I think the design world (most specifically the clientele) have succeeded in giving me such a headache that I’m done with it. I quit my job back in January and so far am gleefully not looking back. I’m glad to have learned and tried but the pressure and competition is not for me. I respectfully commend all of you that have been doing this years and years and are still plugging along today. I’m glad this forum exists to help others and provide a reprieve for the pros.
If anyone’s curious I’m now working as a Gardener & Groundskeeper for an Inn & Spa. I’m appreciating the change in pace and quiet from nagging clients.
If you’ll have me, I’ll keep my GDF account open and check in once in a while .
I have to admit I’m tired of clients. At the agencies where I’ve worked, clients were usually kept at arm’s length and could be managed and guided a little better. Besides, most of them were more sophisticated about how the process worked and a bit more appreciative of what went into it.
Freelancing, though, is different. Everything is a handyman (or woman) project where clients have usually decided more or less what they want. There’s no strategy, little research, no synergy with other things they’ve done — it’s often just a matter of, “I need a poster, and it needs to be this size and contain all this text that I’ve already decided I want on it. And, oh yeah, send it to me in JPEG format.”
I’m exaggerating a little, but not much. One of these days, I’ll decide it’s time to retire and only do what I choose to do.
Working as a gardener sounds fun, though, and not nearly as stressful. Good luck with it! And absolutely, yes, you’re always welcome here.
Maybe things would be different if I had worked for a competent agency instead of my zoo of a place but I get the sense that it wouldn’t matter much. Clients used to be more respectful. Maybe not patient lol but that they understood this was a skilled position. Now clients criticize you for not using Canva or something dumb. Respect and gratitude is too rare now for me.
Hopefully my story doesn’t discourage anyone from pursuing Graphic Design if that’s what they enjoy learning but on the flip side I hope it deters those who think all they need to do is learn a design software.
I firmly believe that we self-identify with our professions too much… so much of it is simply controlled by random factors. I used to paint but my creative impulses are swallowed by design work. In the end our jobs are supposed to make our lives better. I hope your new direction does that. Cheers, and yeah please stick around. Landscaping design is still design.
Sorry to see you go from Design. The Graphic Design world is the less for it. I understand Burn Out. I faced it many times over my 50+ years in the business, but I kept pushing through, simply because I couldn’t imagine doing anything else and I had a wife and four kids to take care of. The hardest time for me was when I reached 49 years in the biz. I knew it was time to quit when I realized I hated to hear the phone ring (another client, another job)—even those clients who had become close friends. Many (literally) begged me to keep going, but I found a great new, young, highly creative agency to sell my client files and copyrighted work to.
Now, five years later, all is well. I still do work for Merrill-Lynch and a couple of non-profits I believe in, and because neither of these pressure me with fast deadlines, the work is more like play now with the bonus of still getting paid sometimes—or getting lots of love from the non-profits (they call me the “G.O.A.T.” of the biz.) I love those guys!
Oh my! I’m in the midst of re-learning CC having raised my three offspring w/no partner. Teaching is the “a job / any job” I’m doing while I’ve been soooo envious of those who were / are able to work for an agency full time. Perhaps I’ll remain in education and feel fortunate for the many wonderful holidays we have! And continue designing on the side for the … wait for it … pure fun of it!
Thanks for sharing such awesome wisdom! I also garden And ride horses. And have fun on weekends.
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