It’s been a year since I started to get more into the design aspect of computers but I’d like to share some things that frustrate me as I make this push.
1. Seeing Everything Through a Designer’s Eyes
photo credit: Estadio Arcadio
This is the biggest change for me. The more I get into and learn about design the harder I find it to enjoy simple things. Now I try to analyze everything in a critical manner seeing what could be done to improve upon it.
Here’s a few examples of how my thought process has changed.
Playing a Video Game
- A Year Ago – Kill the Covenant.
- Today – I really like this color brown for the Master Chief, this soft blue would compliment his armor well.
Watching a Movie
- A Year Ago – Opening Credits -> Movie Logo -> Movie -> The End.
- Today – Opening Credits -> Movie Logo What font is that? Is it scalable? Would it look good in greyscale? It might be better if … -> Movie -> The End.
Seeing Comic Sans in Use
- A Year Ago – What a cool looking font! I like how they used it in 5 different colors and with 10 others fonts also.
- Today – A little smile comes across my face as I remember my previous reaction, I roll my eyes and quickly turn away.
Taking a Picture
- A Year Ago – Point -> Click
- Today – Point -> Check my framing. Apply Rule of Thirds. Any distracting elements? Check depth of field. -> Click
2. Keeping Up With the Jones’
photo credit: [austin absurd.]
In this designer/blogger world there are always newer, shinier toys to be purchased and other people doing some amazing things that you would like to be doing.
Buying a Computer
- A Year Ago – I can just get a few parts and upgrade my PC.
- Today – I need an iMac for the house, a MacBook Pro for serious work, and a MacBook Air for taking to cafes.
Darren Rowse, David Airey, Elliot Jay Stocks, Brian Clark, Naomi Dunford, Crystal Clayton, Collis Ta’eed, Maki, Lisa Bettany, Seth Godin.
- A Year Ago – Who?
- Today – I hope to one day meet these people that have educated, entertained and inspired me. And maybe even do the same for them.
3. Time Management
photo credit: d_brando
Time is one of those things that you never have enough of. Since makings strides at being a designer I find myself spending a large portion of my free time doing some design or blog related things.
Free Time
- A Year Ago - Watching a movie or playing some video games
- Today - Reading RSS or design book, working on a project, chatting with a client or potential client, blogging.
New Website Visits
- A Year Ago – Usually takes about 2 minutes to accomplish whatever it is I needed.
- Today – Now it takes about 10 because I now thoroughly critique all aspects, Color, Navigation, Usability, Standards Compliance and Logo Design. If I like the design I bookmark and tag it. If it does something that I’m not familiar with I dissect the code until I understand what was done.
Feeds to Read in My RSS Reader
- A Year Ago – 0
- Today – 95 and counting
Domains to Maintain
- A Year Ago – 0
- Today – 9
I Don’t Actually Hate Being a Designer
If that were entirely true it’s not something I would be working hard at. Thus far it has been very rewarding and I look forward to my future, but it is a lot of work. I don’t have as much free time as I use to but I also feel much more profitable with my time than a year ago. I use to spend hours a day playing an online role-playing game. I haven’t logged onto my character since Christmas. I might not be the world’s greatest Black Mage because of this decision, but I have gained so much more by learning new skills and meeting great people.
I truly believe this is only the beginning and that the best it yet to come.
How has becoming a designer/blogger/writer changed you?
114 Comments, Comment or Ping
Hi Jeremy,
It’d be a pleasure to meet you too, someday, and thanks for the compliment.
I can empathise with a lot of your points. Nowadays, the title sequence in a movie takes on a significantly larger role in my appreciation of the overall story. Saul Bass is a title sequence master.
Jeremy, I have a hard time believing that only a year ago, you were enthralled by Comic Sans!
I’m in a similar position to you and I’m relishing my newly found design eye. Unfortunately, it has led to a wee bit of OCD because not only am I lining up elements in Photoshop/Firefox, I’m also aligning coasters on my coffee table for pure aesthetics.
