Let me know what you guys think of the article. What topics do you want to talk about next? I have struggled with the last few years with feeling irrelevant as an aging designer. Hoping to come more to terms with how age can have benefits with wisdom, knowledge and encouraging younger designers.
I've got a couple of years on you, and like you I've been on my current track for about 20-ish years. (Design + branding.) I don't usually feel "too old," with one exception... I expect to be paid professional wages (and yes, commensurately with all this *experience,* which provides beaucoup *value* to clients)—and when young'uns come along and undercut professional wages because they're more able/willing to make Burger King wages in order to get started, I feel pretty weird.
I dunno if that's feeling old, exactly... more like wondering where the clients who value high-quality design work done by an experienced pro (work that lasts, work that has strategic thinking behind it, work that is part of a plan for growth...) have gone.
Debbie Millman, Paula Scher, and many others can still find 'em... but there are a lot of business owners who think one-step-above-AI is close enough, and a lot of untrained folks calling themselves designers because they know a couple of pieces of software, willing to price themselves one-step-above-free, making it harder and harder.
So I'm always looking for new ways to beat the bushes for clients... at a point in my career, when I expected clients to be coming to me with less scraping and clawing.
I think the work is at the agency level where you are part of larger team working for company with employees 500+. I think once your name gets passed around to elite business decision makers is where those larger jobs come into play. Paula does not ever have to seek out work, it comes find her. Her reputation is her ticket. She had to be pretty bold to get that reputation and take tons of risks. Risks most of us are not willing to take (including me) in fear of being rejected. Once again, easier said than done and AI does not make any of this easier as now companies want designers to incorporate it somehow to make investors happy. It is the buzzword of the century. It is a strange new world for designers especially those of us with traditional skillsets. Hold true to your values and the price you deserve. The race to the bottom in pricing has no winners.
Great article! I’m actually a little older than you (yes, that’s possible 😂) and have been thinking about this subject a lot lately. Thank you, very enlightening. One more thing to consider though, is it possible that the Graphic Design industry changed throughout the years in a way that it doesn’t have as much space for older professionals, like it had in the 60s/70s/80s?
Yes, totally possible. I think graphic design (now with AI) is becoming so tech focused. Back in the 60s it was very much a traditional art form where layouts had to be done by hand. I think this is going to get even more dramatic with AI revolution. Designers are almost forced to learn it to find work and even larger companies are using it for big ad campaigns. I do not see this trend backing down. The entire stock market is built on AI being the next big revolution. We will find ourselves trying to redefine our industry.
It’s possible that we’ll have to program ourselves to be designers for a certain amount of years, and after that move on to a different role but where we can still take advantage of the skills we have developed.
Love this article! It answer some questions I was having while deciding if I should start studying graphic design to change my career. In your opinion, is it still worthy to study graphic design/motion design? I do like the area, but I'm afraid it would be pointless nowadays and I won't be able to find a job. What are your thoughts on that?
great question and certain areas of design will remain in demand. Brand design work will always be needed as well as interactive design (ux/ui etc.). Best to look up keywords of which niches in design are remaining relevant and see their search history's to gauge how the demand is growing/shrinking.
When I was downsized at my publishing job eleven years ago, I tried doing the freelance thing for a while but quickly found without a stellar portfolio; I just wasn't getting looked at. The problem was that I didn't want to make a stellar portfolio anymore. I just wanted to design what I wanted and make cool stuff, which is the direction I went, and I never looked back.
I know the feeling. Bring able to write and create content was the fresh break I needed from client work. Not sure how I would feel now if I still had to do client work 20 years later.
OMG... My exact thoughts since few days... I have been on that constant war of "I am not good enough... I am too old to be a graphic designer...".. Your message today hit the right nodes
Very interesting article, Lindsay! I loved it, thank you for writing this. I was wondering what are your thoughts on people who are learning to design in their late 40s or even 50s? Maybe they're transitioning careers or have found a new creative passion late in their life. How can they feel better about all this? Any healthy perspective would be very helpful. <3
I want to thank you for addressing this topic. In a small way I can relate to the subject material. To start, I am a beginner, just trying to learn how to apply a new understanding of the Affinity suite tools (and eventually further my knowledge of the Adobe Suite too) to a new education on graphic design. Now you may think at this point that I am a young man trying to embark on a graphic design career. Nothing could be further from reality. I am 68 years old and about to retire from a long career as a technical subject matter expert supporting U.S. Air Force weapon systems, the ICBM to be specific. I am now interested in pursuing a strong working knowledge of current graphic design principles because I find the material fascinating. It seems to be a melding of creativity and technical prowess. I have utilized Udemy to take a handful of your courses and am currently working through your Intermediate Graphic Design Master Class. I really thought I'd find some help with my design journey when I received this article. I'm really sorry, but your examples of older designers left me wanting. Yes I am a senior, but I still have the ability to learn and contribute to the community. Its hard for me to believe that someone who is in their 40s and 50s is hovering around their peak. Speaking from experience, many of the most productive and smart people I know, are in their 50s and 60s, with several more years left to contribute.
