Why
This month started rather interestingly. After some networking, I had a coffee chat with a senior design manager at my company. He has quite a bit of experience in the design industry, so discussing design concepts and methodology felt casual. At the end of our conversation, he left me two questions to think about before we meet again.
“What kind of designer do you want to be?”
and
“What do you want to act on as a designer?”
At the same time, I was actively applying for different visual designer roles both internally and externally.
How
I will skip this section for this update.
What
So I did spend some time pondering and reflecting on these questions. Because these questions help me articulate what I want from design. I have managed to write my answer down, which I want to share with that manager, but also with some of y’all. But I’ll find a dedicated way to present and explain this reflection.
As for my current hunt, I spent quite some time looking for opportunities, though I either get immediately rejected or ghosted. This almost feels like online dating at this point, lol. I noticed that there are a lot of different roles requiring different kinds of disciplines and media, yet most just use the title “graphic designer”. And this is definitely the point where the questions felt so relevant.
Later in the month, I managed to almost land a product designer role, but I was eventually rejected because the hiring manager realized they were looking for someone with more UX design experience. After all I have already done, talking with designers, hiring managers, and applying for design-related positions, I definitely feel my internal design possibilities are running thin in this company.
On a fun note, I applied for a pre-master’s in design research and research through making. So I’m awaiting the admission phase. At least something more exciting, if I get accepted.