@David - I hadn’t heard of Saul Bass until your mention of him. Pretty impressive what he was able to accomplish. This is a good site to view all his work. http://notcoming.com/saulbass/index2.php
@Phil - No, your right, I wasn’t enamored with Comic Sans a year ago, but I also didn’t cringe at the sight of it as I do now.
Thanks for your comment.
Thanks for that serious good laugh. This article is true in so many ways and I see stuff that I remember doing myself.
Stumbled + Got you featured on my site, keep up the good work.
Greetings,,,
I am still playing online games…i didnt know about the photography stuff, i will try to take better pictures from now on.
What a cool post! Thanks for the shout — let’s meet up at SXSW maybe?
@Marco - Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the stumble.
@Denver - I still do some online gaming, but it’s much easier to pick up Halo and play for only 10 minutes than it is to play a MMORPG for 10 minutes. MMORPGs take hours to set up or accomplish certain tasks.
@Naomi - We’ll see ^^
Being a designer has, like Phil said, lent itself to OCD. I count and divide groupings of numbers and symbols, constantly looking for symmetry in two, three, and four parts. If I cannot divide by less than 7, I consider whatever I’m counting to be a failure!
Since I sculpt as the main part of my job, my hands instinctively find any sort of media to work- bread, wet laundry, soap, my kids’ Play-Doh…
But there is really nothing I hate about it, I wouldn’t trade my job for anything, ever!
Thanks for a great post.
Heheh….
I’m only 15 year olde byt as a webdeveloper, I know a lot of these… :p
F.ex. I just started to see how you have done the images in the input fields… :p
I’ll check some of you other posts.
- Johan
What a fun post! And how true is that? I feel the same way about Gigi as you do about Comic Sans…very distinctive, and totally cute until you see it everywhere.
Since I started blogging everything is a potential post. I always have my notepad with me to catch quotes, stories (mine and other people’s), and ideas.
Did I do something well? It’s a post. Did I totally jack something up? Post. Someone make my day or piss me off? Post!
My WP Drafts folder has 30+ posts in various states of undress, and my notepad is a mess of jots, but the good news is there’s no lack of ideas. I just need a 30 hour day to write ‘em all…
And on that note, I’d better get back to work so when you revisit this topic next year I’ll be on that Jones’ list, somewhere between Naomi and Seth
@Sarah - I’d like to see some of your wet laundry sculptures. I’m sure they’re unique.
@Jonah - Thanks for looking around.
@Crystal - You have made it to my A-list RSS folder. I hereby give you Jones’ Status.
HA, thanks for that! What fantastic company I’m in?
I’d better get back to earning it…
I was quite confident with design during study tho…but after since working my design is getting worst and worst even I myself can’t accept my own design…
Now I’m completely a software engineer without doing any graphic thingy… 
@Chicken Say - We often are our worst critic though. Your design might not be as bad as you think it is.
nice design, very like it.
Jeremy , your points are so very true . being in the web design industry, one more change i have felt is that - I am always running a race which has no ending . yesterday ( so to speak) , i knew what my goal was and what i could do to claim it and be happy , today everything i do , opens a new level with an even more magical maze.
It’s good idea to share something with your friends that also improve your knowledge…
If your taking advice from ittybiz you can probably fold up shop now.
LOL
you mean since you got into the design of web pages right? i’m pretty sure you don’t design computers - sorry if i’m snarky but i thought i’d be reading about computer design, not web design.
That’s exactly what happened on me.and it’s worse in China as an architect. I don’t know if I should change a job, even though I used to like being a designer so much.
Heh, I was wondering what kind of design you were talking about and it’s still not clear. If you were a game designer, that point about Halo wouldn’t ring true. My background started some 14 years ago on 3D graphics and I remember spending years and years on it until it encompassed a lot of what I saw and how I reacted. It wasn’t about sun shining amidst clouds, it was volumetric light. I saw how light bounced back and forth from objects, how sub-surface scattering was everywhere and so on.