Lindsay, I have tremendous respect for your experience, talent, and accomplishments; contratulations. I will never be like you with 20+ years of working knowledge and experience in design; I just don't have that many years left to contribute. But, all this article related to me is that I might as well not even start. I will not stop learning, especially as my current career is ending soon and I will have entire days to study and produce. At some point, I'd like to call myself a graphic designer, and I hope I can be encouraged to continue to learn and grow, and maybe actually be able to contribute in some small way to the community. Please consider the wealth of experience we of the baby boomer generation can bring, even if we are just embarking on an interest in graphic design. Thank you for all you have done to help me on my journey. I will continue to learn from you.
I am guessing you have misinterpreted my intentions. Intentions for the article:
1.) Identify the age bias in graphic design specifically (which does not exist in other creative fields like drawing, painting)
2.) Identify those who have peaked much later in life (after 40) and talk about their work
3.) encourage those who are experienced in the field to help other in the community.
Not sure why there should be any discouragement to the article? In fact, me being honest about how I feel personally should not be a recommendation on how you should feel but quite the opposite. Those who are in their later half in life have so much to offer in the form of experience and wisdom and in your case experience in other fields that can cross over.
Thank you Lindsay. I do respect your opinions and experience. I just feel like we have more to offer than graduating to the ranks of teaching and sharing our past relevance if we want to remain in the production fray. I realize it will be a challenge to overcome some biases, but we should not be discounted which it seems to appear is happening across the design world as well as many other disciplines. Allow me to once again thank you for responding. Many do not.
I can totally agree with you there. Paul Rand was 40+ when he created some of his better known brand identities. I think it takes years of skill and experience to build iconic brands. We have been through many cycles of brand refreshes to know what sticks and what is timeless. Some things are impossible to teach and can only be experienced through the passage of time.
Let me know what you guys think of the article. What topics do you want to talk about next? I have struggled with the last few years with feeling irrelevant as an aging designer. Hoping to come more to terms with how age can have benefits with wisdom, knowledge and encouraging younger designers.
The next 2 days I am offering my design courses at up to 90 percent off, lowest of the month on udemy https://lindsaymarsh.myportfolio.com/udemy-discount-coupons
Lindsay—
I've got a couple of years on you, and like you I've been on my current track for about 20-ish years. (Design + branding.) I don't usually feel "too old," with one exception... I expect to be paid professional wages (and yes, commensurately with all this *experience,* which provides beaucoup *value* to clients)—and when young'uns come along and undercut professional wages because they're more able/willing to make Burger King wages in order to get started, I feel pretty weird.
I dunno if that's feeling old, exactly... more like wondering where the clients who value high-quality design work done by an experienced pro (work that lasts, work that has strategic thinking behind it, work that is part of a plan for growth...) have gone.
Debbie Millman, Paula Scher, and many others can still find 'em... but there are a lot of business owners who think one-step-above-AI is close enough, and a lot of untrained folks calling themselves designers because they know a couple of pieces of software, willing to price themselves one-step-above-free, making it harder and harder.
So I'm always looking for new ways to beat the bushes for clients... at a point in my career, when I expected clients to be coming to me with less scraping and clawing.
I think the work is at the agency level where you are part of larger team working for company with employees 500+. I think once your name gets passed around to elite business decision makers is where those larger jobs come into play. Paula does not ever have to seek out work, it comes find her. Her reputation is her ticket. She had to be pretty bold to get that reputation and take tons of risks. Risks most of us are not willing to take (including me) in fear of being rejected. Once again, easier said than done and AI does not make any of this easier as now companies want designers to incorporate it somehow to make investors happy. It is the buzzword of the century. It is a strange new world for designers especially those of us with traditional skillsets. Hold true to your values and the price you deserve. The race to the bottom in pricing has no winners.
Great article! I’m actually a little older than you (yes, that’s possible 😂) and have been thinking about this subject a lot lately. Thank you, very enlightening. One more thing to consider though, is it possible that the Graphic Design industry changed throughout the years in a way that it doesn’t have as much space for older professionals, like it had in the 60s/70s/80s?
