Bandwagon Graphiks

I’ve been at a crossroads lately between my personal and professional lives. They seem to be more and more becoming one life, but at the same time – only seem to have so much room and things that I used to care deeply for are getting pushed out. Cycling has become a full-time passion – and I dont even seem to have time to fully embrace cycling as much as I want. I have a business to run, a day job to maintain, and a triathlon to train for – where do other people find the time? On top of that – I need some time for myself to just pick my nose sometimes.

Ive been thinking about this mainly because – my involvement with AIGA the past few months has been non-existent at best. Im ashamed of that. AIGA is the sole reason why I kept trucking along all these years – they provided that community I left in college here in LA and were very welcoming. However I suppose in recent months with being as busy as I have been, and the local chapter being deeply entrenched in leadership changes – I sort of just fell out of the loop. I got burned out, and made friends who ride bikes.

It’s been a sort of 6 month long realization, but in the 6 years that I have been a member of AIGA, I have never once gotten an interview or job lead. I’m not saying that this is impossible – or anything really, but with the state of the economy and lack of jobs – I just wasn’t getting what I needed out of it I suppose. I’ve been a struggling freelancer for years, and the one group that I have been trained to look up to – has not produced the return I needed. My business has grown more from leads off Craigslist and people I have met in the cycling community and on Twitter than anywhere else. But this is just me, I’m a special needs designer. I honestly have lost faith that I belong in a traditional role – maybe my quest for the traditional role is all the garbage that has been indoctrinated in my head throughout college and adolescence.

If there is one thing anyone who knows me can tell you, is that I have never followed the status quo. Excuse my language, but Fuck the status quo. I will not create bad design, I will not create bad design for the sake of profit, and most importantly – do not ask  me to settle for bad design. I have no care for titles and politics – I care about creating the best product. That doesn’t mean I won’t compromise, it just means that you will get an earful if you are directing me in a direction of bad design that I am morally opposed to.

Overall, I guess I’m saying that carving your own path is difficult, don’t expect anyone to help you. People like me can listen and write about our struggles in hopes of helping you prevent the same mistakes we made, but the world has changed. We function mostly through our phones these days and that responsibility to one another that existed 15 years ago is non-existent anymore.