So You Want to Be a Graphic Designer?

People ask me what I do and I like to say kayak lakes and creeks, hike in quiet pockets of forest around my home and read mentally delicious books because I feel I should be defined by the myriad of things that I love, not the singular thing that makes me money. (The beadmaking could keep me in supply of Ramen noodles, but no roof over my head, hehe.) Yes, you say, but that is how you afford to do all the things you love. And you are right. Because I really love snowboarding, and man, that isn't cheap. Sometimes I do answer that I'm a graphic designer, and people always get a little starry eyed, and say, "That must be a lot of fun! I was starry-eyed myself, and thought it'd be a lot of fun once, too. Honestly, though this little video is what it's really like in real life. Daily. So consider what you think you want to be very carefully. That said, creating is really fun when you get to work on top-of-the-line Macs with the newest software available (I'm not bragging, just grateful; I was on Photoshop 5.5 and Freehand 8 for the last decade), but just be ready for whatever you make to end up barely recognizable from where you began and you struggling to keep it from looking hideous. This is truly what your job is. Take all the changes they give you and keep it from looking hideous. Because at the end of the day you want to be proud of what you made, but some days you just have to resign yourself to the reality of the job. You just keep a copy of that first design as a memento of what could have been.

Restoring the Faith
On another note, being able to work in InDesign and Illustrator again (and Photoshop on a computer that will let me move something and not have to go to lunch and come back before it catches up) has rekindled a few twinkles again. InDesign alone is so intuitive that I actually remember why I wanted to do this. I guess there is still some fun to be had, and I have made it my new mission to master this program and as much as I can of CS3 in general. Treading water does nothing but let you keep breathing in place.