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Out of context: Reply #71925
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- dkoblesky53
Since the topic of age is a fairly active one let me add to it with more comments here.
(QBN has stood the test of time,,,,it is a small miracle....but long energetic threads are diminished by the design...)
I am 62 and I still push pixels, as they say. I do Motion Design for a Fortune 500 company and I still enjoy doing it. And I am valued for what I do, in fact I am a bottleneck because I am so busy. My work winds up being on social media and websites and other places.
What I hear in this discussion is this idea that somehow design is a young person's game. That is bullshit. Designers are not different than artists - you create things. If you are passionate about your work you don't stop when you are 35. And experience makes you better. Think about how many famous artists and illustrators and designers did their work until their dying breath. Matisse did a drawing a few hours before he died....Paul Rand worked until the end...and so on.
I have no plans on stopping. I have more work in me. And the work I see coming out is inspiring in that a lot of it sucks and some of it is amazing and new. It is a fascinating time to be a visual designer because everything is changing under our feet.
There is a sense in the work world that you have to move to management at a certain age. Why? What is wrong with honing your skills and continuing to provide value with the work of your two hands, instead of directing others?
At my work they can throw some bullshit copy at me and I can turn it into a competent piece of motion design in a day. This is what experience and skill can do. And despite the bullshit copy, I still enjoy putting it together.
And that, really is the key. Since we all mostly have to work, what kind of work gives you some satisfaction? I still love making key frames. I learned late in the game that I did not enjoy trying to tell some arrogant 20 something why their design idea was not working (you see why I should not be a manager).
Union tradesmen like electricians don't feel like failures if they do not move into management, Lawyers still work on individual cases as they get older. Look at Guiliani! (that's a joke son)
You do have to be a little bit brave though. Because our culture, and those arrogant 20 somethings, do not view an aging designer as someone to learn from, unlike a lawyer or electrician. Many think you should just move into management, old man. Fuck them I say.
- Couldn't agree more. The thought of swapping creative for management is horrid. Yeh, fuck all those arrogant upstarts ;)Morning_star
- Great post. Actual cool story, bro! :)nb
- +1 great post!fadein11
- Question: do you have an ideal age you’d retire? Or “not retire until...”? Any thoughts on that?nb
- Slow clapgarbage
- It needed to be said. Bravo!palimpsest
- Fully agree. Great post. From my experience clients sometimes go like "Hey, let's try someone new and fresh.".SimonFFM
- a deserved clap and head nodmisterhow
- agreed 100%
also just lost a job 'cuz they wanted "more of a team manager" I said I wanted to still design, not go into managementgrafician - Great post. I do wonder why in a lot of agencies everyone is under 35 though.Chimp
- Totally agree, well said. The tools change but the core tenets of design don't. With experience come a valuable higher-level perspective.BaskerviIle
- to nb: I don't know the answer to that. Everyone is different. Money is part of it. Passion is part of it.dkoblesky
- This is good. I fall into that other category that went management at one point or another. I "design on the side" because management has been soul sucking.ben_
- Matisse's last drawing: https://sothebys-com…noRGB
- preach homeboy, at 46 i see no need to start thinking about exit plans or do i want to... i love what do, and my ceos love thatnecromation
- Like said... A big clap!! Great post, manOBBTKN
- cool, I was curious. I also have no plans to retire.nb
- I can only wholeheartedly agree with this post. Well, said, sir!Continuity
- ^ Comma abuse.Continuity
- True for designers, web developers are less luckydrgs
- Thank you. I often say this to myself and others.desmo
- As a developer I've found a niche working with GAS. I need to have a close relationship with the client and product to make it work. It feels more artisanal. :)palimpsest
- Thanks for this.maquito
- Fuck the haters; all hail @dkoblesky!!!ideaist
- well said dkoblesky. i too will have to be dragged kicking and screaming from my pencil, pad and computer.hans_glib
- +1monospaced
- @dkoblesky Thank you and fuck them.
Respect is something that feels lost in newer generations.sea_sea - That's great. But the issue is also that people don't hire holder designers because they believe the bullshit. Glad to hear you're still working.cannonball1978
- Great post. I share a lot of similarities with you and this was a nice little Friday affirmation.stoplying
- qbn lovefest :)renderedred
- braintrustmisterhow
- http://www.concep3.c…drgs
- Ageism really exists everywhere and in most industries cannonball, but there is a little bit of inverse ageism in mgmt, which is maybe why some choose thatben_
- route when the opportunity arises/when they hit a certain age. I know I can deal with a client in a way most 20/30y/o can't. And I know I can leave my ego asideben_
- which serves me well as a manager and a bit of a coach. But some of the best in the craft that I work with are 50+ And I hire them every chance I get.ben_
- if you really want to be a masochist, be a one or two man shop. designer, manager, clients, hr, accounting, ceo, gopher, coder, It support, sales, punching bag_niko
- How fortunate you are to remain passionate and fulfilled. It’s not that way for all.jtb26
- Ageism exists noticeably more in design than say, the medical field or accounting. Yes, it is everywhere, but especially so in design.cannonball1978
- Excellent post. I've friends who chose management and a little bit of them has died next to those who didn't. Long may we stay on the tools.MrT
- AYE!tank02
- The desperate call of an old mani_was
- For the ones who have no talent : experience won't make you better.i_was
- god you're a prick i_wasfadein11
- +1whatthefunk
- I assume, younger people are more aggressively trying to get jobs/projects as they never worked before. This excitement leads to younger people in agencies.SimonFFM
- Great post. I've angst about this subject for years.Melanie
- Agencies like young people because they can treat them like shit, pay them like shit and replace them at a whim. Young people like agencies because they hire.monospaced