Been doing game design for 5 years and you start seeing all kinds of things in the game rule worlds. Arcs of gaming experience from the miniscule 1 minute arc details to the overall game experience, identifying different game elements (zero sums etc) etc, but my artistic eye hasn’t left me and I wonder about typefaces, kernings and what not almost on a daily basis. Advertisement is boring to me since it’s all so fake and I can’t really succumb to it. At one points, movies were pretty boring as well since I started dissecting the script, the pacing, cinematography and what not once the film started. I’ve eased on those a bit and know how to enjoy movies nowadays, but there’s always that little part of me that deconstructs everything.
good post! I’m much the same with most things.
“From Developer to Designer”, is that because you were a developer (php, mysql etc?), and are now becoming a designer?
I’m probably better at designing, and are trying to become a developer
Wow, I’m about 3 months in, enjoying it and some of your comments are frighteningly true to me.
Haha, encouraging (and interesting) words.
Imagine what happens after 7 years training as an Architect…
Excellent post, I can relate to your points. Sadly, a lot of my friends can’t. They mock me.
Sigh… so many truths…
Is it wrong that I feel the exact same way but I do it all for fun and am only 15?
Jeremy, this is a really nice post…and i’d say i understand exactly what yu mean…am a writer, and nowadays, i spend more time finding extra spaces, hyphen that has to actually be emdashes, possible rephrasing, upper/lower cases and similar errors in books/articles than enjoying them thoroughly like i ujsed to before!! (Of course i do enjoy them, too
)
Anyways, i’m sure all my designer collegues are also going thru the same ’syndrome’ as you are
It’s a small world!
Man, you said it. It’s been a couple of years for me and I can relate to every item you talked about. Thanks, great stuff!!
Sorry mate, but I’ve got to pull you up about this.
1) If you didn’t already see the world as design elements are you really sure you want to be a designer? You sound more like a coder who’s suddenly woken up to the fact. Normally these people survive a couple of years before the whole “new design” aspect kicks in and annoys you on two counts; repetitiveness & sheer pressure of always having to be clever.
2) I didn’t realise that designers must have the latest kit? Sheesh, well that puts my designs in the shade then. How can I ever compete with a swanky Air “for cafe’s”. Get over yourself, design is not limited by the number and power of your processing. If anything design is challenged by the lack of it. You should remove #2 from your blog, it’s pointless and makes you sound like a materialistic desperate to make himself “look good” while gulping down overly priced espressos.
3) What? Are you telling me that you never did this sort of stuff before you started doing design professionally? Like I said in (1), are you really sure you are cut out for this?
I don’t mean to make anything out of this, you seem a nice enough lad, and your design is pleasant enough without actually being impressive, but really this blog entry is pointless and states the blindingly obvious.
You know what I love most about this blog post… The designer writing this didn’t even design his own website, he’s using a template.
http://wp-themes.designdisease.com/
Too right. I’ve seen the same thing as well, both from design (even though I’m still horrid at it) and programming standpoints. The more you learn about something, the more you apply it to everything around you.
Don’t let all the haters get you down. I came from the Digg page and all the stuff that was voted up was by jealous non-professionals that don’t understand how knowledge changes your view of the world.
Just 95? I’m already at 305 feeds and counting…
I relate to everyone of these. Great post Jeremy.
What I hate most about being a designer is that anyone thinks they can art direct. Every time someone makes a goofy suggestion like “Well there is open space there just move the logo there!” when it would totally upset the grid, offset the balance, etc…
But other than that it is great
the Jones are actualyl pretty cool. So Why keep up with them in the first place?
JT
http://www.FireMe.To/udi
@ #2, Watching a movie:
A Year Ago – Opening Credits -> Movie Logo -> Movie -> The End.
