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It really depends on the budget and the project OR who is asking (ie good client).

I don't think that workload is unreasonable, I wouldn't think that you would have to work through lunch to do it either, if you have the ad copy supplied to you. Once you have the layout for one set, resizing isn't that big of a deal. I would start with the "medium" size as it will be less of a jump for a larger/or smaller size.

For web ads that require a static version and animated version, you can export individual frames (like the last one) from Flash. If you need to work in PS start their then open the psd in flash with layers intact.

I come in and work until I've worked 8 hours. Then I go home. Some days I work on two projects, sometimes I work on 15-20 projects. I rarely stay late, but I am salaried, so it's always a possibility.

I'm similar to garricks - some days I get to work all day on one project and really get it right. Other days I have 20 things that have to be done and I do my best. I be sure to tell my clients that a quick turn around always comes with a price, or say here, this is what I could do in the time you gave me.

I guess you develop a pace you are comfortable with (as fast as you can go without blatant errors or losing your job for poor design) and do as much as you can.

Are you talking about freelance work or in-house work? That could make a difference.

I don't work in Flash but from what I remember, it was a lot more labour intensive than say a single sided printed.

Sometimes in this business you'll get overloaded. You need to know how you're going to deal with it. Whether it's staying late and working overtime or saying no to a few projects, or pushing back deadlines and dealing only with urgent jobs on any given day.

We go through thin days and thick days here. Some days we'll have nothing to do and have to stuff envelopes for our wage. Other days we have to work late.

You'll know what is achievable with experience. In my freelance work, I try not to have more than 3 projects at any given time.1 or 2 is nice, 3 gets stressful. I get sad if I have nothing on though, although it gives me a chance to work on my portfolio etc.

Depends on your type of environment, sometimes the client or your employer understands time consumption, however majority believe that THEY are the only clients and you have no other work and YOU HAVE to do it by evening and design is just color and text and clip-art Google.

I thrice times, made very professional vector logos, i altered it about a dozen times, so many ideas mocked up, sketched, color comparisons, took a week for each logo, but the client said you took to long and paid me a day wage!!!

Also when i went for my interview at a local 'design agency' i showcased my logos that i was really proud of, the employer asks me how long it took you, i said a week, he said 'pffft, too long'. Also this so called agency never ever used the software Illustrator and basically have been open for half a decade in the industry.

And now i have left the design field because were i live everyone's nephews best friends uncles daughters sons got a copy of miraculous Photoshop and Google.

I was just recently even contested by a plumber saying his subject is hundred times harder then Graphic Design.

Sounds like you didn't work out a quote/budget ahead of time...

Plumbing and graphic design have a lot in common, there's a lot about the flow of sh!t and where it goes

I don't think the workload sounds like too much either. Though speed also comes with time. You figure out what processes are taking you the longest and find a way to cut them down - shortcuts, quick keys, and even keeping your files organized will all help you finish the job quicker. No matter how hard you try, you're only going to be able to finish one thing at a time, so don't get flustered. Also, don't burn yourself out, take your lunch even if it's short, but take it!

Oh, I realize I wasn't as detailed as I could be in my rant and didn't include some details. I'm an in house designer, salaried non-exempt, so there is overtime.

Here's an example of a big project that I had to do today.
A leaderboard, (long skinny ad), banner ad (smaller ad) rectangle (box ad) and skyscraper (tall and slim)for a car dealership. They wanted three different cars (with different specials each), and another set of mobile ads for another car, for a total of 15 bits of creative. That actually wasn't that bad seeing as I have a pretty good system and can knock the lot of them out in a couple hours.

That is in addition to another similar group of ads (with two different cars instead, but the same different sizes of ads), two more leaderboards, and rectangle ad (in Flash), a sliding billboard (think about the width of a webpage and 300 px high, in flash), and three sets of revisions of ads I did yesterday.

And this was a little more than an average day.

Yesterday I spent over 6 hours on a 24 page newsletter/magazine.

The rest of my 8 hour day was spent working on a 8 page newsletter, a poster with intricate illustrator/photoshop work, a medical report cover, a bottle label, a garage price list, as well as laying jobs up for plate, pre-press stuff and scanning a few documents that my coworkers needed. Yesterday was a busy day.

Now that's crazy. But my thing is, do they really expect us to put in quality work when we have so much to do and with ridiculous deadlines?

I agree, it's not my best work. Start of the month is always busy for us and November and December are our crazy months. As I said, you just have to prioritise. My regular clients know I'm not just slow and that I'm genuinely busy and if there are any jobs I'm not going to get today, I'll let the client know.

I think what really gets me is my ridiculous deadlines. My clients know we have a two day turnaround time, but why do I get emails Wednesday morning at 9 am asking for the status of a job they put in on Monday at 6 pm?

Argh.

The other day I had a client ask for something within 10 minutes from their email. They sent their email after hours. I sometimes wonder if clients think that I live at work.