Any Graphic Designers Out There-Have a Question

[user 29503]

I'm changing careers.  I have two choices.  One is design.  I'm definitely a novice but absolutely love it and would love to immerse myself into an education about it, in school or solo.

I've been asking questions.  So far, I've gone to 2 forums of seasoned, professional designers who have been in the industry a while.  I explained I was 40 and was concerned if I would be marketable by the time I'm done with school (I could be anywhere from 43 to 45 years old).  I also explained I didn't want to struggle into my fifties and sixties, and additionally, be too late to change careers at that point.  I want a steady living and retirement of some kind, not be a poor 70-something heating my apartment with a gas oven.

The response from both forums was:

1. Ageism prominently existing in the industry will hurt me
2. Along with #1, I will be competing with a hoard of 20 somethings corporations are hiring for cheap.
3. Just as there is with Photography, there is an equally sized hoard of DIY, homebodies flooding the industry as well, that are doing cheap work that I'll be competing with
4. To sum up 2 and 3, there are or will be more designers than there is work to go around
5.  Two designers told me flat out, "Don't Do it" (including if his kid came to him saying so, he'd encourage him to go elsewhere)

Any seasoned designers out there concur?  Asked this beccause I thought Van Dwelling had its demographic of remote workers and designers can fall into that category.

Thanks,
Rabbit

 

[Gypsyjoe#1]

I do graphic design work along with web design, and my advice would be the same as you have already gotten. Not only are you competing with a bunch of youngsters, you are competing with a bunch of third world countries whose very well educated work force is working for slave wages. I have been doing this for over 20 years and find it is getting tougher for me everyday even with all the experience I have.

With that all said, I have a friend who is a nomad who has a plotter and does very well designing small signs and decals. He travels from one fair or flea market to the next. I have considered doing this myself seeing how well he does with it and a good plotter along with a good supply of vinyl for a investment of around $500.

 

[jacqueg]

I do graphic design work along with web design, and my advice would be the same as you have already gotten. Not only are you competing with a bunch of youngsters, you are competing with a bunch of third world countries whose very well educated work force is working for slave wages. I have been doing this for over 20 years and find it is getting tougher for me everyday even with all the experience I have.

With that all said, I have a friend who is a nomad who has a plotter and does very well designing small signs and decals. He travels from one fair or flea market to the next. I have considered doing this myself seeing how well he does with it and a good plotter along with a good supply of vinyl for a investment of around $500.

I think this is the key for anything. Find a niche that allows you to deal with customers directly, on-the-spot.

 

[MrNoodly]

All this is why I'm no longer in the business.

 

[desert_sailing]

Maybe a different approach and view..?

Nobody is immune to ageism. It affects younger people just as it does older folks. In the art/design world age tends to be less important than providing a product that is unique and relevant that "wows!"
Never be bound by the "ism" of someone else.

Jobs are paying more than ever before. People are tired of barely making it while businesses continue to exploit labor to enrich themselves. People are tired of it and the employee shortages we are facing is largely due to people waking up and realizing there is more to life than the outmoded 40+ hours a week for peanuts. 

If it isn't a fair trade... its exploitation.

There are many  homebody artists that are making great incomes right now in the NFT world.  If I had better art and design skills I would be there right now. It is dominated by younger folks at the moment  simply because they are riding the trend and relevance of the market...not because they are 22 but because they are relevant.
I strongly suggest ANY artist to research  NFT markets. Insane amounts of revenues are being generated. Anybody with a knack for art and design needs to be there.

https://texasnewstoday.com/art-collective-launches-nft-collection-for-stars-ownership/569896/

.1-.3 ethereum is 400-1200$ that's pretty good pay for a digitized picture of a star. This is not even scraping the surface of what is going on.

Opensea is one of the largest market places for NFT projects. Maybe you can find some inspiration there.
https://opensea.io/

[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Sounds like you have a passion and that is the main ingredient to success. [/font]Take a look, there is a lot going on.  
But I would discard much of the dust of yesterdays ways...NOBODY is playing by those rules anymore.

 

[GoingMobile]

It can be tough. When digital became a part of Graphic Design the low end came up in quality and the high end came down. Although knowing how to operate and utilize the technology is important it is not ultimately the only service you need to offer to clients. You need to also understand how to influence human behavior through visual language. You need to understand your clients objectives and through your expertise deliver results. How do they get their message across most effectively and cost efficiently to their customers and convince them their life would be better by buying their product or service. How do you convince someone that you have the expertise to do this for their business?

