Agency » In-House
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- studderine
After 4.5 years working in agencies, I finally made the switch to in-house. Holy crap, the work pace — comparing agency to in-house — is, literally, night and day. Is this how the rest of the world actually works?
- breadlegz0
How do you mean?
- qTime0
Yep and you get to go home at normal times.
- Continuity0
Downside to many client-side jobs, though: you turn into a one-trick pony (insofar as you're always working on one brand/industry sector), and there isn't the variety of sorts of projects that you get agency-side.
Also, on the client-side, most of the really fun and challenging work goes to an agency.
- This can happen, but it is up to the individual to make sure they don't get "rusty".studderine
- monospaced0
@Continuity
I've been working in-house for over 4 years now, and while you are pigeonholed into one brand, you're hardly a one-trick pony. I would venture to say that the variety of projects is VASTLY larger than I would experience at an agency, and my ownership is bigger as well. The work is just as challenging as agency work, but not nearly as creative. A lot of the fun stuff depends on the brand and the company.- < what mono said. Though I find that there is a lot of opportunity to be creative in the companies I've worked with so far.
Melanie - ..far.Melanie
- It really depends on what you're willing to try, and your ability to teach the in-house higher ups what design ismonospaced
- < what mono said. Though I find that there is a lot of opportunity to be creative in the companies I've worked with so far.
- studderine0
Let's list the known pros and cons (generally).
Agency » Pros
- Awesome work.
- Variety.
- Better portfolio.
- Cooler co-workers (I've noticed).
- More networking opportunities.
- Booze.Agency » Cons
- Long hours.
- A lot of stress.
- Low pay.
- Booze.
- Continuity0
@mono
I'm curious, though (and I'm comparing to my own stint client-side a couple of years ago): have you got the talent to do really creative work, and support from management to, say, shop that work around the awards festivals? In other words, would they actually spring to enter something from the in-house team to Cannes, etc?My experience has been neither of those two points, which frustrated me to no end.
- And by talent, I don't mean you personally, I mean your colleagues in general.Continuity
- Yes, yes, and yes.monospaced
- Our staff is top notch and every single one of us has spent years in agencies before joining. Even our PMs are AIGA directorsmonospaced
- AIGA directors and similar.monospaced
- studderine0
I don't think in-house has the incentive to win those meaningless awards as much as an agency; an agency needs those to continually sell their services.
- breadlegz0
You ever considered going freelance?
- I've freelanced while I worked at an agency and boy did that suck! I should have more time now...studderine
- Continuity0
True, but at the same time, they're an amazing thing for a creative's career, and I think the employer should foster that kind of thing for their creative staff.
- Awards no longer matter. Show me how your design decisions made an impact (more users, more $$$, etc.).studderine
- SoulFly0
in-house you have to be the expert in your project. Less room for mistakes, less tolerance for a project going too many revision cycles.
- studderine0
For sake of conversation, I've only been in-house for a month. I'm just noticing the drastic changes in work style.
- monospaced0
@SoulFly
Actually, one of my biggest problems working in-house is that there is a higher tolerance for a project going too many revisions cycles. This is directly tied to money.For example, our "clients" are really just internal groups, and they have no experience whatsoever in working with creative teams. In fact, they have no idea how it works or how we work and they always want things done faster than possible. They don't care as much for quality, and since they aren't paying for our time, they feel like they can change things indefinitely. Surely, if they were paying, they would think twice and actually provide final content on time.
- < My experience as well.Continuity
- bingokona
- <<<duckseason
- kona0
first off... congrats on the new gig.
it is what you make of it dude. after years of fast-paced, high-stress agency work i'm soaking in the slower paced in-house life. there is no reason you can't push the work to create something better.
- monospaced0
Oh, forgot to mention the single best reason to work in-house as a designer: You get paid way, way, way more than you would at an agency.
- studderine0
kona, I'm definitely not complaining. I'm just noticing how different everything is in comparison; my world view was skewed by only doing that agency thang.
- yes, it's a huge difference. you're going to find process and protocol completely different too.kona
- monospaced0
Working in-house I get to, single-handedly (from the design side) get to create/art-direct the branding for large scale events, including the conference/environmental design (branding, way-finding, animations, print collateral) as well as the online components (web sites, banners) and give-aways (apparel, packaging, etc.). I then get to work with every vendor and contractor we source to see it through, and I get to attend/document said conference/event.
While an agency might get a project like this, they'd probably split it up among a team. As a designer at an agency you might be responsible for one part, but unless you're the AD or CD, you won't get exposed to or be responsible for the whole thing.
That's what I love about in-house design, I am involved in way more than was ever possible at an agency. Also, my work/life balance is the tits.
- Good perspective. Let us be friends :Pstudderine
- what city are you in?monospaced
- Sandy Eggo.studderine