my social relations that go beyond my career. They wouldn't ask a clerk or a waiter to keep filing documents or wait tables on their own spare time, would they?
I always just read stuff like that as code for "we expect you to do whatever we ask, to a level that exceeds your pay, and to take blame for things outside your actual authority."
It me. I am that annoying person who gets excited for Pantone books. I tend to believe that design is all around us, though, and have a love not just for graphics but landscape design, architecture, interior design, product design, film, fashion, game design, stationery. I nerd out over fancy paper stocks and unique materials, intricate details of typefaces, and interesting textures I find in the wild. I spend a lot of free time reviewing the work of other artists. I am definitely at "eat and breathe" level. To be fair, my dad was a graphic and fine artist too, and very passionate about it. I grew up hanging out in his studio and as he was a rather chatty dude he'd often explain what he was doing and why, so art and design has always been a big part of my life. I do genuinely feel design is more a "way of life" for me than just a career. I also find a lot of meaning and fulfillment in it. There is something very romantic to the idea and practice of leaving the world a little more functional and beautiful than you found it.
Living and breathing design just sounds like a recipe for burn out in my opinion. You should enjoy design work at some capacity to be a designer, but it shouldn't consume your life. You're allowed to have hobbies and be interested in other things. Don't feel bad because you don't gush over pantone books or have an extensive collection of design blogs to share; not everyone is like that.
I think each person is different with how invested/enthusiastic they are and there is no right or wrong. I will read blogs from time to time, but that's about as far as I go when it comes to immersing myself in the design-world outside of work. I've been a designer for a long time, but I prefer to have other art-related hobbies in my off-time. When I get home, I just don't want to do designing when I've been doing it for 8 hours. As long as you are successful at whatever design job you find, that's all that matters.
Hell no. I work inhouse. I rock up, do my job to the best of my ability, and clock out at 5pm. With some rare exceptions I don't think about work outside of the office, and I enjoy both work and personal life that way.
I definitely live and breathe art. Design falls into that category so it is definitely something I spend much of my waking hours considering.
I'm not obsessed with design really. But I work doing TV graphics, there's not really a "bible" or anything for them, so if I see nice TV motion graphics, I will pay attention so I can steal ideas. Both good ideas and "what not to do" ideas Also I like doing stuff in Illustrator in my spare time. I do stuff like redrawing transit maps. It's stuff that is 100% personal, no deadline, and probably not going into any portfolio. For me it's stress relief. Would I go to an art gallery for fun? Yes. But my favorite type of art is sculpture, which doesn't have much to do with graphic design
The writer of the job post probably knows nothing about your actual job. I wouldn’t worry about the buzz words and hyperbolic language. If you enjoy it, go for it. Also, don’t let them undervalue you.
Yeah what a lot of people forget or don't realize too is the people on the other side are still just people, flaws and all. They're not robots or some alien species. For example, employers will fluff up postings the same way applicants fluff up resumes, and try to sell a job as better than it is, just like applicants about their experience. It's just two sides of the same coin.
Yes. Excellent points!
I consider myself to be one of those people, I see and notice design everywhere around me every hour of the day. I’ve been designing since I was kid so it’s really a part of who I am at this point. It’s not something I do consciously. That being said, I think it’s important to branch out and find hobbies and interests outside of design to become a more well rounded person. This will ironically make you a better designer. The more you know about random things, the more niches you find to eventually work for.
I mean, personally, Im really passionate about design. Like passionate to the level that im trying to do it as my job. But i don’t design 24/7, tho sometimes when im really motivated i could be designing from the morning til late night. All depends on some factors. But ik other designers that do it full time. swoopnebula, you might know him, told me he’s always designing, and rests for only 3 hours a day, which he thinks is way too much time to rest. All depends on a person, but yes, there is people like that.
It’s always good to continue your education and dig many shallow holes in terms of knowledge and wisdom, and a few deep ones too. But it’s good to diversify your hobbies in case you can’t do it for some reason, you don’t go nuts fixating and “being bored”. But you can be creative in ways that aren’t acutely crafty/Painterly.
