S
Squiddy
Guest
Many of us know, and have been asked, how we got into design but how many of you know why you're still in it? I'd also like to discuss how close people think they were to going down a completely different path in life.
Some of us were born with nothing, some of us were born with everything and others were born with bits and pieces of both worlds, all of which lead to people being at dramatically different points in their lives even at the same age as someone else. Personally, before I got into design I didn't really have anything to my name and I was very much content (or perhaps that should read oblivious to any other way) with my retail job. It paid my bills and gave me a bit of spending money, even with owning my own flat (No matter what anyone says, what ever the reasoning, 6 months is definitely too soon to move in with your partner! Yes, even if they have a pool table - or a pool) and having a generally worry-free life.
In reality, my job was terrible. There was no respect, between either the staff/management or the customers, or any sense of personal development. You were treated as a machine, expected to perform to certain levels and follow the order of people without education or even life experience a lot of the time. Pecking order was determined largely by your charisma and popularity, instead of ability to perform. I could spend the next week listing out bad aspects of that job but that is not the point of the post.
The point is that I was very close to succumbing to this life and fortunately for me, I had discovered the world of design. A world which gives praise to someone who can effectively draw a frog, or place a series of buttons and patterns behind columns of text, or even someone who can create a a gigantic, man eating, armour plated worm. This world where people respect each other and encourage them to achieve, support them in what they want to do and ultimately to be happy. In hindsight, I was very close to never discovering this way of life and I cannot put into words how immeasurably thankful I am to the series of events which led me to open my eyes to it all.
Were you always destined to be a designer? Did you have alternative paths laid out for you before you made the decision to become a designer? More importantly, were you "this close" to living a completely different, less happy life in something that you probably wouldn't have enjoyed doing?
Some of us were born with nothing, some of us were born with everything and others were born with bits and pieces of both worlds, all of which lead to people being at dramatically different points in their lives even at the same age as someone else. Personally, before I got into design I didn't really have anything to my name and I was very much content (or perhaps that should read oblivious to any other way) with my retail job. It paid my bills and gave me a bit of spending money, even with owning my own flat (No matter what anyone says, what ever the reasoning, 6 months is definitely too soon to move in with your partner! Yes, even if they have a pool table - or a pool) and having a generally worry-free life.
In reality, my job was terrible. There was no respect, between either the staff/management or the customers, or any sense of personal development. You were treated as a machine, expected to perform to certain levels and follow the order of people without education or even life experience a lot of the time. Pecking order was determined largely by your charisma and popularity, instead of ability to perform. I could spend the next week listing out bad aspects of that job but that is not the point of the post.
The point is that I was very close to succumbing to this life and fortunately for me, I had discovered the world of design. A world which gives praise to someone who can effectively draw a frog, or place a series of buttons and patterns behind columns of text, or even someone who can create a a gigantic, man eating, armour plated worm. This world where people respect each other and encourage them to achieve, support them in what they want to do and ultimately to be happy. In hindsight, I was very close to never discovering this way of life and I cannot put into words how immeasurably thankful I am to the series of events which led me to open my eyes to it all.
Were you always destined to be a designer? Did you have alternative paths laid out for you before you made the decision to become a designer? More importantly, were you "this close" to living a completely different, less happy life in something that you probably wouldn't have enjoyed doing?