Are you loosing your edge?
Ivan | Fri, 2005-04-08 13:08Do you sometimes feel when looking at the work of young designers that it's going to be very hard to stay competitive once they get a bit of experience? There are so many extremely talented guys in their teens doing excellent stuff already. Can one stay to be an art director or graphic designer till his 50's? If I don't make it to be a Creative Director or don't open my own agency or studio would anyone employ me when I'm 45?
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Thats such a huge topic!! I feel the same way. A jr. designer I hired hasn't even finished school yet and its easy to tell he's on his way to such a promising career I really don't know if I can compete!
I guess I realized this issue was real a couple years ago and picked up some programming textbooks to try and get a leg up on this new generation. I'm finding its difficult to find someone that is both programmer and designer...But I hardly think this will save me from the wave of talent coming at us.
Regardless I think its tough to tell how it will all pan out. I don't know if there is any other real alternative to starting your own firm asides from sticking around for the fight and winning.
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Jeff Yamada
Web Designer/Developer
www.hyperkulture.com
jeff@hyperkulture.com
aim: hyperkulture
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the way I see it, there are many different ways of being a designer.
there is obviously the young trendy ones... but lets not forget the older, more by the books ones with all the experience.
true, these to won't get the same jobs, but who's saying which one will be more or less fun.
xx
Jeff: Another alternative would be to become top professional in one narrow field and get a very recognizable unique style. What I mean is that what if you're the top aqua icon designer or top screen font designer it might work out well even at a later stage of career, because you would be the ultimate overpaid God of that field.
larusson, you're one the guys i'm afraid of, so don't comfort me. ;)
pokie, give it time. As you gain more experience you'll get more clients. Work for free if necessary, it will teach you lessons that worth much more than the little money they would pay you for a smaller job.
Watch out for me folks... :twisted:
Abdul wrote:
Watch out for the old guys giving you all the wrong advices to slow you down. :twisted:
Ivan wrote:
:shock:
How old are you ivan? You don't look much older than me in your avatar ...I don't see myself as one of the old guys yet :) *hack* *cough*
zwei
Ivan wrote:
:shock:
No, you can't do that! You just can't!
zwei wrote:
30, but I'm thinking about in 10 years time. :)
Abdul wrote:
jokes. :)
Ivan wrote:
That explains the motorcycle. :lol:
Justttttttt kidding. :oops:
:D LOL
oh my! look at this page, i can count like 10 smileys. we're like a bunch of teens chatting. :)
I am one of those "young designers". Not in my teen years anymore, but still in my mid 20s. You are right though, teenagers have a creative tallent that older people do not, but they can not give a production that professional look an experienced designer can.
At the beginning, in the first years of designing, all teenagers/designers just want to bring out something hip/cool/spooky.... while only thinking of having a "cool production". But the problem with those productions most of the time is that they are not organized. They are unbalanced. That's where an experienced art director comes in.
The art director is there to take these kid's work and creativity and use their experience to arrange it in order to give it a professional "corporate" look.
I remeber starting by designing logos and small flyers, where now I design whole magazines. Different type of creativity and different type of experience involved.
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"Life is a dream in which you don't remember fallig asleep or waking up. Make the dream worth dreaming, don't just sleep in the idea of waking up." - PIMPTRIX
The bottom line, at least in my opinion, is that you're only as valuable as your willing to make yourself. While you may not have the latest and greatest skills of a teen graduating right out of uni, you are equipped with years of experience these kids have only read about.
With any luck, you won't be the pixel pusher working 80 hours a week, but rather the experienced CD who is refining that talent into a profitable workflow.
I think as we age, our ability to reach our concurrent peers is also accentuated. Not many 18 year old kids can effectively reach older adults because they lack the clarity of the feelings and experiences. They can however probably reach their respective peers much easier which makes them valuable to that market.
The only constant in life is change, and it's important everyone continues the learning process. Some of the best creatives in the world are 40+ !! Just look at Hillman Curtis, David Carson, Sagmeister, etc. With age comes maturity, and with maturity comes better decisions.
Though I haven't poured over everyone's portfolio on this forum, I have little worries about anyone's long term success. The cream always rises to the top.
It's all just 1's and 0's