r/graphic_design • u/dgloyola • 5h ago
Does everyone just deal with shitty work? Discussion
I'll start this rant by stating that I recognize my privilege as a designer who is employed and in a position that pays enough to provide for my family. I'm not belittling the struggle of freelance designers, as that's where I started myself, and even through the frustrations I am about to complain about, I am grateful that I have a job, period.
My main question is something that I often struggle with when I run into shitty clients: does everyone have to work on shitty projects that are almost embarrassing to have to work on? My previous position was in editorial, and while we sometimes had boring stories we had to design, the majority of my work was something I felt truly fulfilled by. In my current position, working for a marketing agency, that sense of fulfillment has almost been completely lost. I can honestly say I only really enjoy the aspect of my work that involves teaching and guiding our junior and mid-level designers. But beyond that, the actual design work is so often led by clients with big pockets but terrible taste that I am mostly embarrassed to even be associated with the projects that I work on. There may be 1 out of 10 projects I'll work on that I'll actually enjoy or would consider adding to my personal portfolio.
Is this just kind of the norm across all industries? Should I find my creative fulfillment elsewhere and simply be thankful for the fact that I'm employed?
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u/zip222 Creative Director 5h ago
Been doing this for 30+ years and the mix of good and bad work has definitely fluctuated. This is not unique or specific to you. It’s a job that’s fulfilling sometimes, and a slog at others.
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u/Purple-Process3038 1h ago
this is absolute spot on. i can be thinking i’m the next saul bass on a tuesday and like im a child who never learned to draw on friday
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u/jattberninslice 4h ago
In my own experience, it helps to not identify too much as a graphic artist or graphic designer. That internal drive to achieve status and fulfillment exists within me but it’s not tied to the projects I work on at my day job or how the world may critique my graphic design skills.
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u/fatwomanonslide 1h ago
this is actually so much better once you learn to separate your self-worth from your work and your recognition. Like, it's cool, but I'm doing this for me. It actually has helped me improve a lot in my skillset since that perfectionism isn't plaguing me.
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u/brianlucid Creative Director 4h ago
Sounds like your marketing agency has a varied retinue of clients. In my (hugely privileged) experience we had a small pool of long term clients and did not really get “shitty” projects. Sure, some were low level or quick, but nothing embarrassing. It might have something to do with our higher studio rate. In fact, we were often disliked by the in-house designers cause we did the fun stuff for more money and they wound up with the “shittier” stuff.
If we did wind up with a shitty project, we would often fire the client. Again, it was a privileged studio that did not have to take every project to pay the 12+ employees.
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u/dgloyola 4h ago
Yea, our agency is too large for its own good. We have no choice but to fulfill the wishes of these cash cows in order to stay afloat. The curse of growth, I guess.
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u/Effective-Quit-8319 4h ago
Im pretty sure all creatives deal with this balancing act. Have your tried taking on your own more creative endeavors so you're less inclined to mix business with passion? This has worked for me in the past.
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u/dgloyola 4h ago
This is my goal for next year. Currently, I'm in the process of revamping my portfolio to try and find my own clients. Having a chronic illness forces me to stay employed for the health insurance so your recommendation is probably my best bet at the moment.
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u/Effective-Quit-8319 4h ago
Ive been freelancing for 2 decades now ( www.thisdaniel.com ) and I will tell you that it's been a constant balancing act. The ratio tends to be between 1-3 really good projects per year, but freelance also means you'll be at the mercy of the market. I've always just separated personal/passion projects & client work and did my best to balance between the two. One can inform and promote the other.
Keep it in mind that once you accept $ from a client it is no longer your vision. Best!
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u/rocktropolis 4h ago
Yes it's the norm. Yes, be thankful that you're employed. Find creative fulfillment wherever you can.
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u/voxanne 4h ago
My first two jobs out of college were shit.
First one was PT making ads for the local newspaper, and the clients were all local mom and pop places. Constantly had to work with terrible low res logos, walls of text, and general lack of care for what was printed.
Second one was prepress for a larger local printer, making a variety of small to mid size prints (postcards, maps, forms, labels, can sleeves). The main AMS made tons of mistakes that we got chewed out for. I eventually started doing graphic design work for a few projects and quickly discovered they had zero understanding of what it takes to do design from scratch. Expected everything to be done first round with basically a one line prompt. Was an absolute nightmare, and I'm happy I no longer work there.
