Interview With A Graphic Designer

I am a graphic designer and have worked in this field for the past 25 years.

I design and produce on-target marketing materials necessary to help businesses promote their services or products. Creative development is my specialty. I have not experienced any particular misunderstandings in my position—everyone who calls seems to know who they are calling and exactly what services a graphic designer is able to provide.

I absolutely love my job. On a scale of 1 to 10 I would have no problem rating my job satisfaction at a 10. I do not believe there is anything that can or needs to be done in order for my job to unleash my full enthusiasm. I am already completely and fully satisfied with every facet of the job I perform each day.

This job does move my heart in that it allows me to be as creative as I desire to be. I have the liberty of taking a project in any direction I choose creatively speaking. This is most certainly my sweet spot.

As I mentioned earlier, I have been in this industry for the past 25 years. Therefore, there is no aspect of advertising that I have not had experience or some level of knowledge in, although some areas more than others.

I ended up in this line of work after taking some elective graphic arts classes in high school. It was then that I caught the “bug” and found ways to make money by creating artwork! I would not go back and change anything.

I have learned many things the hard way in this business. I have learned that there are dishonest people out there who will take advantage of you. Specifically, they will choose not to pay their bill even after they have received the final product from me. As a result, I always make sure to get half of my total bill up front from every new customer. Doing so has alleviated much of the financial pressure, and has freed me so that I can focus on the important things, like creating the best product I can for my customer.

The single most important thing I have learned outside of school about the working world is that being self-employed comes with its share of ups and downs. I have been very fortunate to have experienced mostly ups throughout my 25-year career in this industry.

I do not know whether this can be classified as strange; however, on rare occasions I have had to turn down work due to the fact that my participation in that effort would go against my religious beliefs.

I have the best job in the world. I get a little bit of the feeling that God experiences when He makes something out of nothing. Of course I have to begin with tangible objects to get started, but taking joy in the finished product is very much the same.

The most difficult challenges I have to face in my job are when deadlines overlap. The really stressful part of my job is having to rely on vendors and subcontractors to produce for me on time.

Overall my job is not very stressful, although it does have its moments. I have been fortunate to be able to maintain a comfortable work/life balance. As a self-employed graphic designer, I do not work any overtime unless I am very busy; therefore, I am able to spend a lot of time hanging out with my family and participating in events I may not ordinarily have been able to if I worked a 9 to 5 in some corporation.

Although some people may say that my services are overpriced, I fit into what most of my contemporaries are charging. If you compare what I charge with what ad agencies charge, I am half of that.

I usually take one week of vacation each year. I receive so much satisfaction from my job that I do not usually feel like I need a vacation from it.

In order to get hired and succeed in this field you should have some level of education. I have an Associate’s degree in visual communications, which has contributed to my success in this business.

If a friend of mine was considering this line of work, I would say that you need to have a strong sense of color, composition, and technical knowledge of production options in order to be successful.

If I could write my own ticket, in five years I would be doing the very same thing I am doing now, but I would definitely need to raise my prices by then!

 

This is the career story as told to JustJobs.com. This site houses thousands of job listings from companies across the United States. Visit JustJobs to find your dream job today.