It's a changing technology, with tons of possibilities and good stuff, but also tons of limitless STUFF to know. I'm feeling very overwhelmed by all the coding-related things I'm "supposed" to know or be learning right now: javascript, html, xml, php, actionscript 2.0 and 3.0, loading internet ads.. I feel like I need to go back to school to ingrain this stuff for real rather than just watching other people do it or watching tutorials online, since I'm not really required to actually do this work just yet... but I should be slowly knowing it... or something.
I know these things are supplementary to design and to being creative, because they allow me to do more things with it... but it's technical, and not creative... it's not my realm! It's weird, and Sometimes I miss being creative. I find myself thinking 'when can I be creative again?'
At work the designers are basically going to learn to be coders and loaders.. and to be put into the rotation of having to work 24/7 when your weekend comes up.. glued to a pager for "OMG URGENT!!!!" requests for ads that must! go up at 9am on Sunday morning. I do not want to work in the evenings and on Saturday and Sunday.. even if it is just for 1 weekend or less a month. If I have to, there should at least be a considerable amount of compensation for this. Designer pay plus loader pay. The loaders make more than we do already and they never do design work. I have to commend my supervisor though for stressing to us how we shouldn't be stressing so much about this stuff, and that "it's JUST a website" which is good, so hopefully things won't be as bad as I pretend they might be.
I start to question how feasible it would be to have the time to actually be creative and to have all the technical stuff to do as well (like these loaders are typically working on stuff all night long, until midnight). Sometimes I think there is a point where you have to be one or the other.. and that there isn't enough hours in the day, or enough mental sanity for both.
My other thought is this: am I going to be a webber/coder/semi-designer from now on? I never really thought of myself as such. I'd like to be more creative... which leads to thinking about the possibility of distant-futuristically switching my focus back to design for print rather than web.
It seems that, as far as work flow.. a print project has MUCH more detail given to it, because once it's sent to print, it's done. Web is too easy to change.. which is why clients can make revisions on such a whim like it's nothing (well it's something to those poor folks loosing sleep and time for Life during their nights and weekends)... It really is a time thing I think.. giving detail to things means not rushing.. which seems like a more relaxed environment to work in to me.
However, the Catch
The catch is that the way of the web is the future of everything. Design for print is becoming outdated... or so I hear. Not that I would support such a thing totally, nor that it will be eliminated totally despite web intervention. But is it smart to look for a job in print design?
I don't know, but comparing the two- I felt like I had more creative initiative with print design. Design for web (at least ad design) so far has been using other people's work or stock photography to create layouts.. nothing too inspirational there... not that I don't enjoy it because I really love working mindlessly on stuff sometimes, it's very worry free.. and I also enjoy working in Flash, especially on animation.
Here's the thing, seemingly:
A) Large amounts of high-end creative work = more stress, more planning, more long nights, more constant thinking of concepts and how to take it to final product.... but more ownership of the creative.
B) Large amounts of templated-like ad work = pretty much merely busy work that can generally be knocked out in short amounts of time making a 9-5 day full but short and stress-free.... but less real ownership of the creative.
Just some observations. I think it's safe to say that it's quite a challenge for a designer to find that *perfect* job where they get to do a little of everything, it's not overwhelming, it's enjoyable, and provides a secure position for years.
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