Today – Opening Credits -> Movie Logo What font is that? Is it scalable? Would it look good in greyscale? It might be better if … -> The End (crap, I missed the movie)…
as a designer, why is this a free wordress theme from someone else?
I it so me too. I find my self doing this all the time.
I’d say the way you view the world is the coolest part of being a designer. Everybody goes through their entire lives not noticing all the small details that make things awesome.
I wouldn’t give up that ability for anything.
BLM FTW. I haven’t logged on since a week after activating my account for the second to last expansion (ToAU). They failed to improve anything lol…
But yeah, it’s crazy what jumping behind the developer/designer’s keyboard does to your perspective. Nothing is ever the same.
I now have to fight becoming a workaholic and devoting every second of my day to designing anything and everything I can.
I can definitely attest to all that!
Black Mage you say? Sounds like Final Fantasy XI… what a time sink. I understand enormously, wasted a good 3 years of my life. Great article by the way.
I know what you mean, Jeremy. I spent 15 or so years on the IT side of computers, and recently went back to school for graphic design. In six months, I’ve noticed my priorities have shifted quite a lot. I found myself critiquing the kerning on a license plate the other day.
Wow…I feel old. Comic Sans? I hated it when it was Tekton!
This article as makes me sick to my stomach. I hope for your sake this whining is just tongue-n-cheek, shameless self promotion.
So true!
I started making signature banners and stuff for forums when I was like fourteen and now four years later design is the only thing I wanna do with my life. I laughed at all of this stuff because I completely related to all of it. Whenever I watch a movie I pay attention to frame work, opening sequences, etc, etc… Hell just last night I was watching some cartoon on adult swim and after watching it I said out loud “I like that art style”. I think the thing I focus most on now is just packaging, I am always analyzing packaging for anything, thinking how I would have done it differently or what I liked about it.
Comic sans… haha.
I think the trick to being a ‘happier-less OCD’ Designer is to remember how to view things in their entirety, almost like a child would.
I find when you scrutinize every little thing you can lose the intrinsic impact of the piece. What I try to do is breathe it all in, then go back and see what you can learn from it.
I did have an OCD moment recently, as I was watching Wal-E in the theatre and couldn’t get over how well done the shape of ‘eve’s eyes were done.
All very recognisable and you even left something out … or at least, it’s something that I started noticing after becoming a designer. Usability … of websites and how people interact with things … now I can’t use anything without thinking if it couldn’t work easyer or faster or …
complement, not “compliment”
Hi Jeremy,
I’m truly inspired by this post. I’m having a tough time in my life to decide the path I want my career to go. I have a lot of experience as a developer and I know I’m good at it but my passion has always been as a designer. I have so little experience or training in that field however every aspect of it is fascinating and my brief exposure to it has made me question my current career choice.
I would love to have a conversation with you regarding what you did, how you went about doing it, what made you kept going?
Thanks
love your post..very inspiring and motivational.. I am a developer/designer but find myself increasingly having more appreciation and happier being a designer than any other profession.. thanks for posting…
@Zij Hyuh:
Who cares, misspelled looks better
Great read. Thanks.
I really agreed with the taking photo comment. Since working constantly on design photography is a must for anyone who wants to go from being good to having an amazing eye for stuff.
Oh and taking photos at gigs is the most difficult style of photography ‘cos of the light and obviously the amount of movement.
That’s unless you’re at a Celion Dion gig. Not me pal!
@Frank - I’m most interested in web design. I can see how being a game designer can really interrupt life. Everything you see in the real world is something you are trying to dissect and put into your game.
@Ashley - You are correct. I got a CS degree but I am trying to become a designer now. Really more of a designer/developer combo.
@Anders - I don’t think they’ll ever come around either.
@rmaspero - Nothing wrong at all. Keep it up.
@Matt - Yes this theme is one I got from Smashing Magazine. I wasn’t trying to deceive. I have only been blogging a few months and wanted to make sure I enjoyed blogging on a regular basis before I dedicated much of my time for my own custom theme.
