being a designer sucks

[Braintree]

*furnishes furiously*

 

I designed this recently for a bag I'll be getting made. A friend and I are starting to collaborate on apparel.

 

[Joyrex]

 

 

CLIENT: I am interested in one of your illustrations. I have a budget of $30 U.S.D.

ME: I am truly sorry sir, but that budget isn’t adequate for my illustration services.

This happened to me a few months ago. She wanted a book cover at a $25 dollar budget, so I sent her a proof of just black text on a white background and explained to her that the $25 dollars isn't adequate even for the proof I sent her! I gave her a proper quote and even did a discounted version and she still flipped out.

 

That's because you were rude and unprofessional. The professional approach would have not taken on the job to begin with, stating that you cannot work within such budget constraints, and professionally speaking, you would advise increasing the budget if possible as 25 dollars won't get her professional results.

 

What I didn't mention is that she is a sister of a friend and my friend asked me to do it for her. She thought that she could get it next to nothing since I'm a friend. I obviously don't do this to actual clients.

 

Regardless, as soon as the budget was mentioned (or asked, as I typically will ask up front what they are looking to spend/what budget they are working with), that's when it should have stopped.

[jules]

no amount of proper/design explanation will change the minds of the people i am talking amount. they are essentially messengers but want to change the message themselves to justify that they are more than just someone answering the phone when the client calls.

 

but they aren't.

[Joyrex]

no amount of proper/design explanation will change the minds of the people i am talking amount. they are essentially messengers but want to change the message themselves to justify that they are more than just someone answering the phone when the client calls.

 

but they aren't.

 

Yes, it's the classic "too many cooks spoil the soup" problem 95% of designers/creative people have to deal with. I'd like to fool myself into thinking it's some sort of Darwinism, weeding out the designers who can't stand it, only leaving the ones with a callous for skin, thus returning graphic design and other creative endeavours back to the rare skillset it once was.

[Guest Franklin]

i read this thread a few times and now everytime I go back and forth with the designer of my website (in process) I worry that either

A) I'm being one of those wannabe designers who is a fucking pain in the ass or

B) he's just not as anal about things as I am about keeping things consistent.

[jules]

no amount of proper/design explanation will change the minds of the people i am talking amount. they are essentially messengers but want to change the message themselves to justify that they are more than just someone answering the phone when the client calls.

 

but they aren't.

 

Yes, it's the classic "too many cooks spoil the soup" problem 95% of designers/creative people have to deal with. I'd like to fool myself into thinking it's some sort of Darwinism, weeding out the designers who can't stand it, only leaving the ones with a callous for skin, thus returning graphic design and other creative endeavours back to the rare skillset it once was.

 

that would be nice, but because of the speed of things these days, it's impossible.

 

last Friday was one of the craziest days of my design career and it was all due to sheer lunacy. a printer all of a sudden needed a catalog file from us that we were not ready to release. the printer was demanding it was there at 11am.

 

first off, this was impossible due to the fact the file was not ready to release. the account manager immediately went into a tailspin demanding we get it out. there were a countless series of amazing debacles and at one point, the files were actually uploading to the printer's FTP. they were about half way done showing about 1.5 hours left to upload. (side note. our production person is 1.5 hours away from our studio and it would take 5 hours to upload to our internal server.)

 

the account manager, in a stroke of genius, demanded we stop the upload to the FTP and begin the 5 hour upload to our server so we can the download them, burn them to disc and physically drive them to the printer 45 minutes away. in the process, she berated our production person so badly that she was reduced to tears.

 

so needless to say, the files arrived over 12 hours later due to egos not letting more informed employees do their own job. it now looks like our production person may be let go or at least have her freelance workload cut severely.

 

[Guest Franklin]

jesus.

 

that industry sounds scary.

 

on a related note one of my really old good friends in uni is now a designer and just recently she sent me a mass email (out of the blue) of like a shitty-looking snowboard design that she wanted me to "upvote" or something. the winner got a free snowboard. lol. and she was like top of her class.

[Guest Backson]

this thread makes me want to be really really nice to Gaarg when I requisition him for images.

 

and to avoid big words in case I use them wrong.

[jules]

you should be nice to gaarg even when you are not asking for images.

[encey]

jesus.

 

that industry sounds scary.

 

on a related note one of my really old good friends in uni is now a designer and just recently she sent me a mass email (out of the blue) of like a shitty-looking snowboard design that she wanted me to "upvote" or something. the winner got a free snowboard. lol. and she was like top of her class.

[Joyrex]

no amount of proper/design explanation will change the minds of the people i am talking amount. they are essentially messengers but want to change the message themselves to justify that they are more than just someone answering the phone when the client calls.

 

but they aren't.

