I have to say that ever since I started designing at 15, I felt the crap from the design industry say… a year after freelancing. At first, I enjoyed designing my own stuff but when it came to projects for clients, it completely made me strongly hate designing for a good 3 - 4 years since I first started. That’s when I said I’d shoot myself if I ever got into Graphics Design as a career for life, I still feel that way.
There are so many things about designing that makes me hate it, yet I do still love some parts of it..
Dislikes:
1) Lack of creative freedom: There is a huge lack of creative freedom (in general) when dealing with clients. When I’m dealing with clients there are the good ones who give me full creative freedom but there are those who do not. I don’t mind suggestions about a design but if I’m placed in a box and limited by many specifications of theirs, I don’t feel like the work is mine at all. The worst type of clients that I had are the ones who “think” they’re designers by making me add changes to the design that makes my initial design a complete disaster.
2) Lack of respect: There’s a huge lack of respect most of the time among designers. I’ve gone through the “if you design my website for free, I will give you free exposure”, “can you design a free logo for me?” and so much more. The worst I must say was a client that said I charged too much, and when it was time to pay the invoice, he told me to take my pennies, 1 word: hypocrite.
3) SELL OUT DESIGNERS: Yes, I’m a bit ashamed to be called a designer because there are soooo many designers who are sell outs. They’re truly the ones who give designers a bad name. These are the designers who are willing to sell their self dignity & soul to suck up to their clients or “higher power” for MONEY.
After 4 years of freelancing I’m going to finally say I’m fed up. I’m not taking on any client work that will make me hate designing. I rather be my own boss, and since I’ve found a niche that allows me to do that (designing blog designs 
) I’m ditching a lot of client work, the only client work I’m accepting are from the clients I enjoy working (because they respect me and my design directions). It’s a shame, all of that work thrown away but I’m not going to go through the crap that comes along with freelancing.
May 5th, 2008 at 4:57 am
And don’t forget the design schools.
They accept as many students are they can in order to meet a certain student quota (notice uni/colleges are accpeting more in general? why….) Once you’re in the institution, they encourage (and sometimes make it mandatory) to enter design/ad competitions in order to get you more “exposure” when really it’s to show off what they have against other schools. This creates an unhealthy competitive edge for students, in which they feel the need to be better than their classmates, rather than doing it for the sake of good design.
Teachers also have a tendency to “guide” you into a certain direction by having students conform to a certain style and what ends up happening is we continue to see the same style of design repeated over and over again.
Once you’ve graduated from the institution, you’re pretty much on your own, at least from my school. And the likelihood that you will successfully enter the design world is low and takes time and dedication, unlike the false promises many profs have a tendency to make. Wow! i can write an entire essay, but i won’t.
August 1st, 2008 at 5:29 am
Hi,
I viewed your website as well as http://www.nufrosh.com/. Pretty cool. I want to be a successful designer who believes in quality work and creative freedom . But i feel lack of such power in me. Take a look at my website, suggest me how should i improve and in which way i should head?
Thanks.
Cheers.