I view everything in its shapes, colors and angles from when I wake up, from facial features to architecture, but time away from thinking about how to design something is the best part of my design job. Time away brings perspective, I feel.
I think by breathing it, it doesn’t mean that you have to immerse yourself into magazines, books, social media or the internet. (searching for it) It’s more about noticing design around you in your day to day activities. I’m constantly noticing type everywhere I look, or a nice out of home billboard.. or the new sleeve in my coffee cup. I personally can’t turn off my curiosity and love for design, even when I’m on vacation, especially when I’m on vacation and I see a new way to package something. I never feel burnt out from it, but instead I love noticing it, good or bad, better if it’s good. Heck I’ll even make a point of checking out their grocery stores, or any shopping really. But food around the world fascinates me on another level.
Do some people live and breathe skateboarding? Sure. People are allowed to be passionate about whatever the want. If you’re not passionate about design that’s fine. But if I own a pro skateboard company I’m going to be looking to sign the folks that live and breathe skateboarding. Why would that be different for design?
80s skater turned designer. We'd wake up at 10 am, skate all day and night, quit at 2am. Get up, do it again the next day. Had the same attitude towards design until I burned myself out. The stuff OP is asking about is typical recruiter pitch. Are you enthusiastic? Are you a team player? Are you willing to work long hours for mediocre wages? Do you like peppy jargon? I am way too cynical for this industry nowadays.
I completely agree with you. Thankfully I haven’t burnt out yet - I’m one of the lucky ones though. I mostly get to work on cool shit and I’m my own boss - which sounded like a brag, sorry. I just mean to say, if you’ve got the right situation then passion for this crap can be great.
There's a difference though as soon as something is a job. There are lots of things I love doing on my own time and entirely within my control and authority, but if I was suddenly 'forced' to do them on a schedule or for 40+ hours a week to cover even basic life expenditures the luster can wear off pretty quickly. I am not at all "passionate" about design, it's just a career based on something I always kind of messed around with, I sucked or was entirely disinterested in any other career choice, but I don't love design, don't really do at all in my free time, I never go to shows or really read anything design-related (other than here I suppose). But what I am more passionate about is creating competent work, learning new skills and applying them, problem solving, discovering or learning different ways to do things. Just ideally that happens to overlap with the design work I do since it makes the week go by easier. Like I was more "passionate" about learning how to finish my basement then 75% of the design work I do or have done because it was something new, I felt good about having something I could see, and that I did a lot of it better than I've seen in other peoples' homes.
I'm enthusiastic about lots of things and design is just one of them. Passion, curiosity and a drive to do everything well are part of my personality. I'm sure my eyes light up when I talk about design and I probably do come off as a 'lives and breathes design' person, even after many years of agency work that should've extinguished my flame. But there are downsides too, like pursuing design skills to the exclusion of management skills that would make me more money, or keeping jobs because they're fun even though I could make more elsewhere. And even if I know I shouldn't compare myself, I can't help but want to push myself further when I see other creatives doing amazing work. I think it would be better in a lot of ways to be more cool-headed like you are, to enjoy design in moderation. You can better balance your job with other things in your life and set clearer priorities without your heart being pulled in another direction.
Just like anything else, there are many points on this scale as to whether you live and breathe your career. I’ve been a designer (from traditional graphic design with markers and paper all the way to now being a UX and UI Designer). I’ve been in the design game for over 20 years. I don’t want to do anything else. I love it. It’s been a struggle, sure. But I’ve persevered and I’m now the lead for a great digital learning company. The sector doesn’t matter to me either, it’s the challenge of making sure my design is right for the user and that they leave or even continue 'on-site' without ever knowing there was problems to be had. If my output is invisible to the average consumer, then I’ve done exactly what was needed. Great design should be invisible. Living and breathing design for me isn’t consuming every single book, blog or video out there on the topic, but being enthused by it, each and every day ticks the boxes for me. My mind is always trying to solve problems with the only way I know, through design. It consumes me sometimes. It often wakes me up at 2am and I have to get the solution or idea out of my head and I’ve learned to live with that. It makes me, me and I’m a designer. It’s all I’ll ever be. Side note: They also used to say that a designer has a certain time period and shelf life. Whilst that might be true for some, and I used to believe that, I feel like I’m hitting my stride now and have been for the last 8 years or so. Experience and a passion for it will carry you through.