 

Yes, it's the classic "too many cooks spoil the soup" problem 95% of designers/creative people have to deal with. I'd like to fool myself into thinking it's some sort of Darwinism, weeding out the designers who can't stand it, only leaving the ones with a callous for skin, thus returning graphic design and other creative endeavours back to the rare skillset it once was.

 

that would be nice, but because of the speed of things these days, it's impossible.

 

last Friday was one of the craziest days of my design career and it was all due to sheer lunacy. a printer all of a sudden needed a catalog file from us that we were not ready to release. the printer was demanding it was there at 11am.

 

first off, this was impossible due to the fact the file was not ready to release. the account manager immediately went into a tailspin demanding we get it out. there were a countless series of amazing debacles and at one point, the files were actually uploading to the printer's FTP. they were about half way done showing about 1.5 hours left to upload. (side note. our production person is 1.5 hours away from our studio and it would take 5 hours to upload to our internal server.)

 

the account manager, in a stroke of genius, demanded we stop the upload to the FTP and begin the 5 hour upload to our server so we can the download them, burn them to disc and physically drive them to the printer 45 minutes away. in the process, she berated our production person so badly that she was reduced to tears.

 

so needless to say, the files arrived over 12 hours later due to egos not letting more informed employees do their own job. it now looks like our production person may be let go or at least have her freelance workload cut severely.

 

 

Ah, you're making me slightly nostalgic for my print production days - I had many days like that, but it was worse in the sense that I was the Art Director, and had no subordinates most of the time (my boss would drive them away with his cheapness and demanding attitude), so I was a one-man band most days. Imagine having to go to a printer at 1AM to approve a blueline on a job that has 36+ plate changes (I was a designer working for a direct mail marketing company that did regional direct mail for cable providers, and they would have a 5th plate that would print region-specific information in a common area of the design). I had to set up these plates myself too, and proof them for accuracy. And this was in the early days of the internet, so forget using most of the modern resources available.

[jules]

oof. I can see why you transitioned. honestly I'd love to move to web but I don't think I have the aptitude for it anymore. it's so daunting and I feel crushed every time I try it. I'd rather just design the front end but I know there isn't much longevity in that.

[QBLA]

no amount of proper/design explanation will change the minds of the people i am talking amount. they are essentially messengers but want to change the message themselves to justify that they are more than just someone answering the phone when the client calls.

 

but they aren't.

 

Yes, it's the classic "too many cooks spoil the soup" problem 95% of designers/creative people have to deal with. I'd like to fool myself into thinking it's some sort of Darwinism, weeding out the designers who can't stand it, only leaving the ones with a callous for skin, thus returning graphic design and other creative endeavours back to the rare skillset it once was.

 

that would be nice, but because of the speed of things these days, it's impossible.

 

last Friday was one of the craziest days of my design career and it was all due to sheer lunacy. a printer all of a sudden needed a catalog file from us that we were not ready to release. the printer was demanding it was there at 11am.

 

first off, this was impossible due to the fact the file was not ready to release. the account manager immediately went into a tailspin demanding we get it out. there were a countless series of amazing debacles and at one point, the files were actually uploading to the printer's FTP. they were about half way done showing about 1.5 hours left to upload. (side note. our production person is 1.5 hours away from our studio and it would take 5 hours to upload to our internal server.)

 

the account manager, in a stroke of genius, demanded we stop the upload to the FTP and begin the 5 hour upload to our server so we can the download them, burn them to disc and physically drive them to the printer 45 minutes away. in the process, she berated our production person so badly that she was reduced to tears.

 

so needless to say, the files arrived over 12 hours later due to egos not letting more informed employees do their own job. it now looks like our production person may be let go or at least have her freelance workload cut severely.

 

 

Ah, you're making me slightly nostalgic for my print production days - I had many days like that, but it was worse in the sense that I was the Art Director, and had no subordinates most of the time (my boss would drive them away with his cheapness and demanding attitude), so I was a one-man band most days. Imagine having to go to a printer at 1AM to approve a blueline on a job that has 36+ plate changes (I was a designer working for a direct mail marketing company that did regional direct mail for cable providers, and they would have a 5th plate that would print region-specific information in a common area of the design). I had to set up these plates myself too, and proof them for accuracy. And this was in the early days of the internet, so forget using most of the modern resources available.

 

Is this anything like variable data? I can't imagine doing this before the darwin pro days! I learned this at the company in I worked at in Florida. I've worked in 2 locations doing print production. One place was cool and relaxed, and the other wasn't.

[Joyrex]

no amount of proper/design explanation will change the minds of the people i am talking amount. they are essentially messengers but want to change the message themselves to justify that they are more than just someone answering the phone when the client calls.

 

but they aren't.

 

Yes, it's the classic "too many cooks spoil the soup" problem 95% of designers/creative people have to deal with. I'd like to fool myself into thinking it's some sort of Darwinism, weeding out the designers who can't stand it, only leaving the ones with a callous for skin, thus returning graphic design and other creative endeavours back to the rare skillset it once was.