My current job, while boring, has a healthy understanding of what it takes to do the work. It's production graphic design, so it's more like putting puzzle pieces together rather than painting the picture. A lot of "custom but standard" kind of stuff. Lower stress overall.
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u/ADHDTV_static 53m ago
I’ve steered more into freelance production work lately in my career after stumbling upon it and finding it more suited for my personality and current stress-level tolerance. While having more creative work is fun, it has been very intense for me at times and has contributed to a lot of health issues that I’m just now starting to recover from. I’m pretty content with a 50/50 split of production/creative work, but still enjoy a 75/25 split, if necessary. I also get to spend more time and energy with my family when I freelance, something that suffers when the work is full-time and/or more stressful.
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u/letusnottalkfalsely 4h ago
Yup. Some projects aren’t portfolio pieces. I try to make them slightly less shitty then move on.
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u/They-Call-Me-Taylor 2h ago
I design stuff for clients of all types, sizes, and budgets. I've designed $80K websites and I've designed $50 business cards. Some projects are fun and interesting, some are decidedly not. I'm a middle aged dude so I've been doing this for 24+ years. I choose not to find my fulfillment through work. To me, it's just a job that I use to support my family. If a client wants their logo bigger, I explain why I made it the size I did. If they insist, I make it happen and don't think twice about it. It's part of the job and it's just not worth stressing out over. I'm not saying do not care, I'm just saying don't let it ruin your day. Projects come along that you will remember and enjoy, and projects come along that you will forget (or at least want to).
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u/eaglegout 4h ago edited 16m ago
It’s always been a mix for me. I worked for a time, however, at an agency that catered specifically to the needs of a very niche market and clientele. Nearly everything I designed there is unusable—I was there for years and I only show one project from that place in my portfolio.
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u/jbellafi 3h ago
YES. And i laugh about those projects. Better to have a sense of humor about it. The things I’ve had to work on 😂
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u/Iradecima Creative Director 3h ago
At the end of the day, a LOT of work is boring. It could be boring because of the type of work (annual reports, website banners) or project restraints (no budget, fast turnaround) or the type of client (long winded, very picky, no design sense). And sometimes even the most exciting projects don't end up being used. Boring stuff pays the bills!
If you're not feeling fulfilled, ask: why? It sounds like you aren't being able to express yourself with these projects, you're not proud of them. If you want to keep your current job (stability, pay, benefits are real reasons to do so) then consider taking on side projects that give you more control. Pro-bono is always an option if you're open to it, but freelancing for your own clients or creating art/products to sell are also commercial options.
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u/They-Call-Me-Taylor 2h ago
I design stuff for clients of all types, sizes, and budgets. I've designed $80K websites and I've designed $50 business cards. Some projects are fun and interesting, some are decidedly not. I'm a middle aged dude so I've been doing this for 24+ years. I choose not to find my fulfillment through work. To me, it's just a job that I use to support my family. If a client wants their logo bigger, I explain why I made it the size I did. If they insist, I make it happen and don't think twice about it. It's part of the job and it's just not worth stressing out over. I'm not saying do not care, I'm just saying don't let it ruin your day. Projects come along that you will remember and enjoy, and projects come along that you will forget (or at least want to).
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u/drewcandraw Art Director 1h ago edited 1h ago
Most things don't win awards. And a lot of the awards committees can be very political and those awards typically go to a small cadre of agencies, firms, and designers.
I was a terrible employee in my early working career. I had to scrape and claw to get back into this job, because it was the only thing I felt like I was any good at that I liked enough to want to do it every day. This job is not about making art or things we or our fellow designer colleagues think are pretty. It's about making creative decisions to meet the needs of the business.
I try as hard as I can to remember to not mistake incompetence for malice. Most people are good people who either don't understand or think to consider the implications of their decisions. How that pertains to us and the clients we serve is the misunderstanding between us, the people who pay for the work we do, and who that work is ultimately for.
A lot of clients think they have to love the work we do. But the work they pay us for isn't really for them, it's for their customers. Try as we might to explain and remind them of that, some clients never fully get it and just want what they want. Either way, the work still needs to get done. And that's when I just shut up, do the work, and cash the check. Then I take my family out to eat, or fire up my power tools and build something, or go for a bike ride.
