Firstly, hello and thank you to anyone who takes the time to read this, I greatly appreciate any advice given from the UI/UX members here.
I am a 40yo UK based graphic designer of 14+ years experience, currently working as an in house designer in a software company. For too long to mention I have been feeling very stagnant and frustrated with working life, it is clear to me that I need to change direction…
My issue
Basically I have grown a little tired of the subjective visual nature of graphic design. I also feel the worth of a graphic designer these days is diminishing as ‘designing’ is getting more accessible and the line between experienced professional and opinionated amateur is getting smaller.
With myself being a ‘traditional’ graphic designer (think design for print, layout design, branding etc) I feel this role is slowly becoming irrelevant and designers these days are required to have a jack-of-all-trades skillset, particularly in digital. Even though I do have digital experience, I currently feel a bit left behind the times.
My hope
To find a job role or career path that is a little more objective than subjective and that will be relevant for a few years.
My options
Website design - I find the mix of logical user experience and creative design for websites interesting and I guess this ‘form follows function’ approach is a little less open to subjectivity. I have previously enjoyed designing Wordpress websites as it has allowed me to focus on the design rather than the coding. I question whether my lack of interest to learn coding languages will become an obstacle, plus I wonder whether this ‘singular’ profession is also diminishing due to accessible wysiwyg builders and the UI/UX industry moving towards app/interface design.
UI/UX design - Similar to the above, I find the logical and creative design for interfaces interesting. I have worked on some UI/UX design professionally and occasionally tinker with some low-level Android UI design. My only problem here is that I will need to re-educate or learn the industry programmes as the bare minimum. If I need to put money down on a course I would need to be sure this path is worthwhile.
A different career entirely! - I don’t really know what I would do! The thought of leaving the creative industry doesn’t sound terrible. I guess a ‘careers advisor’ of some sort would be the first port of call.
If you have got down to here - thanks! I would be interested to hear if you have been in a similar situation and how you arrived at your outcome. Any general insight or advice from people already in the UI/UX profession would be helpful too.