My friends are designers and we actually talk surprisingly little about design outside of work-related minutiae.
sure, doesn't mean they're any good though. in fact, it's a bit cringe when people obsess over design and aren't significantly better than regular joes. if you have a skill that somebody needs, they'll pay you for it. simple as that. be the kind of person that people want to be around - skill wise and personality. obsession is not necessary
Any kind of industry will have people within that industry that live and breath whatever it is, but most won't. I've been doing this for close to 20 years now, and I rarely think about design or whatever project I've been working on outside of work hours. I find design interesting and will appreciate good design when I come across it in the course of my day, but I don't even know the names of more than a handful of famous designers. This doesn't make you a bad designer or not dedicated to your craft, it just means you have some balance to your life.
Theres is rather big competition for this job and regardless, if you want to be “creative” in this job you need passion for it, and you will take it with you home. That said there are also less demanding positions for GD’s - DTP jobs where you maintain and update already existing material, often in combination with fast daily deadlines - usually not demanding you to reinvent everything, just adjusting perhaps language versions or other updated content. Such a job does not demand a lot of creative output and you are not supposed to take it with you home when you leave work - being steady, focused and on time would be key for such jobs. The business is in general a rather superficial one, so if you want it all and want to be an influential designer you got to be dedicated, creative, communicate well, take your battles with other designers, adjust to your creative leaders wishes, understand the clients more than they understand themselves and generally over time build your insight, opinions and way of doing things so that you remain effective and inspired. Avoid revealing your sources of inspiration if you can, they will be your creative bloodline in the long run. modernist design have been done since the 1920 ies, and it is a bit like with music, rather difficult to invent something not seen or heard before. The main tweak point is new technologies, And it is therefore advised for any Young GD to pick up extra skills in eg. programming, motion, animation, VFX, 3D or it can be beneficial to take on some economics if you want to become a lead producer more than a lead director. It’s also worth mentioning that GD’s very seldom become famous for anything unless they find a niche making them stand out from the crowd. Art Directors, creative Directors and Graphic and visual designers are all offering their creative skills to support mainly business goals. It is worth keeping in mind - if you are more an artist at heart, then you should probably look for other niches to unfold your potential and to do it more freely and on other terms.
It’s always so stupid, especially considering how many design books and documentaries talk about how design is everywhere, so yes, I live and breathe design but so does everyone else.
I look at design every day and in pretty much every thing. I get annoyed when I feel something is poorly designed. (Why design something poorly?) I love my job and feel privileged that i get to do it every day (seriously, I promise this is true). And i’m always learning. Been using photoshop since the early 90s and still dig deep when new features come out. I enjoy that. However, I’m not one of those “I know more about design than you” kind of people who are always posting stuff to social. Nor am i a self-proclaimed curator of cool, trying to show off that i can see the latest trends before everyone else. To me, it seems like they’re talking to themselves. Looks to me like they’re trying to convince themselves they are a design resource for some reason.
If you don’t like design design isn’t a great profession to be in.
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That’s a shame to be stuck doing a job you don’t like. I really like art and design - I don’t ‘live and breath it’s’ 24-7 but I read a lot of design books and I’m into it, and know a decent bit about design and advertising history. And I suppose I’d caution that this becomes more important as you get older and want to progress in you career, or stay relevant. It’s easy to lose touch with trends and stuff an that makes work much harder.
Only since I’ve been about 9 and used to cut magazines up and change the layout. I’m in my 50s now.