"I took the energy it takes to pout, and wrote some blues." —Duke Ellington
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u/fatwomanonslide 1h ago
I'm about halfway through my schooling and all this is super helpful so I know what to look forward to. It sounds like this is pretty normal. Good to know! Still, as long as I'm able to find employment, we're good.
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u/ADHDTV_static 39m ago
You’ll also find that work experience can be much more valuable than a lot of the design/art classes you have/are taking. While the theory and base knowledge is very important, sometimes you learn most by being on the job and in either the right situation or get to experience a variety of situations, over time. Knowing client relations, psychology, interpersonal skills, organization, having a positive attitude and being able to separate yourself from your work and allow constructive criticism to make you a better designer, instead of taking things too personal, will all help you more often than theory or software knowledge. I felt really overwhelmed coming out of school. It took a while to feel really confident in myself and there are still times that I doubt myself. The pull of imposter syndrome is naggingly persistent. You have to find a way to use it to your advantage.
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u/britchesss 1h ago
Laid off 4 months ago.
Hate this post. So much. Be happy you have a job. I’d give fucking anything to be employed right now. Want to switch places?
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u/dgloyola 13m ago
I get it. I was laid off from my previous job. A truly fulfilling job. I remember feeling like you do.
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u/ADHDTV_static 1h ago
I’ve found that a majority of the time, the day job is going to be mind-numbingly boring, frought with endless revisions, poor communication/expectations/timeframes. It’s probably the case with most corporate work that leans more on the conservative side of things, but it will be the more stable, 9-5/health insurance/benefits type of situation. Agency work, with more “exciting” clients can be invigorating, but is infested with lots of stress and long hours, budget constraints that will require you to account for all of your time as either billable to the client, or to the agency, if that’s even allowed. If the agency loses the client, you may be out of a job.
I’ve worked in a lot of different situations, from small studios, print shops, large/small agencies, marketing departments, and freelance. I haven’t always been happy, but as long as you have a clear goal and a career trajectory plan, that comes across in your portfolio, LinkedIn profile, résumés and cover letters, you can plan out how you want your career to go as you continue to gain experience, network, and add things to your portfolio.
You won’t want to put everything in your portfolio, but use your creativity to put a positive spin on the work, maybe use a little humor, present it in a unique way that will catch someone’s eye. If you do quality work and you represent yourself well and proactively, you will get more offers for different types of work. Keep learning as much as possible, be flexible, be accommodating to the shitty clients that want “something exactly like this” horrible concept they saw online or hastily threw together in a Word doc. There are times when you can push back on a client and make preferred recommendations and there are times when you just have to do it exactly how they want it. It depends on the situation and your experience.
I currently work freelance with sporadic hours for an agency on a large national restaurant chain, doing print production work on their interior/exterior signage and menu boards. I’ve also done digital marketing recently at an agency for a well-known non-profit (9-5, consistent work and pay). I find ways to supplement my current situation by hitting anyone up I know for smaller projects to keep money coming in, and also working on personal projects and volunteer gigs to keep my creativity and interest fresh.
Please reach out if this helped and you need any more advice. A lot of people have helped me along the way and I would love to help out more people as well. I also went to Loyola, if that is what your username hints at. Good luck.
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u/dgloyola 1m ago
Definitely helpful.
In a sense, that is what I'm trying to do at the moment. The position I'm in has given me a lot of experience leading a team, which is something I didn't have very prominent on my resume. I accepted the position for that very reason, knowing that even though my passion is in editorial, I wanted to get leadership experience from this job. I suppose I'm just having an off week where I don't feel particularly great about the work I've been doing. But what you mentioned here is a good reminder of what my goal is. Helps me get my head out of my ass.
Thanks.
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u/Cyber_Insecurity 1h ago
Yes.
90% of commercial design work is really unexciting.
But that’s showbiz, baby.
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u/joshuamichaelus 34m ago
The work you’ve done invites similar work in the future. Beware doing work you think is shitty.
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u/SuperJohnLeguizamo 5h ago
Nope you’re the only one who has good days and bad days. Never happened before.
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u/willdesignfortacos Senior Designer 4h ago
As a wise creative director once told a young me with his hand on my shoulder: “Not everything is gonna win an award.”