Confessions of a Downtime Designer
by Guest Author, (10 comments)
When it rains, it pours. When it is dry, it is a desert.
My years in the design industry have been a series of rushes and lulls. We work crazy hours and over holidays for weeks on end, and then we have a dry spell that is mind-numbingly boring. Earning that paycheck feels good and I bet most of us would rather be overworked than bored.
When the lull begins it can be hard to adjust. At first some of us fall into the trap of trying to look busy. George Costanza said that looking irritated made him appear busy, and that can be an effective method for hiding your inactivity. At some point though, you realize that it takes more energy to LOOK busy than to actually BE busy. Then comes the realization that those around you are in the same boat. The next thing you know, you are in a full-on lull. After a few days of it a strange sort of creative cabin fever starts to set in. What do you do now?
One of my creative directors says to enjoy the lulls, because the storm is always coming. When these lulls happen I have my own methods of coping. I read design blogs. I do online software training to learn some new tricks. I catch up on design magazines. I chat with friends, take coffee breaks, or do file server housekeeping. The important thing is to continue to be productive even if you aren’t producing design. How do you handle the peaks and valleys in your workload?
Bill Kerr is a Graphic Designer in San Francisco, CA and active BetA member.
Comments (10)
Prescott Perez-Fox said:
First things first, catch up on sleep!
I find the ebbs and flows occur even on a micro level, sometimes within the same week or even day! As a freelancer especially, I’ve sat for 8 hours faffing around on the web, only be to slammed with a laundry list of tasks that had to be done “now”. I call this “being a Fireman”.
It seems that the new model of design practitioners is that we should be contributing to the world not solely in our work, but also in non-billable things like writing blogs and articles, attending or giving lectures, maintaining side projects, compiling a book or even making silly videos for the web.
It takes a certain degree of organisation to shift from “on” to “off” and having that list of rainy day chores handy. So first thing to do when the lull hits, make a list of things to do when the next lull hits.
Posted on June 22, 2007
Douglas T said:
Restructure, reorganize, and try to prepare for the storm. One time projects also get stuck into the workflow during the slow times.
Posted on June 22, 2007
Bill Kerr said:
I try to keep a running list of “rainy day” activities, but I suppose we could all strive to do a better job of that.
Posted on June 22, 2007
umd said:
most of the lull time at work i am blogging. or searching for something from link to link, keep clicking the doors of infinite knowledge in graphic design.
Posted on June 24, 2007
HughFire said:
I am actually in the middle of a slow time that is coming after a really wild 3 months and before a new birst in about 2 weeks. One thing I did was go through all my samples and update my book. I’m also learning some new software. Check out www.accidentalcreative.com sometime. Todd Henry speaks about the ebb and flow of creative work and how we go through periods of output and periods of input. When it gets slow like this it is very important to refuel those cells. My only difficulty is making sure my employers are in step with this process and don’t try to “dig up” busy work, but realize that down times are needed to stay fresh and current.
Posted on June 25, 2007
Kyle Fletcher said:
wax the yacht and prepare for the next storm. also update all of your portfolio / contact information on all the sites you’ve posted it on … coroflot, aiga, etc. that takes a long time.
Posted on June 25, 2007
Chloe100 said:
I feel validated. I do the same thing. When I am in a lull - I use that time to peruse over the clippings or magaizines that I glossed over when I was busy. I always emerge from these lulls inspired - and often I develop new ideas or directions that actually turn into live projects.
Your creative director was right - enjoy the lulls - I felt guilty about them previosly - but your post made me feel alright!!!!
Posted on June 25, 2007
PixelHustler said:
I have a question about this. What do you do when your non-designer supervisor/boss doesn’t understand this concept of creative ebb and flow, and doesn’t understand that while you may not be producing something every second of your work day, that you are growing either in a creative sense or in a knowledge-base sense? I have a tendency to either be COMPLETELY swamped with work, or to have next to nothing. There’s rarely a steady flow of enough work to keep me busy, and that’s all. So during down times, I do tutorials from Von Glitschka’s site, or read CMYK, or learn new tricks in photoshop or illustrator. When I’m doing these things, my superiors often think I’m “messing around” or “not being focused.” Any suggestions on how to correct that?
Posted on June 27, 2007
umd said:
hi PixelHustler, i have also the same issue with my manager(am an in-house designer). the only way to confront this issue is throgh awareness. you have to tell these people you are looking ways improve your skills and knowledge base for which you need to read, write and practice making use of the available time. And tell them it will only benefit your superiors positively.
Posted on July 9, 2007
Drew said:
Like Chloe100, I feel validated. It’s glad to know this seems to be a relatively common phenomenon. I’m currently experiencing one of those ebbs and I know the storm’s gonna come because I can see the clouds. All of the projects I’m working on right now are in the client approval or quote approval stage which means that if they all called right now with their revisions or “go-ahead” we’d drown. But what’re the odds of that happening right?….gulp…. right?
Right now as you can see I’m using this ebb time to scour the web for inspiration and a lil’ validation.
Posted on July 9, 2007