2600 Days

2600 plus days I have been a professional designer. I went to school for animation, got a degree, went back for multimedia, got a degree and during the ride I got a job. My first job was for a dotcom. Life was good, my paycheck was fat, my hours were amazing, no dress code, ultra laid-back environment and most importantly I was young, I was trusted and my work was very fun. I was designing web graphics, pages and flash animation for an online sports registration community. Within a few months the roof fell in on the dotcom world and everyone either quit or was fired. I made a deal with the owner that I would stay onboard (they were trying to salvage the business) if they paid my final semester's tuition. The deal was made, I signed a contract to not leave until at least my classes were over and they paid my schooling. Life was not as sweet but things were still good.

14 days before I completed my BA I got laid off. I didn’t see that coming but I should have, I spent most of my 15-20 hour work weeks drinking coffee and downloading porn. The company hit rock bottom, only 1 employee remained and he was an asshole. No big deal, I thought, I had no fear, I finished my multimedia program at the top of my class, I had real world experience and I was hungry to work, look out world.

364 day passed since my last job with the dotcom, I just finished shaking hands with my new boss, accepting a job for $12,000.00 USD less than what I was paid a year ago. I had to dress business casual, my manager was a douche bag who knew nothing about anything and I somehow became a print designer (multimedia job were nowhere to be found). I knew nothing about designing for print.

912 days float by, I am now the art director, my douche bag manager was now just a douche bag co-worker and I successfully made the transition to print designer. Life was OK, however, I still was making less than at the dotcom and I had to deal with a ton of inter-office bullshit and shithead co-workers. Upon my last review ever at this company I decided to seriously look for the new job; they approved handing me more responsibility but no title change or any more money, sounds like the perfect deal right? Eff them.

240 days after the review and several mostly deadend interviews I have a new job. The graphic designer positions in Philly were impossible to land or very undesirable. For example, 5 years experience- 32-35k, no thanks, part-time to full-time 3 years experience 29k, go fuck yourself. So, I did the unthinkable, I ventured to South Jersey for a job, not fun. I am now on an in-house design team, working as a flash animator and web designer. I am excited, back to my roots finally. They had an art director, photographer, the creative director, magazine designer, man they had it all.

4 days pass and I get fired. Awesome. It appears they are very sorry because they misrepresented the job, the really wanted a programmer. WTF?

90 days crawl by in the freelance world. I decide I need to make more money and stay busier. I apply for a job at the Apple Store in Christiana, DE. I get the job, start work and officially I am depressed.

2.5 days into my 40 hours of the most boring training in the world at Apple, I get a call from a company I recently interviewed with. They offered me the job and I quite Apple on the spot. That job was bad.

3 days later I find myself shaking hands with the owner of the company, I just accepted the position. 7 days earlier she had told me my work was weak, I went home afterward, more depressed and opened a bottle of scotch. I am now working for a small marketing/ advertising firm in Newark, DE. The job is for about $5,000.00 to $7,000.00 USD less than my last 2 jobs but it looks like good experience and I need a job. Upon starting I get the huge vote of confidence with the owner telling me it will be a freelance gig for 45 days and they might offer me the full-time gig if I work out. To get the job in the first place I had to interview 2 separate times, show my portfolio and do a skills test, but I guess that wasn't enough. When I said the pay was low and asked for more the owner called me directly and told me that there are extra benefits for working there, such as free parking and a lower cost of living; again, WTF? Free parking in an industrial park in the middle of nowhere, perfect. Lower cost of living? How about no it isn’t? How did I ever get so lucky to have perks like these?

5 days into the new job I already know it sucks. The work isn’t bad but the office life is sad. My desk faces a corner; I work on an old PC that is not connected to any network because there is no network. The software works fine, the IT guy, AKA the finance guy, AKA the owner’s husband, AKA the real old guy (who smells like a real old guy) makes us shut down our computers, printers and lights every night because he thinks they are going to spontaneously combust and burn the building down. Again, my work is fun and I am learning a good deal, not to mention working with fairly high-profile clients but it still sucks.

20 days into this new job I get a callback from a company I interviewed with several months before. They wanted me to come in again. I must admit I was very excited, depression lifting. This job looked promising. I know the money was right, the place looked professional and I would be working with a guy who has been a designer for decades (a learning resource). I went in for a second round of interviews. I made up some of the greatest lies of all time to get out of work at the agency to trek the 43 miles south. Three more visits and I was offered the job.

40 Days after starting with the agency I went into the creative directors office to talk about me. I asked him if they were going to offer me the job and if so, more money? He said he was almost positive I would get the job but no more money, I let him know I was offered another job for $10,000.00 USD more than their offer and I was going to take it. He tried to convince me to stay with some weak line about how he felt they were one of the top agencies in the area, blah, blah, blah, if that were the case than pay like the top agency.

4 days into the year 2007 I am starting the new job. I have moved twice in a year, worked in 4 states, resigned twice, was fired once and almost quite the biz several times. Now I am starting the next chapter: new town, new job, new friends, new everything.

288 days into 2007, I now live 100 miles from home, I live in a cool area, I make decent money, I have a dog, I’m in school again and I am happy. My job sucks. I thought I wanted to work in a very professional/corporate environment, somewhere I am respected and trusted and a place I would be challenged and successful. Yes, I want to be challenged and I desire success and professionalism but the corporate, stuffy, tons of red tape bullcrap is not for me, not to mention designing packaging, labels and other collateral for drugs is bor-ing. The design resource guy? A recluse who is just riding it out until retirement. I want a job where creativity, imagination, hard work and fun are the standards. Do these jobs exist? I have heard nothing but pessimistic talk about design jobs in the Mid-Atlantic. Cool design boutiques that we all want to work for invite you in, exploit your skills and creativity, overwork you, under pay and spit you out like a piece of knarled gristle. Will all my hard work be worth it? Are there places to be creative, have fun and be successful in this area? Will my sweet memory of the dotcom days damn my expectations forever?

365 days from now, will it be all good? Will I be thinking about traveling 100 more miles from home, taking the job I think would be good experience or I think will be a good fit or will I find these strides I have taken over the years were all for not.

Today, can someone please give me hope.