Sep 5, 2006
I’d Rather Be…
A designer I know has recently resurrected his interest in leaving the client-based design sphere. This is something we all toy with–chances are we all have some secret (or not-so-secret) design interest that exists somewhere outside of client work. So what stops me personally? The reasons are always the same:
The Money
The biggest excuse. Maybe “excuse” is the wrong word. Perhaps I should say “the biggest legitimate concern.” It’s not easy just to walk away from paying clients for the uncertainty of entrepreneurship. Even worse is the possibility that there is not a clearly defined market for the things you would like to make. I won’t even bother discussing the hurdles for those interested in pursuing some sort of as-of-yet-unexplored-holy-grail art+design hybrid.
The Time
Here’s the rub. When I started picking up more freelance work I always thought about it as a way to eventually finance my more personal design projects. Somewhere in the past couple of years it feels more and more like the means to an end has become the end itself. Don’t get me wrong—I love the client work I do. This work keeps me sharp and makes me feel like I am doing something “real”. Perhaps most important is that it provides deadlines that are essential to maximizing my productivity.
The Balance
I don’t think I will ever leave the client-based sector entirely. I don’t want to—the challenges are ever-changing, the pay is good, and I simply love designing and problem solving. If I went all out into personal work I would likely burn out quickly. I also fear that making a business out of my personal interests would make them lose that special something that makes them appealing to me know.
It’s all about balance. I know that the day will come (hopefully sooner than later) that I will slow down the freelance and start to balance my personal/professional design scale. When I strike this balance it will allow me to have the best of both worlds without being consumed by either. Teaching will pay the bills, freelance will pay for personal work, and personal work will enrich every aspect of my life as a designer/husband/teacher/peer.
I am not quite sure what I would be doing for my personal work, but I have plenty of nagging thoughts. My wife and some friends have talked about starting a greeting card business. I have thought about submitting some of my experimental poster/interactive work to juried exhibitions. We have considered traveling to the south of France and developing a contemporary typeface based on the distinct letterforms of my ancestors. The list is eclectic indeed and priorities shift from week to week.
The Question
So what would you do to balance your personal/professional creative scale?
If you had more time, more money, fewer, better clients what would you do? It doesn’t even have to do with design but creativity in general. Perhaps by sharing our secret creative/entrepreneurial daydreams we can start down the road to accomplishment.
BLANK Editor’s Note: Thanks Paul and Widgets & Stone for allowing us to post this article from anonymous designer.
Interesting Post. As a design student with limited real-life client work, I’ve always thought about my own creative endeavors but never as something that could be profitable or a full time career.
Ideas I’ve been kicking around for a couple years now have included a designer T-shirt company specializing in limited edition T-shirts images from different designers for a low price. I also like the idea of an independent black and white magazine showcasing art work, writings, photography, poetry and the like all done in a black and white design.
When I think of these, I think of something that will occur farther down the road, mostly a side project along with my normal client work. But as a full-time job, that is something I haven’t thought much about.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Another reason NOT to pursue personal creative projects as a full-time job, is that personal creative projects have to be free and unlimited by outside expectations. If I could get people to pay me for them, would I? Maybe. But part of their charm is that they’re so unbounded by any practical limitation–they’re fun because they fulfill a private vision and I don’t even care if anyone else is interested.
But you’ve certainly brought up a good question: what kinds of things do we pour our most passionate creativity into? What outlets are the most fun and liberating when we’re stuck in a boring client project?
I have done lots of things as personal creative projects. Right now I have a personal interest in book design so I’ve been making e-books and designing covers for whatever strikes my fancy. I’ve also done greeting cards, creative writing, t-shirts, and posters as personal projects. Even making userpics for my LiveJournal is a little personal design challenge: How can I make a 100×100 pixel space interesting, beautiful, and communicative?