Yes, totally possible. I think graphic design (now with AI) is becoming so tech focused. Back in the 60s it was very much a traditional art form where layouts had to be done by hand. I think this is going to get even more dramatic with AI revolution. Designers are almost forced to learn it to find work and even larger companies are using it for big ad campaigns. I do not see this trend backing down. The entire stock market is built on AI being the next big revolution. We will find ourselves trying to redefine our industry.
It’s possible that we’ll have to program ourselves to be designers for a certain amount of years, and after that move on to a different role but where we can still take advantage of the skills we have developed.
Love this article! It answer some questions I was having while deciding if I should start studying graphic design to change my career. In your opinion, is it still worthy to study graphic design/motion design? I do like the area, but I'm afraid it would be pointless nowadays and I won't be able to find a job. What are your thoughts on that?
great question and certain areas of design will remain in demand. Brand design work will always be needed as well as interactive design (ux/ui etc.). Best to look up keywords of which niches in design are remaining relevant and see their search history's to gauge how the demand is growing/shrinking.
When I was downsized at my publishing job eleven years ago, I tried doing the freelance thing for a while but quickly found without a stellar portfolio; I just wasn't getting looked at. The problem was that I didn't want to make a stellar portfolio anymore. I just wanted to design what I wanted and make cool stuff, which is the direction I went, and I never looked back.
Now, I'm writing full-time. Go figure.
I know the feeling. Bring able to write and create content was the fresh break I needed from client work. Not sure how I would feel now if I still had to do client work 20 years later.
OMG... My exact thoughts since few days... I have been on that constant war of "I am not good enough... I am too old to be a graphic designer...".. Your message today hit the right nodes
Very interesting article, Lindsay! I loved it, thank you for writing this. I was wondering what are your thoughts on people who are learning to design in their late 40s or even 50s? Maybe they're transitioning careers or have found a new creative passion late in their life. How can they feel better about all this? Any healthy perspective would be very helpful. <3
Lindsay
I want to thank you for addressing this topic. In a small way I can relate to the subject material. To start, I am a beginner, just trying to learn how to apply a new understanding of the Affinity suite tools (and eventually further my knowledge of the Adobe Suite too) to a new education on graphic design. Now you may think at this point that I am a young man trying to embark on a graphic design career. Nothing could be further from reality. I am 68 years old and about to retire from a long career as a technical subject matter expert supporting U.S. Air Force weapon systems, the ICBM to be specific. I am now interested in pursuing a strong working knowledge of current graphic design principles because I find the material fascinating. It seems to be a melding of creativity and technical prowess. I have utilized Udemy to take a handful of your courses and am currently working through your Intermediate Graphic Design Master Class. I really thought I'd find some help with my design journey when I received this article. I'm really sorry, but your examples of older designers left me wanting. Yes I am a senior, but I still have the ability to learn and contribute to the community. Its hard for me to believe that someone who is in their 40s and 50s is hovering around their peak. Speaking from experience, many of the most productive and smart people I know, are in their 50s and 60s, with several more years left to contribute.
Lindsay, I have tremendous respect for your experience, talent, and accomplishments; contratulations. I will never be like you with 20+ years of working knowledge and experience in design; I just don't have that many years left to contribute. But, all this article related to me is that I might as well not even start. I will not stop learning, especially as my current career is ending soon and I will have entire days to study and produce. At some point, I'd like to call myself a graphic designer, and I hope I can be encouraged to continue to learn and grow, and maybe actually be able to contribute in some small way to the community. Please consider the wealth of experience we of the baby boomer generation can bring, even if we are just embarking on an interest in graphic design. Thank you for all you have done to help me on my journey. I will continue to learn from you.
I am guessing you have misinterpreted my intentions. Intentions for the article:
1.) Identify the age bias in graphic design specifically (which does not exist in other creative fields like drawing, painting)
2.) Identify those who have peaked much later in life (after 40) and talk about their work
3.) encourage those who are experienced in the field to help other in the community.
Not sure why there should be any discouragement to the article? In fact, me being honest about how I feel personally should not be a recommendation on how you should feel but quite the opposite. Those who are in their later half in life have so much to offer in the form of experience and wisdom and in your case experience in other fields that can cross over.
Thank you Lindsay. I do respect your opinions and experience. I just feel like we have more to offer than graduating to the ranks of teaching and sharing our past relevance if we want to remain in the production fray. I realize it will be a challenge to overcome some biases, but we should not be discounted which it seems to appear is happening across the design world as well as many other disciplines. Allow me to once again thank you for responding. Many do not.
I can totally agree with you there. Paul Rand was 40+ when he created some of his better known brand identities. I think it takes years of skill and experience to build iconic brands. We have been through many cycles of brand refreshes to know what sticks and what is timeless. Some things are impossible to teach and can only be experienced through the passage of time.