these things frustrate me as much as they frustrate other designers.
- seeing everything through a designers eyes
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.Playing a Video Gamethen - kill the covenant.
now - i really like this color for the master chief, this soft blue would compliment his armor well.watching a movie
then – opening credits, movie logo, movie, the end.
now – opening credits, movie logo (what font is that? is that scalable? would it look good in greyscale?), movie, the end.seeing comic sans in use
then – what a cool-looking font. i like how they used it in 5 different colors!
now – this is where i roll my eyes.taking a picture
then – point. click.
now – point. check my framing. apply rule of thirds. any distractions? check depth of field. click. check. point again. do everything else again. - keeping up with the jones’ 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
then – i can just get a few parts and upgrade the pc.
now – I need an iMac for the house, a MacBook Pro for serious work, and a MacBook Air for taking to cafes. - time managementTime 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
then – watching a movie or playing a video game
now – reading an rss feed, working on a project, chatting with a client or blogging.new website visits
then - usually takes me two minutes to do what i need to do
now - it now takes me ten minutes, usually critiquing what i’d change about the design, typography, colors, navigation, usability, search engine optimization and the source code.feeds in my rss reader
then - 0
now - 49domains to maintain
then - 0
now - 29
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 used to but I also feel much more profitable with my time than a year ago. I use to spend hours a day playing video games and watching tv.
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