Having worked for 40 years in art and design, and teaching at the college level for 20 years, I have seen the overall conditions decline. You are always up against the idea people have that artists are just having fun, why should they be paid for that? It is up to you to demonstrate you are the expert who can improve their bottom line. I had been an illustrator up until around 2000. It had been a lucrative career working for advertising agencies, marketing firms, institutions and publishers. But it really started to decline in the late 90s. Stock images for cheap, eroding copyright protection, and mostly a collapse in the demand for work due to most advertising revenue moving from print media to the internet. This was disasterous for writers, journalists, photographers, illustrators. When I first heard the term "content provider" I knew it was time to change directions. My work was now seen as sausage filling in the new paradigm.

There is a great need for talented and effective visual communication in our cluttered visual landscape. But it is key to really do it well and to find niches where that service is actually valued and appreciated. If it requires someone to meet in person and to really specifically tailor the work for a very specific circumstance all the better. As others have pointed out, the landscape is cluttered with design solutions to fit any budget, so you need clients who have and are willing to spend some money. Not many are, but some still do.

I have a friend with experience as a designer and an animator. She puts together visual presentation materials for high stakes ($$$$) trials and has been extremely successful. It took a lot of skills and an understanding of how her expertise could make a significant contribution to her potential clients success. She had to put together the big picture of how her services were valuable to a niche market and demonstrate to them that this was the case. Not the easiest mid-life career transition. Is there anything about your previous work experience that could make you valuable to a particular group? Hobbies, interests, that you have some insight into? I think the advice people have given you about finding a niche is important these days. If you are competing as a general designer, I would say you will be at a disadvantage due to your age. Everyone values the young (even as yet unproven) creative genius. But it can depend on who their potential clients are. That is an area where if for some reason you have an advantage there it could help you in doing more effective work and being of value, which hopefully would translate into reward for your efforts. But it is a very competitive landscape that generally favors the young and stylish.

In general I would say that the more you can understand how the expertise you develop in the craft and in understanding where it could be an important asset in helping businesses that have potential to earn money to succeed, (ie: the big picture) the more likely you could have success. And that is on top of all of the design and technical skills you would need to develop. You can get work with just the technical skills (sadly) but it is unlikely that will amount to much without understanding how to communicate ideas through visual design. Will you be able to develop both?

Maybe you already have some knowledge in a field that would help you find a niche market?

Otherwise it can likely be extremely competitive, a struggle to make decent money, not a 9-5, go home and forget about it kind of situation. My brother in law reached a mid-life career change point, and opted to go to a 2 year program to learn how to be a respiratory therapist, got a union job in a hospital, and has a six figure income with extremely generous benefits, I earned a graduate degree in Fine Art/Painting, sell paintings through commercial art galleries, teach and for the past 10 years have been a university professor. He makes twice what I do and has way better benefits. There are other options that could pay off much better., especially if you don't already have some affinity and passion for visual art and design or insight into marketing.

You can still be successful, and of course what that looks like depends upon your own needs and definition of such. I like to watch a show called Canvas on Netflix that covers art professionals careers as inspiration. It covers people who have engineered or through luck created really interesting design careers. Good luck!

 

[eDJ_]

I retired from my field of Industrial Design a bit early to look after old family members till they were gone.  The internet and PC/Mac computers were then the coming thing and I went into web design and with my commercial art background found it easy enough to do graphic design as well. (without going back to school)  Many of the people I've met who were doing well in design didn't have that much formal education in it,  they were just good at picking up skills on the fly and building portfolio's that people liked.  In the links at the bottom there's "Van Conversion" where a link at the top shows "My Own Story" (if you want to read it)

As has been mentioned, find a niche and a few good contacts and begin to exploit that opportunity and try to grow.  One of the greatest frustrations those who went to Art School explain is those who went a year or two and dropped out and got started into a lucrative business from home, where they had 2 years of experience before the others graduated.  And your work speaks for itself where a diploma for graphic design doesn't. It's all about your "folio".  So develop many styles and have a few  styles for low bucks jobs where you can whip out something fast and for low bucks.  Many small biz people and beginning entrepreneurs are hunting for that and believing that if they can make a go of it they will come back and have you develop something better which can stand as a brand & identity for them. (a work in progress if you will)

There are some graphics design forums you can look at here.  (I suggest just lurking and reading for some time before posting)  There are also graphic design magazines you should know about too.  Plus there is all kinds of free graphics design software to get a start with.  In time you would want to have professional level software though.

In my experience having a Mac computer and a graphics tablet got me in the door. they liked my work as well and after that it was only a matter cranking the work out.  But most of all.....keep your eyes open for emerging trends constantly.