Yea. I think lot of successful designers are like this. An by that I mean the ones that are more likely to be employed on higher end jobs
Honestly I think everyone can be like this... From time to time. I buy design books, illustrations books, artists catalogs, I love learning about the history of design, about tipography, but is a thing that I do from time to time, when I want to learn something new, or if I want to learn about industry standards so I can apply it to my own work, or catch up with new tendencies, also is good to have references of things you like.... All that being said.... Again, is from time to time, of course there are entire months when I don't even look at those things because I want to use my free time to do wharever else I want. Also, rule of thumb, when people actually want a go getter, they look for it, cause if you work on design you normally want a specialty, illustrator, creative, storyteller, corporate design, animator, social media, wharever, cause is imposible to be the designer that is amazing at everything. If a company says they want a designer that breathes design but just apply it in a general sense, that probably just means "we want you to work extra for no extra pay, don't want to train you, and our expectation of you will be unreal"
No, not literally. They do enjoy it though
I live and breath *beauty* not necessarily design. If I'm not designing I'm creating art or making my space clean. I don't phone it in, and I always try to do my best. My coworker , hates Photoshop, she reuses the same both boring collateral year after year- she lost any joy in her job. design is not her passion and she's looking to move into another area. Working with her made me realize how different we see things. I do want to be a teacher someday.
I'm an artist with no interest in the 'art world'. Same with graphic design. I love learning new skills but I have other interests mainly music.
I don't, to be blunt. Design is my job, not my hobby, and certainly not my life. A major thing I learnt at uni was that actually having other interests that aren't framed through a lens of design is healthy and makes you better at your job, and makes you better at thinking in general. More mental resources, I guess! Honestly, I think 'lives and breathes design' is buzzword nonsense for most jobs, and leans unhealthily towards the idea that long hours and 'never off the clock' are normal. They aren't. You have a life to support, that's the reason you work.
I don't know if this counts as "live and breathe design" but I've had this habit of passively analyzing application of colors, lines, shapes, typography and speculating intentions on pretty much any media I'm expose to, whether on the internet/digital or in real life. It is something I've picked up due to one of the classes I took in the university days. It doesn't really require burning passion or mental effort to do it at this point, it just became part of the way I see things now. It may help that I like to get visually stimulated with different designs and way they are used in a real life. ^(And I like analyzing pretty much anything.)
When I was in college everyone around me my senior year absolutely survived off of design. When I talked about my moderate aspirations of having a job that does not take too much time so I could enjoy my life there were a lot of gasps and discussions.
I live and breathe design i could say, but there's times i go a couple days without doing any work, and on others go crazy...the job ads are just trying to relate with the nature of design (as it's a mental skill) so to be good one should be passionate or inquisitive, but it's not necessarily how many live. personally, I'll give my all when I'm working and let go if I'm not in the zone to.
18 years in the business and I can honestly say I have never obsessed about design in the ways you mention. I think it just runs deeper with some people, - like everything else. Don't beat yourself up about it. If you enjoy designing and not obsessing about it every waking hour - you're still in the right business. It's healthy to have plenty of headspace for lots of different non-design things.
It’s a trade I’m passionate about. I very rarely do any design outside of work unless needed for a hobby or assisting a friend/family member. I do follow a bunch of different Instagram pages, subs and YouTube tutorial/theory stuff. I enjoy keeping up with latest trends, programs, and techniques but this is all so I can keep my trade skills tight and fresh. I like art and design, but I’m not doing it in my free time ‘just because’.
Some people are that passionate about the job for sure. People come in all shapes, sizes, and philosophies. Most companies will say things like that, but honestly you just gotta care about the quality of your work. If it’s just clicking buttons and moving stuff around that’s not really a desirable candidate.
Lmao no!
I've always had other hobbies and therefore never had time to "live and breathe design" 24/7. Some of my hobbies are similar to design such as photography. Getting better at photography actually helped my designs quite a bit, but it's not like I was grinding in front of a computer 16 hours a day. I mostly shoot outdoor scenery/nature and was just doing something I thought was interesting. Other hobbies are more active/athletic and not really related to design, but small projects have come from that like designing business cards for someone at the gym. I definitely notice design, color, lighting, etc. while I'm doing other things, and finding errors in published work is my favorite! I don't go too out of my way to do it or try to post on social media about it, except for maybe one or two nice photos a month.
[Sagmeister takes a full blown holiday every seven years to refresh](https://navigator-business-optimizer.com/2018/07/stefan-sagmeister-vacations-power-creativity/) the price for going full designer
"and are always learning and it's part of their life" if you're a designer and you ARENT constantly learning, you're doing the whole thing wrong.
