Struggling with imposter syndrome.

Orhtug

New Member
Hey everyone, I'm looking for advice and opinions. I basically just want opinions outside of people that know me. If you are an experienced designer or someone that highers designers then that is even better.

Here is some background information on me. I just turned 29. I have a two year degree in design from my local community college. I graduated in 2015. For the past two and a half years I have worked in the graphics department at a medium sized printing company. I do some creative work but it's mostly preparing customer art for printing. I would like to get a job at an agency or in house as a fulltime designer in the near future.

I was hoping some of you could look at my work and give me your thoughts and critiques. Here's a link to my work: https://www.behance.net/milesguthro

Thank you for your time.
 
Hey Orhtug. Welcome to the forums.

Why the self doubt?

Personally I think your work is well above par.
It's well presented and shows your process which is more effort than I usually go to. ;)

Nothing wrong with starting at a printers (as did I) because there is a lot be learned from that.
You may have found out by now but it's amazing how little many Designers even at large agencies know about setting up for print.

Particularly like the skateboard branding but I'm biased there. :D
 
Hey, thank you for the kind words. :)
And yes it is amazing, a lot of the stuff that is sent in takes quite a bit of work.
 
Hey, thank you for the kind words. :)
And yes it is amazing, a lot of the stuff that is sent in takes quite a bit of work.

Welcome to the forums!

Yes, nice stuff. As you say, it takes a lot of work. Plenty of people assume it's just open it up and press the design button and there it is. They do not understand why it took so long, they argue the hours to try get the price pushed down.

For instance, I wouldn't go into a restaurant and tell them that the chef only spent 15 minutes making my meal, so I am only paying 15 minutes of the chefs hourly rate! Why would I pay more?
 
Your work is good, I see much worse every day from my local competors and they're doing fine :giggle:.

Imposter syndrome never really goes away, whenever I get a call or an email from a potential client there's a knot in my stomach where I assume I can't do what they're asking. Apparently there's an opposite phenomenon too, where people who don't know much about a subject see themselves as experts.
 
I really wouldn’t stress it too much. You have a good understanding of space and type. I like some of the beer label branding.

As Paul says, there are a lot of ignorant people out there who have no idea what they are doing and call themselves designers. I’d say, it is always healthy to keep a little bit of that self doubt going on. Keeps you sharp and stops complacency, but you definitely have some ability. Trust it and never stop learning. To master typography takes a lifetime.
 
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