Excellent post.
@Vincent - 305! hopefully I won’t get that high, but I am still climbing up at a steady pass. I think I’m 108 now.
@RP - That sorta thing is what inspired this post. I was 10 minutes into a movie before I realized I wasn’t watching and still thinking about the logo.
@Lakario and @Erik - yup, FFXI. Ragnos on Hades to be exact. I haven’t logged on in 6 months but I still pay my monthly fee. Such a waste I know, but I just can’t let my lil
tarutaru die.
@Bart - Usability design is also something I notice more of. I catch myself observing strangers as they try to interact with different interfaces. I also quit showing people what button to click on webpages, and I just watch them get familiar with the navigation and such.
@Zij Hyuh - Actually I believe ‘compliment’ means ‘to say nice things about’ whereas ‘complement’ has the notion of completing something. Thanks for your concern about my grammar though and your kind thoughts on the entire point of the post. You’ll go far in life.
@Disha - Email me whatever you’d like to ask. Although I wouldn’t expect any expert advice. I will at least act like I know what I’m talking about.
@Derek - I think one of the main reasons people with development backgrounds like to get into design is for almost selfish reasons. More people can appreciate a well-designed website than they can appreciate how efficient your SQL query was. I know thats one reason why I like design.
I love your post and it is so true!
I came to school 4 yrs ago and just graduated in may with my degree in Graphic design and now every time I step outside my office or house I find myself analyzing everything that is placed before my eyes. My friends all laugh and call me an art dork, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Have ever played the game with yourself where you go through your day and see how many different fonts you can recognize and if you have no clue what it is you go home and look it up so you know what it is the next time you see it? I do. So yeah I am an art dork and its good to know I am not alone. Thanks
Jeremy, I really enjoyed your article and it gave me a few smiles to see where my life is going to be heading. I’ve just recently started picking up both design and development after my first degree didn’t do much for me… now I can already see where all my free time is going to be spent
LOL the enjoyment of being an artist is you critique everything.. As you can see from your blog everybody has to put there opinion in because that is what we do in the industry of ART in any form.
Beinging Web, graphic, art Designer, Developer, Architect and etc we aim for perfection… Some of the best work you can do in your life can be created through the simplest things.
Advice…Relax, take it easy, maybe you should try and pick up your experiences one year ago.. maybe fall in love with Comic Sans again.
Nice reflections on your situation a lot of others are in the same position.
It fades. You get used to it. You will enjoy the opening of Gattaca again without having to know everything they’re doing and why they are better than you.
Please don’t listen to ric. He’s a lonely little man trying to puff himself up because you’re shown you’re new at design. All he has right now is the idea he’s a good designer. And, I’m sure he’s nervous that he can’t code. Sad.
@Stephanie - I’ve tried the font game, but my typography skills are severely laking. Typography is such a detailed art and there is way more to learn about it than I could have imagined.
@Ian - Thanks for the advice, but I’m not so sure about loving Comic Sans again. We’ll see though.
@Steve - Yeah I’m not too concerned with ric. I tried to come up with a way to respond to him, but everything I tried to say was so obvious that I just determined that he didn’t really get the point of the article.
Funny, but oh so true.
I would also add that after becoming a “designer’, I found myself getting very frustrated when things don’t work right. Little things didn’t annoy me at all before frustrate the living daylights out of me now.
pretty funny. I can relate. Most of my friends just laugh at me. Oh well, we’re all nerds about something.
HA! I have the same thing, only for me it’s more like 3 years ago..
When my wife looks at a graphic or website I’m designing she goes: “ooh, I like it”, and I go like: “yeah, but that line is a pixel off to the right, and it’s annoying me”..
I’m there as well Jeremy. My wife gets annoyed when I relate my knowledge of fonts with her while I’m out and about.
Me: “Hey, guess what font that is?”
Her:
Me: “It’s Bernhard MT Condensed.”