 

that would be nice, but because of the speed of things these days, it's impossible.

 

last Friday was one of the craziest days of my design career and it was all due to sheer lunacy. a printer all of a sudden needed a catalog file from us that we were not ready to release. the printer was demanding it was there at 11am.

 

first off, this was impossible due to the fact the file was not ready to release. the account manager immediately went into a tailspin demanding we get it out. there were a countless series of amazing debacles and at one point, the files were actually uploading to the printer's FTP. they were about half way done showing about 1.5 hours left to upload. (side note. our production person is 1.5 hours away from our studio and it would take 5 hours to upload to our internal server.)

 

the account manager, in a stroke of genius, demanded we stop the upload to the FTP and begin the 5 hour upload to our server so we can the download them, burn them to disc and physically drive them to the printer 45 minutes away. in the process, she berated our production person so badly that she was reduced to tears.

 

so needless to say, the files arrived over 12 hours later due to egos not letting more informed employees do their own job. it now looks like our production person may be let go or at least have her freelance workload cut severely.

 

 

Ah, you're making me slightly nostalgic for my print production days - I had many days like that, but it was worse in the sense that I was the Art Director, and had no subordinates most of the time (my boss would drive them away with his cheapness and demanding attitude), so I was a one-man band most days. Imagine having to go to a printer at 1AM to approve a blueline on a job that has 36+ plate changes (I was a designer working for a direct mail marketing company that did regional direct mail for cable providers, and they would have a 5th plate that would print region-specific information in a common area of the design). I had to set up these plates myself too, and proof them for accuracy. And this was in the early days of the internet, so forget using most of the modern resources available.

 

Is this anything like variable data? I can't imagine doing this before the darwin pro days! I learned this at the company in I worked at in Florida. I've worked in 2 locations doing print production. One place was cool and relaxed, and the other wasn't.

 

No, it was literally me making 36+ black-only layers in Corel Draw (don't recall the version, perhaps 8 before Corel went to shit), and having the printer output those to black plates. This was just when digital plates started becoming more common, but these were all traditional plates.

[QBLA]

no amount of proper/design explanation will change the minds of the people i am talking amount. they are essentially messengers but want to change the message themselves to justify that they are more than just someone answering the phone when the client calls.

 

but they aren't.

 

Yes, it's the classic "too many cooks spoil the soup" problem 95% of designers/creative people have to deal with. I'd like to fool myself into thinking it's some sort of Darwinism, weeding out the designers who can't stand it, only leaving the ones with a callous for skin, thus returning graphic design and other creative endeavours back to the rare skillset it once was.

 

that would be nice, but because of the speed of things these days, it's impossible.

 

last Friday was one of the craziest days of my design career and it was all due to sheer lunacy. a printer all of a sudden needed a catalog file from us that we were not ready to release. the printer was demanding it was there at 11am.

 

first off, this was impossible due to the fact the file was not ready to release. the account manager immediately went into a tailspin demanding we get it out. there were a countless series of amazing debacles and at one point, the files were actually uploading to the printer's FTP. they were about half way done showing about 1.5 hours left to upload. (side note. our production person is 1.5 hours away from our studio and it would take 5 hours to upload to our internal server.)

 

the account manager, in a stroke of genius, demanded we stop the upload to the FTP and begin the 5 hour upload to our server so we can the download them, burn them to disc and physically drive them to the printer 45 minutes away. in the process, she berated our production person so badly that she was reduced to tears.

 

so needless to say, the files arrived over 12 hours later due to egos not letting more informed employees do their own job. it now looks like our production person may be let go or at least have her freelance workload cut severely.

 

 

Ah, you're making me slightly nostalgic for my print production days - I had many days like that, but it was worse in the sense that I was the Art Director, and had no subordinates most of the time (my boss would drive them away with his cheapness and demanding attitude), so I was a one-man band most days. Imagine having to go to a printer at 1AM to approve a blueline on a job that has 36+ plate changes (I was a designer working for a direct mail marketing company that did regional direct mail for cable providers, and they would have a 5th plate that would print region-specific information in a common area of the design). I had to set up these plates myself too, and proof them for accuracy. And this was in the early days of the internet, so forget using most of the modern resources available.

 

Is this anything like variable data? I can't imagine doing this before the darwin pro days! I learned this at the company in I worked at in Florida. I've worked in 2 locations doing print production. One place was cool and relaxed, and the other wasn't.

 

No, it was literally me making 36+ black-only layers in Corel Draw (don't recall the version, perhaps 8 before Corel went to shit), and having the printer output those to black plates. This was just when digital plates started becoming more common, but these were all traditional plates.

 

Ok. I remember doing something similar.

[marf]

id go back to school for visual communications. it opens you up to many more jobs in the creative field. i know people who work for the martin agency. i also know someone who went on to work for national geographic.