Graphic Design Magazines



Grahpic Design Forums

 

[Morgana]

Another voice saying it would be tough and risky.
I tried to break out of editing into design. I "absolutely loved" it too, had exactly the same hopes you do. Studied my brains out (Adobe Certified Expert in InDesign and Photoshop CS6), had a fair amount of page design experience from newspaper jobs and was already in a parallel career, did all the things they tell you to do when building a new career, no luck. As others have mentioned, there's the amateurization (due to easy, cheap access to design software, + if I say "Microsoft Word" every designer in the house will probably start gnashing their teeth), generally lowering standards, clueless in-house staff supervising freelancers and asking the impossible or the awful, and severe downward pressure on fees/wages... to name a few.
You might make it. Some people do! But if you're looking to avoid the kind of risk you describe, this is not a good bet, in my opinion.

 

[user 29503]

Another voice saying it would be tough and risky.

Kind of mind blowing just how much I didn't realize.  Never would have gotten all the above, or the other forums information had I not opened my mouth, which was something I realized I wasn't doing.  Your path was my intent, study my brains out, headfirst into theory, be an actual designer and not an amateur.  
I wonder if kids are asking these questions when they sign up for tuition they go into debt for.  I have my GI Bill, I can get a degree in underwater basket weaving and not affect my pocket as long as I finish in the prescribed time.
Sounds like I have my answer.

 

[Sofisintown]

There are people who will pay lots of money for underwater weaved baskets these days.

But no, I wouldn't spent time and money for a new career path at age 50. Age discrimination is a real thing, if you want to work FOR someone.
Not everyone is Colonel Sanders.

If you are adaptable, inventive, persistent and entrepreneurial, and think you can work for yourself, you might have half a chance.

I very often had a side gigs for years that I was passionate about, but my mundane day job was paying the bills.

sorry if I'm a downer.

 

[user 29503]

sorry if I'm a downer.


Nah, you’re not.  I asked the question because I just really don’t want to struggle anymore.  I’d rather feel on top of my life at that point, not on a mediocre, drab, and potentially depressing place. Want to look back success, not worry everyday about failure. I like money.  It’s not necessarily the root of all evil.  Is or isn’t, it’s reality.  Answers to the question have been 98% consistent across the board, time to call it a side hustle I think.

Now, to be fair you sounded interested in one of my underwater baskets.......

Thanks

 

[Sofisintown]

I said "There are people who will pay lots of money ", not that I'm one of them  :blush:

I like money too. Everybody likes money. It is the greatest convenience. Ever!
Just don't dedicate the whole of your life chasing it. Live under your means whatever these are, because money always fluctuate.

If you are a human - I strongly suspect you are-  success and failure are regular happenings of life, and sometimes are just expensive experiences. They come and go throughout our lifetime with considerable persistence.
It's good to feel up on top always, but is not sustainable, just like being in the dumps all the time is not sustainable. You would be bored to oblivion, if either one was constant.

You are pretty young so you have many rounds left on the roller-coaster.
Do your best with what you know, keep learning for the joy of it, and you'll be fine.


'nough preachin' Sof...

 

[Sara in a Prius]

Yes, ex is a spectacularly talented graphic designer who has been working in the field since college. He has been unable to find work in his profession (freelance and not) and it is killing him.

 

[Morgana]

Rabbit said

Answers to the question have been 98% consistent across the board, time to call it a side hustle I think.

Well done -- your whole process on this has been a nice blend of pragmatic and idealistic, with realism finally calling the shots -- congrats.

 

[eDJ_]

If you want to go with open source software and play around with it here are some things you can try.  Some of these are similar to Adobe Creative Suite and some are Graphic Art & Design oriented. Try some of these and see what you can do with them.