Her: “That’s nice … Where are we going to eat?”
Cool man, so where are all the examples of your work? And do you only allow positive posts on your blog? I guess you don’t post negative feedback lol. Well, if you hate being a “designer” so much why don’t you go back to being a professional “Black Mage”? I’m sure that’s much more fulfilling for you!
hey John I guess you don’t appreciate the irony that the title of this post was meant for..
hillarious post.
i’d add:
designing personal site/portfolio:
a year ago: ‘i like it.’
now: ‘what will my target audience think? should i sample study? is the safari user percentage important? how much can i squeeze above the fold? culture xx doesnt like blue as a rule, how many people from that culture see my site?’
@Josh - Yeah I can see how your wife might get annoyed with that. I’m not too good with the ‘Guess That Font’ game yet, so my wife has a few months left before I start playing that all the time.
@John - Most of my design is small fry stuff right now. Friends, family and I have a few internal designs that are for company eyes only. Beside the point of this blog isn’t really about promoting myself as a designer or selling myself. I tend to write about whatever musings are on my mind. Amazing there weren’t that many negative comments on the blog side of things. A few just obvious spamming or completely unrelated comments. Most negative commenters prefer to spew hatred in the Digg comments since they can get more valuation to their off-topic rants. Passions change, perhaps one day I will again become a black mage, but for now I’m sticking with design.
@Derek - It’s really cracking me up how most of the Digg commentors aren’t getting the point of the post. They actually think I think you can’t design something unless you have 3 Macs, lol. And while it would have helped to have a custom theme for the blog and proof that I’m a designer, they can’t simply read the article and relate to how their lives have been influenced by changing careers and passions in life. Oh well, Digg will be Digg.
@killjoy - It sounds like you’ve taken it to a whole new level.
Design is great, it keeps the mind alert and inquisitive. In my spare time I like to do things away from a computer; biking, sports and social events. I believe the more experiences you enfure the easier it is to create work that is applicable to the public. Besides pre-folding toilet paper into thirds, using a t-square to cut grilled-cheese sandwiches and cutting my cuticles with a exato-knife. Everything is pretty normal. Great post
@Jeremy: Her default response is “It’s Helvetica isn’t it?” Ironically, most of the time she’s right.
Oh, those Diggers. You can’t design with 3 Macs. You’ve only got two hands.
great article! seriously I can relate to every single point you make, what is even worse? my non-designers friends are doing it too!
Good idea for a post. I’ve been designing stuff for print for 30 of my 45 years, and for the web since 94. What I like best: learning about businesses, products, people and marketing strategies for ALL kinds of businesses. What I like least: typos and browser differences. And chasing money.
came across from Digg to ur post, you inspired me, you get me realised that I did the same things as what you do. Keep it on. I’m going to watch it! yuyoo~
@BitterSweet - That toilet paper thing seems pretty OCD to me.
@Josh - Yea, Helvetica is probably a good default choice for your wife.
@Rich - Browser differences get me also. Why can’t they all just get along and render everything equally.
Ooo i’m in a list of people to meet!
Will be telling people this all day.
Meanwhiles awesome post!!
@Collis - You visited my blog! I’ll be telling people this all day. Sorry to gush, but you seriously are the most inspiring person I read. What you have done with FS, FD and your tuts network, is just amazing. Thanks for all the great content you help produce.
I’m sorry - did you say you were a designer?
Wow. I can relate to all of these. My quirk is that wherever I go I can name about 80% of the fonts I see used everywhere. And it’s like OCD that I have to name them outloud. It annoys anyone who doesn’t know me. The other thing that really irritates me is Papyrus and Hobo. I HATE, no, LOATHE these fonts. And for some reason I can’t shut up about them whenever I see them. Which is about 70 times a day.