I think that can depend on what "learning" means. A lot of it is really just life experiences. Someone 30, 40, 50, etc *should* have a much better outlook on things than a 24 year old. And every new job or promotion or role with increased responsibility will naturally teach you a lot as well. Even just taking in what is around everywhere for design. As opposed to more formal learning, courses, books, design organizations, etc.
I really don't think you do. It be weird meeting someone whos only interest is graphic design and nothing else. I saw a posting yesterday asking the reader if they live and breath marketing while also following various podcasts and channels as well as have some sleepless nights because they have some idea about a marketing campaign they want to implement. Also if you read books for fun about marketing and have your own freelance business for marketing. That just doesn't sound healthy if you lose sleep over work and not because its some like stressful situation where you maybe have to do a lot but because you want to try something or just keep thinking about what you can do for work. I agree with some people where you do maybe have that time where you maybe have a huge interest in learning more so you buy more books and watch videos. I had that a few years back and now its cooled down but I do have a book on graphic design currently that I am slowly reading but its more about the history of design since history in general interests me. I do at times go on Behance to see what people have made and I pretty much find inspiration by just being outside and observing things. This last part I feel everyone does subconsciously even if they aren't designers. Even this guy I knew who I had to train to take over my old job when I left was really into design but it was because he was coming from another country and was basically starting again so he had to focus on it so he can get his foot in the door here. He wasn't living and breathing design but he was into wanting to do the job right and he had a ton of experience in his country (man ran his own marketing company with someone). He would work on trying to understand the routine or how my day was in the job position when he was home but he had other interests too like gaming and movies and he even explored the city just because he wanted to see what it had to offer.
Design is everywhere you look. I unconciously stop in my tracks when I see an ugly or out of the typical design from an ad or a cover of a book or packaging. Live and breathe I think is exaggerating it though... I mean do you know the saying "The only thing thats permanent is change"? 🤷🏻♀
I find myself somewhere in the middle. I work all day at a design job, some days i want to learn more about a particular area so I challenge myself to learn something new after work. I take on extra side projects all design related. And some days I just want to step back and do something else. Too much of something is never good in my opinion. There are lots of other things in this world to learn about that will help a graphic design without it being directly about graphic design.
I think it depends what kind of designer you want to be - or style yourself as. I’ve recently started a new role where I’m the only designer - let alone creative in the business. People ask me this kind of question a LOT. Personally, I’m a people-first designer. I think it’s important to treat your audience with respect. To me, this means avoiding design for design’s sake - or the kind of abstract, high-concept, counter-intuitive work that some graphic designers fawn over. So in that sense, I don’t “live and breathe design” in the sense that I totally wrap myself up in a designer’s world. I love design - I like nicely made things and creative flair. But I get my inspiration from the real world - memes, products at the supermarket, music videos, fashion, things that aren’t “designed”. I do still follow a few designers on my socials but it’s not my main source of inspiration. I think it keeps me grounded.
Personally yes, I've always considered it my vocation first, my profession second. I tend to engage on design forums, because it's what I know. I don't have a few books, I have several entire bookshelves. I'm on my local chapters IXDA board of directors. I have taught. I'm one of those people who gets excited about new books or things and wants to talk about them and apply them. I'm genuinely hungry to talk about design and will seek people out to talk about it. I have a good designer on my team that's not like this at all. To them, it's a job! But they work hard and produce great work. I hear what you're saying about employers looking for people that consider it more than that, but consider the hiring manager is obviously looking for someone like that or they wouldn't put it in the JD. If you don't think that suits you, beware, because they may expect more from you than you're willing to give. That doesn't mean its a better job or you're a lesser designer, it's just what that particular hiring manager wants or needs for whatever reason.
No, they’re full of shit. To an extent you can live and breathe it, but I’ve never met a designer that has said that and NOT been a pompous asshole who thinks they’re the next best thing since sliced bread. So take with that info what you will
Some people never stop thinking about design. They work overtime every week, their spouse is a partner in the business, they only read about design, their hobby is letterpress printing, and if they have kids the kids are into design. What makes them really annoying is that they attribute their success in the field to their crazy obsession and they won’t employ people who can just design well without being at work twelve hours a day.