GIMP similar to Photoshop
https://www.gimp.org/
https://www.gimp.org/Seashore similar to Photoshop for Mac
https://www.gimp.org/https://sourceforge.net/projects/seashore/
https://www.gimp.org/https://sourceforge.net/projects/seashore/Formulate Pro similar to Acrobat
https://www.gimp.org/https://sourceforge.net/projects/seashore/https://code.google.com/archive/p/formulatepro/downloads
https://www.gimp.org/https://sourceforge.net/projects/seashore/https://code.google.com/archive/p/formulatepro/downloadsInkscape similar to Illustrator
https://www.gimp.org/https://sourceforge.net/projects/seashore/https://code.google.com/archive/p/formulatepro/downloadshttp://www6.inkscape.com/?template=...e Sharing&searchbox=0&showDomain=0&backfill=0
https://www.gimp.org/https://sourceforge.net/projects/seashore/https://code.google.com/archive/p/formulatepro/downloadshttp://www6.inkscape.com/?template=...e Sharing&searchbox=0&showDomain=0&backfill=0Open Office Draw similar to Illustrator
https://www.gimp.org/https://sourceforge.net/projects/seashore/https://code.google.com/archive/p/formulatepro/downloadshttp://www6.inkscape.com/?template=...e Sharing&searchbox=0&showDomain=0&backfill=0http://www.openoffice.org/
https://www.gimp.org/https://sourceforge.net/projects/seashore/https://code.google.com/archive/p/formulatepro/downloadshttp://www6.inkscape.com/?template=...e Sharing&searchbox=0&showDomain=0&backfill=0http://www.openoffice.org/Scribus similar to InDesign
https://www.gimp.org/https://sourceforge.net/projects/seashore/https://code.google.com/archive/p/formulatepro/downloadshttp://www6.inkscape.com/?template=...e Sharing&searchbox=0&showDomain=0&backfill=0http://www.openoffice.org/https://www.scribus.net/
https://www.gimp.org/https://sourceforge.net/projects/seashore/https://code.google.com/archive/p/formulatepro/downloadshttp://www6.inkscape.com/?template=...e Sharing&searchbox=0&showDomain=0&backfill=0http://www.openoffice.org/https://www.scribus.net/Audacity similar to Soundbooth
https://www.gimp.org/https://sourceforge.net/projects/seashore/https://code.google.com/archive/p/formulatepro/downloadshttp://www6.inkscape.com/?template=...e Sharing&searchbox=0&showDomain=0&backfill=0http://www.openoffice.org/https://www.scribus.net/https://sourceforge.net/projects/audacity/
Avidemux similar to Premiere
http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/
http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/Seamonkey similar to Dreamweaver
http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/https://www.seamonkey-project.org/
http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/https://www.seamonkey-project.org/Krita 2D Animation
http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/https://www.seamonkey-project.org/https://krita.org/en/features/highlights/
http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/https://www.seamonkey-project.org/https://krita.org/en/features/highlights/Blender 3D Drawing
http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/https://www.seamonkey-project.org/https://krita.org/en/features/highlights/https://www.blender.org/
http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/https://www.seamonkey-project.org/https://krita.org/en/features/highlights/https://www.blender.org/Font Forge for Typography
http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/https://www.seamonkey-project.org/https://krita.org/en/features/highlights/https://www.blender.org/https://fontforge.org/en-US/
http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/https://www.seamonkey-project.org/https://krita.org/en/features/highlights/https://www.blender.org/https://fontforge.org/en-US/PicPick an All in One Screen Capture and Graphics Editor
http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/https://www.seamonkey-project.org/https://krita.org/en/features/highlights/https://www.blender.org/https://fontforge.org/en-US/https://picpick.app/en/
http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/https://www.seamonkey-project.org/https://krita.org/en/features/highlights/https://www.blender.org/https://fontforge.org/en-US/https://picpick.app/en/FotoSketcher a unique tool to convert photos to graphic images
http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/https://www.seamonkey-project.org/https://krita.org/en/features/highlights/https://www.blender.org/https://fontforge.org/en-US/
http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/https://www.seamonkey-project.org/https://krita.org/en/features/highlights/https://www.blender.org/https://fontforge.org/en-US/

 

[user 29503]

Rabbit said


Well done -- your whole process on this has been a nice blend of pragmatic and idealistic, with realism finally calling the shots -- congrats.

Thank you

 

[user 29503]

Thank you.  I already have Affinity Designer.  I was using Word believe it or not.  I started outgrowing it.  It wasn’t facilitating my ideas anymore  as they evolved.  I was going test myself with a little print on demand to see if I had the chops. Still may do that, but now, only as a side hustle.

 

[user 29503]

Yes, ex is a spectacularly talented graphic designer who has been working in the field since college. He has been unable to find work in his profession (freelance and not) and it is killing him.

I had concerns from day one.  Sounds like they’ve been confirmed.  Thanks Sara.

 

[Morgana]

I :heart: Affinity

(And Word is great for simple designs, and simple = good; it's just that on the fancier stuff it promises more than it can deliver.
In my opinion!
Not trying to start a range war here )

 

[user 29503]

I :heart: Affinity

I do to.  When I saw I used up word I meant it.  Just got to be where I couldn’t do what I imagined.  Affinity fits like a glove I just rolled right into it. Bought there work book, been building the van and playing Santa’s Workshop right now but I would love to go through it.  Many things have gone subscription out of pure greed.  Serif wasn’t smart in offering one time payment.  What I REALLY, REALLY love is Blender.  That will be next, just for fun.