I have known what I wanted to do as a career for a long time (since I was quite young - 13 or so) and am glad that it has worked out for me so well thus far. That being said who knows what might happen one day or what other careers I could possibly expand into/switch to. I am currently a graphic designer and will go over the points of my job that are very enjoyable for me and the areas that I tend to struggle with:
Positive:
• I am a naturally very creative person, and of course LOVE getting a new project and brainstorming all sorts of ideas about what to do for it (yay!!! possibilities!!!).
• I am very good with meeting with customers/the customer service aspect of my job. I also am very intuitive with figuring out what a customer is trying to tell me they want for their brochure, flyer, book, etc. I work with another designer who is a xSxJ who has to do a lot more trouble shooting via sending proofs with her designs to get exactly to what the customer wants. Either that or she requires much more implicit instructions than I do (most of the time.)
• I find it very natural to be flexible with what a customer wants and be able to change design aesthetics or even deadlines quickly/with ease.
• Not getting bogged down in tiny details/ allowing very little things about my design to affect how I'm able to look at it as a whole. The other designer I work with (although her attention to detail is much greater and it is very useful for me to have her look over my stuff as she'll find things I sometimes miss) sometimes has a hard time letting go of a small issue with her design and can't decide whether to do something one way or the other (should the type here be 10 point or 11 point? Maybe 10.5? No 11...no 10!) and it hinders her progress in the grand scheme of things whereas I kind of 'feel out' alot of those kind of issues as I design (not that I don't ever get stuck worrying about which typeface to use or how big type should be, etc. but most of the time as soon as I hit it right I just 'know' and continue on whereas she'll continue to obsess.)
• My enthusiasm in general seems to help me be genuinely interested in even the smallest, most mundane projects.
Negative:
• Time management, this one is huge. I can get caught up in trying 20 different designs for something (not in a stressed out obsessing way but a 'oh wow I wonder what this would look like instead...or this...or this!....ohhh that's cool! etc.) or even just creating some really intricate graphic (that I may or may not use but get really excited about creating) and before I know it 2 hours have passed out of nowhere. Also time management is an issue in that I think I have enough time to complete a job and then I'm running around getting it all printed and finished at the last minute (luckily I work in a print shop, and the pressmen have saved my ass on this more than a few times.)
• As far as personal projects go or things I'd like to do to add to my portfolio I have a hard time with follow through (definitely no shortage of ideas for them though, haha.) I'll get this really cool idea for a cook book I'd like to make myself and get about 30% of the way into it and then realize that 'I should really mail my grandmother a card and ohhhh the drawings I'm using for the cook book are actually something she'd love and maybe I should just pause the book and make her a card to mail (and then I put off buying a stamp for a few weeks before I send it so the point is moot anyway.)
• I have a hard time with promising friends and family that I'll make them something they need (and alot of the time even come up with the idea on my own and volunteer to do it for them) and then realize later that I don't have much time to put into it and then I get stressed and don't start it at all and then when I do finally have to buckle down and do the project it's all last minute and rushed.
• I don't always get fun design projects, a lot of them are basically typesetting that requires zero creativity - these are sometimes hard for me to push through. Luckily I get enough 'fun' things that help to balance it out so that I don't get too depressed/bored with the tedious projects.
• At the particular place I work I sometimes have to do billing/invoicing for some of my jobs. I HATE this aspect; however this isn't an aspect of most designer's jobs so I feel it's unfair to list it as a quality negative for me about the over all career - just this job in particular. I am terrible with the billing stuff and loathe doing it.
One thing I have worked on alot and have genuinely all but overcome in myself is taking criticism too harshly (at work anyway.) Especially in a field like Graphic Design you might produce a design that you think is an awesome solution to the customer's request...they do not always feel the same way. When this happens rather than allowing myself to become disheartened and my work ethic to wane I instead become fiercely invested in making sure I come to a design that the customer truly loves. If I haven't met with them in person yet I will usually suggest a meeting where we can talk about what went wrong with the first draft I sent and also what they might have thought was working so that we can get a jumping off point.
Graphic Design has been a very rewarding career choice for me. It allows me to be creative and artistic as well as use computers (which I love - I love creating art on the computer because it's so easy to see so many possible ways to create something without being able to turn back or save multiple versions...and I can scan in hand drawings to use as well.) I also get to be around people while also getting enough time to myself just listening to music while designing. It's pretty fast paced which works well for me, in fact the really long and in depth projects are much harder for me to stay invested in and stick through to the end (I realize this is something I need to work on but as most projects are fast paced I don't often get the opportunity to challenge myself with longer more intense work.) It's also something I can do in my spare time for fun to create things for myself and my friends (especially since I work in a print shop and have easy access to printing) which I think is one thing that keeps me loving what I do so much - the fact that I can still have so much fun with it and make a point to outside (and inside) of work. Also it's a pretty flexible field and there are all kinds of jobs you can have - whether freelance or corporate, or even the personality of the firm you work for - artistic/organic versus more structured/architectural. Even web design versus print design is a big difference. Also within design itself you can rely more on the computer or actually incorporate physical art into your work.
Well I feel like that was a kind of unorganized tangent but it's some sort of cohesive summary of how I feel my particular career choice works for me!
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