Why the Career Change?
I’ve decided it is time to rebrand myself. For the past decade, I have been a graphic designer that has specialized in page and book design. To be more specific, I focused on designing books for self-publishing authors. I had an interest in writing and an aptitude for design, it was a nice fit.
For a long time, it suited me well. And I am really good at what I do. I specialized, so I’ve had years to develop all the skills that are needed for being a great book designer. I learned my software inside and out, I learned colour theory, typography, image selection, photo and vector manipulation, template creation, you name it.
I would probably still be doing it, but I grew to dislike the company I worked for. Don’t get me wrong, I loved what I did; I was good at what I did. The people I have worked with, during the 18 months I was there, are some of the most amazing people on the planet, I could even deal with the quirky authors. But the company was toxic. It acted like an entitled little brat. It needed the employees to constantly give more and more, but couldn’t acknowledge or reward the effort. Turnover became unmanageable.
Now that I’m done there, what do I do. I’m going to be honest, I’ve been thinking about this for awhile now. I have the skills, talent and experience to move into a lead designer, senior designer or potentially even an art or creative director role. But if I was to continue with book design, I would need move into traditional publishing and couldn’t stay in Victoria to do that, and I love living in Victoria.
I’ve also done book design for a long time, and I think I just wanted to do something new. After some reflections and conversations with designer friends, I started looking into User Experience (UX) design. Skills needed for a good UX designer are some of the same skills that I inherently possess: good with new technology, problem solving, communication, etc.
My former company, for the past year or so, has been developing a web app for it’s clients (who are obviously authors) to help facilitate the services it offers: editing, design, distribution and marketing. The problem that I noticed immediately, and mentioned on occasion, was that the website was being developed for people who know how to use technology (millennials), and the authors, who for the most part, were older individuals and not the most tech savvy.
But I was focused on book design, and assumed that the people in charge of development were on top of it. Which was not entirely the case. Parts of this system began to roll out and things just didn’t work as well as it could have. More parts rolled out, productivity dropped and clients were unhappy. A spike in company turnover, a drop in morale, delays in improvements, a single amazing developer left doing everything. There was a cycle of things that potentially could have been prevented with a little forethought and a clear plan with the various users in mind. But that’s just the perspective of hindsight.
Again, I was very busy designing books and not yet redirecting my attention to UX. About a month or so before I was done, being very frustrated with the portion I used daily, I sketched up something I thought could work better. Handed it to our lone developer, who stuck it to his wall, and may get around to implementing at a future date.
I had been unhappy at the company for the past six months. As I said, I liked what I did, was really good at what I did, and liked the people I worked with. I shouldn’t have been unhappy. But the company just didn’t function as it should have, and as much as I wanted to fix the problems, I couldn’t. I tried, but somethings were just out of my control. So I started looking for something new. Either moving forward with book design, or changing my focus entirely.
If I knew than what I know now, I probably would have approached things better. Having learned more about the process of UX design, I would have helped plan things out better. It is really exciting to focus on something completely new.
Wish me luck?
Tara
Although I have a BA in English, and have worked in publishing most of my adult life, I have terrible editing skills. So if you notice spelling/grammar mistakes, be nice and leave a comment. I’ll fix.
I’m starting this blog about my journey into learning UX design. But I’m also using this as a tool to improve my writing. I want feedback and would love to hear from you.
I originally posted this piece on my LinkedIn profile.
