Most of the people I graduated with have no job, or are holding a job different from their field. Why? Because they say they can’t find work in the design field.

This is however, simply untrue. The problem isn’t that there’s no work in the design field, the problem is simply that there’s no longer much work in the print design field.

The problem

The problem starts with schooling and ends with the person. Our school was pretty traditional and the whole four years was focused on print design, with only one class for one semester based on the web. The school simply decided to ignore reality and continues to teach these outdated methods. Yes, there’s still work to be found in pre-press, print and advertising, but the majority of work and money is to be found on the web.

The problem doesn’t end with the school, because in the end, it’s the student who makes their own destiny. It’s not really the school’s fault that the recently graduated student can’t find work – it’s the student’s. They know there’s no work to be had in print design where we live, yet they continue to sit there and wait for a print opportunity to come up, instead of branching into the similar field of web design.

The Great

This post isn’t really about the students I graduated with, but more about what seperates the medicore from the Great. Of course, when I say the Great, I’m not referring to myself in any means, as I’m still working and growing my way towards that point (I hope).

So what seperates these people without design jobs from the great designers of today?

  • They adapt. The great designers can recognize when something is dying and move on. In this case, the print world (note: the print design field is still large, but harder to get into if you’re just starting out)
  • They’re still learning. The Great don’t just go to school, graduate and find a job doing the exact same thing for forever. They learn new techniques, new coding languages and new platforms. Think of the first print designers who moved over to the web. Bet more designers in the 90’s had wished they’d done that.
  • They don’t submit resumes. The Great don’t surf around Careerbuilder, submit two resumes and then call it a day. Instead, they’re everwhere. On blogs, social media sites and local events. They’re so well known, employers come to them.
  • They don’t want “jobs”. You’ll never be Great working for an employer. Yes, you could find a good paying job you like, but a job in the long run will simply hold you back. You’ll never be able to make the kind of money you could by freelancing, or do the kind of work you could do by owning your own business as well.
  • They’re not jealous. Plenty of non-great people spend most of their day being jealous of someone more “lucky” than they are. Well guess what? There’s no such thing as luck. People make their own destiny and if you’re 45, obese, and living in your mom’s basement, that’s due to no one’s fault but your own.

All The Web, All The Time

The truly Great are always working. When it’s not client work, it’s business duties. When it’s not business duties, it’s side projects. Or learning. Just because work is slow doesn’t mean they are. They think about the web every waking minute. Even on vacations.

Do we want to be like that?

Of course it takes a special person to be Great. Not every one can or wants to be involved in their business all the time, and that’s ok.

I’ve spent some serious time studying The Great. You know, the people we hear about everywhere on the web, in podcasts and even on TV. All of these people work exorbant hours, but to these people it’s never really work. It is a lot of sacrifice however, as most of these people don’t have much of a personal life, nor do they have much time for family. But it pays off.

If you want to be one if the Great you have to have both dedication and drive. Dedication to continue to work after weeks of no pay, and the drive to work for 20 hours straight. You have to prepare to face rejection and ridicule from the uber non-greats. To go the road that isn’t in the GPS (and other life cliches…).

Your thoughts

What do you think of The Great? How did they get to be one if them?

image by Esparta

Amber Weinberg

Amber is a freelance front-end developer specializing in semantic and accessible custom WordPress themes. She works with agencies and other freelancers to bring their designs to life using custom ACF flexible layout builds - making them more performant and less buggy while allowing the client easy customization without breaking the design system.