OH BOY!
So you have read the intriguing title, you have seen the click-baity thumbnail, and now
you are expecting a 10 minute rant on why being a graphic designer sucks!
Is this what I’m planning to give you?
NO.
I mean Yes.
Well, Kind of.
I’m getting ahead of myself.
Let me start by saying this – Designers, Artists, creative professionals of ANY kind,
are the luckiest people in the world.
I feel like I can’t stress enough what a privileged situation it is to be able make
a living doing something you love, something you’re good at and passionate about.
All That being said – Looking at our YouTube analytics I know, that most of you guys who
are watching are quite young, and while I don’t want to put out negative stuff on
the internet, I also think I would do you a disservice if I acted like being a professional
creative was all sunshine, rainbows and lollypops all the time.
So here’s what we gonna do: Im gonna give you 6 things, 6 little warnings, pointers
you should be aware of if you want to turn your skills into a creative career.
In a babystep-like manner, we start with little annoyances, and as the video progresses, we
open up the conversation onto some deeper issues.
So buckle up girls and boys, cause this might get a little bumpy!
Hey Guys!
Welcome to our channel, the No 1 place for people who THINK they love Design, Art and
everything Creative!
You are watching Dantier and Balogh’s channel, my name is Laszlo and, in this video, I’ll
do my best not to scare you away from creative careers, but at the same, give you 6 things
which design school doesn’t teach you…
JUMPING S IN: Warning number 1 – Some clients have bad
taste.
Here’s the deal: most clients don’t give a damn about the artistly, and the craft of
design, they just wanna see results.
They are there to make money, right.
So don’t be surprised if they don’t go for the craziest, most out of the box ideas
you are presenting to them.
The thing is, while you are studying art and design, at college, university, wherever you
may be, you are being surrounded by likeminded people.
Your teachers ,and your classmates click with your ways of thinking right away, whenever
you present your work and ideas to them , as obviously they are there for the same reason,
you are -for the love and passion for the craft.
And While crazy creative ideas are encouraged at school, People in the real world oftentimes
don’t share the same vision as you, as they just wanna play it safe – so design wise,
if let’s say you are presenting a logo to someone, chances are they are going to go
with the cheapest, clearest, safest option.
NOT the most attractive one.
Hard Pill to swallow as a designer number 2 – Unglamorous jobs
Now this is a problem that goes way beyond design school, and personally I blame social
media for this.
Just like being projected to unachievable beauty standards, and lifestyles on social
media, certain Instagram posts are also trying to convince you that graphic design is this
glamorous job, where all you do is Rebrand the logos of and work with the coolest brands
on earth, like, Apple, Netflix or Amazon…
And don’t get me wrong, I don’t wanna be a hypocrite, I DO have an old video in
this channel, where I have redesigned the Ferrari logo, because things like that are
FUN to do, and they make great content – at the same time I need you to understand that
that’s not REAl graphic design.
Design is about problem solving, and lets face it, these big brands don’t have problems,
so don’t expect them to buy into your supercool logo ideas.
You might think that making fliers or business cards for your uncle’s plumbing business
is somehow below you, - im here to tell you you it’s not.
Graphic design is taking care of these ‘little’ jobs 99 percent of the time.
Especially in the beginning of your career…
Warning number 3 – you are expected to know EVERYTHING about design
This is growing out to be a bigger problem reaching other industries as well as design..
Have you ever seen one of those job postings where an employer is looking for an entry
level designer, who can also CODE, has at least 4 years’ experience in video editing,
proficient in photoshop, illustrator, Sketch, Cinema4D, Copywriting, , oh and if you spoke
German, or Japanese, that would be a ‘Desirable skill’ too?
Some employers are expecting you to do 3 or four persons jobs these days which is just
insane – talk about design being competitive…
Not gonna lie to you the very reason I have learnt how to do video editing a couple years
back was nothing more than PEER-PRESSURE.
Every job I looked at as a designer just wasn’t satisfied with photoshop, illustrator and
InDesign knowledge any more, so I needed to branch out.
And of course, worst of all - you are expected to do all this training, and learning new
software in your ‘Down time’.
Remember having down-time?
I don’t.
Problem number 4 – Freelance duties besides design work
This topic could be a video on it’s own, so I don’t wanna get too deep into it here
– but yeah, if you don’t wanna work in-house as a designer, and you rather go freelance,
THIS comes with a level of freedom and advantages, but as the same time you need to know SO -SO
much more than how to design.
As a freelancer, You are your own agent, accountant, web developer, secretary.
You need to know about the marketing and business side of design basically, which is unfortunate,
since im guessing you got into this creative life exactly because you aren’t the kind
of person who enjoys organizing important documents and filling in spreadsheets.
Ironic, to say the least.
Problem number 5 – the inability to unplug This is a personal one but I think lots of
you can relate - I am self-admittedly a bit of a work-aholic and I feel like no one has
warned me when I was younger, that if I choose this life, if i turn my passion into a career,
the enjoyment, that initially came with doing creative stuff will burn out to an extent,
and it will become such a vital part of my personality, that I wouldn’t even know who
I am anymore if I stopped working.
I have a genuine problem forcing my brain to stop working on visual problems, to such
an extend that sometimes I feel like I am not as present as I should be in my personal
life.
I would be driving to a shop and all I can think about is my next video – I watch a
movie, and I look at the colour schemes I could use for the logo I am designing.
It takes conscious effort to relax, which is quite surreal to an extent.
And warning number 6, maybe the biggest one of them all, GUILT
No matter how hard you work, how many hours you put in to your creative career, a little
voice inside your head will always say that you are not doing enough.
don’t have enough money?
-It’s because you don’t do enough client work.
Not happy with your portfolio?
Should spend more time doing personal projects.
Don’t have hundreds of thousands of followers?
Man, its because you don’t post enough.
This artificial guilt you feel as a creator when you don’t get instant success and results
for your efforts is a sure way of burning yourself out.
And that stupid little voice inside your head is always there no matter how many years you
are into this journey.
And in a way it is good, that you keep pushing yourself, but you need to be balancing it
out and make sure you are not working just for the sake of working.
Guilt can manifest itself in other ways as well –imposter syndrome is a good one–
since all of this is subjective work, you always second guess yourself if you are designing
the ‘right way or not’ (There is no right or wrong way btw.)
There is another thing that I personally feel guilty about, and I wasn’t sure if I should
include it in this video, because well for one it is VERY personal, and two,this piece
of info might not age well, but you know what, here we go:
Today, as of April, 2021, we are still very much in a global health crisis, and while
there are lots of people doing very important work to help the situation, as a designer
I feel like Im not doing enough of that.
Don’t get me wrong; if you happen to be designing text book graphics for school kids,
or motion graphics showing medical data in clear, easy to understand ways, THAT is VERY
important.
These are all little reminders at least for myself, that what we do, might not seem vital
at first glance, and in some instances, lets face it, it isn’t – at the core of it
graphic design is all about breaking down complex information into attractive, understandable
pieces.
– Sometimes you go through a really bad day
in the life as a graphic designer, by facing some of these factors in my list, but please
never forget, that: It is all about communication, which is a
KEY element of helping not just the current situation, but humankind in general - so we
should NOT feel guilty about doing this for a living.
Even if you have a really bad day in the life of a graphic designer
Guys I really hope I didn’t scar you for life with this video, if you enjoyed it, please
feed the algorithm by leaving a like and a comment -
And While you are here, join our design tribe so you don’t miss out on the upcoming content.
We aim to give you Two videos every week about art, graphic design, interiors, architecture,
illustration, and everything in between!
Take care guys, and I’ll see you this time next week!
Bye!