Good post. You read my mind
I even worst, I just skip those design that I don’t like. haha…However, In the first 3 months, I always get headache because of too many things flashing in my head. How to structure a website, What to use what to avoid. Color pick. etc…
Now, you know more about web standard, design and so on. In daily life, you will always judge or comment something in your mind.
For me, there is no right or worng in web design. The only thing to concern is the right style for the right site.
I enjoy designing web site and develop it. For maintaining it…sorry, I am a bit lazy with that
I am also a big fans of Collis too. Have a nice day!
Well, they say you are what you do … one of the attitude shifts being a designer is turning to be a constant self-critic, to seek and receive criticism positively and work on it(like it is in design). To be objective with personal feelings.
Also, I feel that I turned more emphathetic and sensitive to others (through maintaining client relationships) To appreciate beauty of nature, perhaps, which is source of my inspiration … lot more, I love being a designer
Excellent post. But not only true for designers. As graphics programmer for a game studio I see _everything_ as something to draw on the computer. Can I simulate of a million years of erosion to make a terrain like that hill, can I fake some sort of volumetric thing to make clouds like that, what kind of gloss map or shader would make the sheen off the asphalt that way, can I get cloth to wrinkle like that girl’s top… oh man, don’t even get me started about what it’s like to sit at the beach and watch waves crash.
As far as designing goes I’ve been drawing things all my life. How has it effected my life? Art is like built in protection against depression and all those other problems that people suffer from. Me if I get down about something I just start doodling, or stick in a Pixar movie (grin). Now blogging is another story. I just started my blog a couple months ago and it has basically consumed my entire existence. I think the consuming aspect is just trying to publicize the blog, get it known. Another dilemma was trying to figure out, “What is this blog really about?” And this has been a very rewarding experience in many aspects, because blogging has enhanced my life socially (at least on the computer anyway) and improved my writing skills.
I would recommend you to consult a hardware specialist, so you could buy for the price of mac 2x or even more faster/better computer.
good article
Thanks for sharing. I’m just starting on my own adventure of becoming a real live graphic designer. I can totally relate to the points you’ve made here. Thanks for sharing.
hehe I can relate! I think we’re all like that to a certain extent. I know that I analyze EVERYTHING I see, exactly the way you described it in your article, and it doesn’t go away with the years. But you know what? I love it!
Brilliant post. The franky ludicrous amount of joy I get from the design of fonts is scary. Can’t wait to see my ‘Helvetica’ DVD…
Well I don’t hate being a designer, in fact I love being one. It is just that I PISS off everyone else around me, especially when I suddenly stop everything that I am doing and stare at some interesting detail.
All of these are so true, when you become a designer, everything changes, you don’t see things the way the used to be.
Good luck with your designing career!!
I’m sorry, I hate to sound cynical, but I’ve been watching this post get above 1,000 diggs, yet only a few have really called you out for either shameless self-promotion or the fact you’re using a pre-designed Wordpress theme.
I get that you only started ‘designing’ a few months ago, but wouldn’t you agree that a better way to back-up your credentials of ‘becoming a designer’ would be to actually showcase what you can do? Otherwise, I could write a post about ‘what I hate about becoming an F1 driver’ and drive around in a Pinto?
You seem like a really nice guy, but I just can’t help calling you out - it seems unjust that guys out there work their tails off in design, starting with small clients and building up, and then you have the audacity to talk about it like it’s some new hobby that’s tickling your fancy?
@JRA Wow. What an abrasive response to a light-hearted post that just about everyone else enjoyed for it’s friendly self-deprecation and gentle loving digs at the inevitable myopia of the (growing) expert.
Maybe you’re one of the few calling him out because everyone else but the few of you GOT IT.
@JRA - no, all your points are completely justified and I totally agree with you on them. Although very few negative comments come through on this blog I’m sure the Diggers rode me pretty hard for my obvious lack of design showcasing. Having a portfolio to backup my ‘designer’ claim or a custom Wordpress theme would have staved off most of the negative comments.
