This really should be two separate posts, as it's two completely separate thoughts, but since only like three people read this thing anyway (hi, three people!!!), I'm jamming it together.
Part I: Client Edits
My job is a bit of a cluster right now. It's a long story that barely warrants repeating - if you know me in real life, you've probably heard it anyway. But along the bruised and shrapnel-ed path of the last few months, I've been asked multiple times over why I don't take another job elsewhere. And believe me, I should. Not because there's no light at the end of this mess - there's definitely a glimmer starting to show. But, honestly, it would be a smarter move to leave. There are better opportunities for me out there - jobs where I could actually have health insurance (I've been contracted for the last four years - there's no visible end to that in sight), or get paid like the private sector does (yay, city government...), or work collaboratively with other creative-types, or work for a company I always said I wanted to work for...
But THAT... is not what this is about.
This is actually about why I STAY.
This isn't by any means the only reason - it's just something I was reminded of recently. And it's a hell of a thing. In my current position, I am the only one of my kind. I'm the only designer - I'm the only creative, really. And at the moment, I don't even have a boss. There is literally not a soul telling me when my stuff sucks. Which is actually kind of a HORRIFYING thing - I'm never going to get any better. And what if it really DOES suck?! But, in the exact opposite way, it's fairly awesome to be able to do something once and have everyone think it's great.
Enter freelance. I do a bit of outside work for one of the tenants of our theater, and was recently schooled in the fine art of client edits - something I'd nearly forgot existed in the real world. I spent an entire day on a project for them, only to have them turn around and change pretty much everything about it. I may be exaggerating the point a bit, since it's been so long since anyone handed me such brutal changes, but this is pretty much how that went down:
It wasn't so much the number of changes they had, but moreover how they stripped out everything I thought was interesting about the original piece. It was commissioned to advertise their event in an art gallery, so I thought the bright, vintage-y comic book approach was pretty nifty - and apparently so, as they actually told me the original was "too hip/cool" for what they were going for. I could only laugh. I'd clearly missed the mark for them, and that was on me, but what a way to go down. I never take edits personally (though I'm often distressed by the amount of additional time they take), but I had forgotten how much they do make you question your own aesthetic. I couldn't even tell you anymore if the initial design was good - everything about it had to be stripped clean, so how could it have been?
THAT is the thing that would happen all. the. time. were I to go work for an agency. That exhausting, "make the client happy," soul-sucking thing.
It's not the only reason to stay, but it is (FOR SURE) a reason.
Part II: WTF?
I'll readily admit to being sort of a pretentious radio listener. If I can't listen to my iPod or Pandora station in the car, I leave it on satellite radio (when it's free), NPR or the comedy station. But today, all those sources failed me in one way or another and I turned the dial to a country station.
And all I could think was, "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED SINCE I STOPPED LISTENING TO THE RADIO?!!!!"
I've listened to this a second time, and it didn't horrify me quite as much, but I'll tell you, when you're not prepared for it, all you can ask is, "Why is this viciously cruel person trying to pass his murderous rage off as parody?!"
Please enjoy.