I guess the real reason why I don’t have much of that stuff done is because I never in my wildest dreams would have through that post would have received any publicity like it did. I got an e-mail from the guy who submitted the story to digg saying that he was going to try to get it to the front page. I didn’t really think much of it, until I saw it had almost 130 diggs. Then I realized how much grief I was going to get for having the audacity to call myself a designer without any concrete proof.
I guess my only saving grace is that the post is about what I hate about ‘becoming’ a designer. I don’t try to claim that I am God’s gift to design or that I have some grand design skills. I only claim that I am doing my best to learn about what becoming a designer is. And the post just illustrates some of the things that I see changing in my life as I attempt to become a designer.
Again I can see where you’re coming from but also realize that I wrote that post expecting my normal 20 or so readers to be the only ones to view it and never expected the 25k plus that I got. There would have been a big difference in how I prefaced that post if I would have know the Digg legions would have come. My normal readers know my story and where I’m coming from vs. the diggers would thing I’m some arrogant know-it-all. Had I of know they were coming I would have at least got my custom WP design finished instead of in my sketchpad where it was.
I guess the moral of the story is to also act like 20k+ will be reading your post and to make sure what you are writing will hold up to mass readership.
Thanks for you comment JRA and have a good one.
hey, I agree with all of your points. haha
The same thing goes with BMX and cinematorgraphy.
you end up dissecting every shot in a movie, seeing every hand rail as feeble able, etc. everything changes into a perspecive engulfed by your creative hobbies.
it’s pretty amazing how something like that can change the way you look at things.
Great post, this really got me thinking about all the things I’ve gone through going from designer to developer and back to somewhere in the middle - now working on balancing my right brain thinking with my left brain thinking. The world would be a better place if both designers and developers took the time to learn a bit more about each others worlds.
Great post! It is so true, since becoming a designer I have starting seeing things alot differently, but without even realising.
I read similar article also named Hate About Becoming a Designer | Jeremy Adam Davis, and it was completely different. Personally, I agree with you more, because this article makes a little bit more sense for me
I really enjoyed this post at first, because I thought the author had some really good points and a sense of humor that evades most designers out there (some of whom posted here, apparently). It’s funny to point out some of the annoying attributes we can take on as designers, and this author deserves a pat on the back for publicly admitting these experiences. However, after reading a majority of the comments here, I became annoyed with all the references to “OCD” - in particular how people - like most people do - are trivializing what is a very serious disorder by saying things like “Unfortunately, it [being a designer] has led to a wee bit of OCD” and the like, as though OCD is akin to a cold that annoys people when caught. Sorry, that’s a terrible analogy, but do you get the gist of what I’m trying to say? And, yes, by now you’ve probably guessed that I have OCD for real (it stands for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, in case anyone doesn’t know). I’m really not even sure why I’m posting this right now, or why I’m actually a bit pissed by these comments (which were made by those who I’m sure really meant no harm), so I guess you should just take this as a public service announcement for OCD and nothing more. In short, it’s a rotten disorder to have; it can have negative affects on your life, your relationships - even your physical health. It’s NOT a personality attribute. And it’s ok to make fun of it, so forgive my harshness if I’m coming across that way. Basically, I just felt like I needed to say something. Blah.
Oh, and one other thing: All of you a-hole design snobs who have bitched and moaned about the author not being worthy of making the complaints he has b/c he’s using a WP theme designed by someone else - shut the hell up. This is supposed to be a brotherhood and we should all encourage those who are just getting into design.
Alright, time to go line up my pixels for the 20th time tonight (see? sense of humor despite making meaningless posts out of anger)
@Coby - Thanks for the comment and I agree, people often flippantly use OCD to refer to perfectionism. Thanks for the encouragement also, it means a lot. Good luck with your pixel alignments
Good designer! Thank for this post! I will become a web developer.
Why I hate being a designer: Clients suck.
Nice post and nice observation about yourself.
I feel the same with movie titles while watching a movie.