Follow dream Or the Money

[Davic001]

Hi guys i am in a pickle here basically my pickle is i have ****** job in a warehouse moving fridges and on top of that ****** pay but have 3 kids and wife to support and man has to do what man has to do. My kids are young i will be 40 next year and i am panicking. I was always interested in design, motion deign but i understand that it takes years to achieve those goals of becoming a designer and make good money , but since time is an issue and i give my self year and half to become smoothing becoming a motion designer can be challenging and take more time then learning to code, I am thinking of getting in to web or app development. Reason for web or app development is job security, benefits, pay increase with experience and any big or small city i move there are job opportunities in computer programing. I understand from my research that one can be employed with in a year or two if hard core initiative is taken, i am relly stuck here both sides are pulling equally Which ever one i chose i will be self learning but Jesus its hard to pick. I am pulled toward money because of the kids i want to give them best life possible. What would you do in my situation?

Thanks guys

 

[steveash]

It’s hard to say, as we don’t know your local jobs market or how motivated you will be if you take your second option.

The motivation is important because any creative field is fast moving and you need to continuously learn new things, often in your own time.

Don’t forget that you can always move to a different field at a later date. Over the last 20 years I’ve moved from product design to print graphics through web design and development and am now focused on photography and image making. OK, if I’d have stuck to one thing I’d probably have been more successful but it’s certainly possible to move around.

If there are more opportunities and better pay in one area then that's probably the way to go. Its a job at the end of the day and you have a family to provide for.

If you go the web route. I’d recommend learning HTML and CSS perhaps PHP too and then getting into a technology that is a growth area that employers will find attractive. If it’s the area that interests you, go for web animation or maybe you’ll get an interest in a particular platform or technology. I'm less familiar with motion graphics but expect there are specialist skills that could make you more valuable.

Either way, the creative industry is very competative. As a result the wages aren't great unless you have a particularly rare and valuable skill. Specialists can get paid twice as much as generalists. Hope that's some help.

 

[a2jack]

Post moved.

 

[alex00100]

You will be competing against hoards of talented young people who went to art colleges and spent years mastering their craft yet are willing to work for pennies because they aren't supporting a family. I agree that you have to find a way to switch to a better job but as someone working in the art field I'd say that supporting family doing art might not work for you.
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[transphasic]

Hi guys i am in a pickle here basically my pickle is i have ****** job in a warehouse moving fridges and on top of that ****** pay but have 3 kids and wife to support and man has to do what man has to do. My kids are young i will be 40 next year and i am panicking. I was always interested in design, motion deign but i understand that it takes years to achieve those goals of becoming a designer and make good money , but since time is an issue and i give my self year and half to become smoothing becoming a motion designer can be challenging and take more time then learning to code, I am thinking of getting in to web or app development. Reason for web or app development is job security, benefits, pay increase with experience and any big or small city i move there are job opportunities in computer programing. I understand from my research that one can be employed with in a year or two if hard core initiative is taken, i am relly stuck here both sides are pulling equally Which ever one i chose i will be self learning but Jesus its hard to pick. I am pulled toward money because of the kids i want to give them best life possible. What would you do in my situation?

Thanks guys

Do not try, there is a glut of effects/visual designers. I spent 2 years mastering Ps, Ai, After Effects, Animate, C4D and was learning Nuke when I realized no one was interested in me because of my age and lack of a 4 year degree.

I had many years of successful professional experience in the corporate world but we cannot compete with a 22 year old willing to work 120 hours / week who has spent high school and college mastering color theory, design, the apps and processes - who will work like an animal and not complain. That does not even include the tens of thousands of foreigners in places like India / Pakistan who will roto or clean footage for pennies.

I had done a reel, graphic resume, and learned through thousands of hours with professional online courses, and did not even get a nibble from any studio, post-production house, ad agency, etc., and I live in a big city with a large number of shows, commercials and movies being made here, and I knew people in the business.

Motion graphics is a fun side hobby for most, but to change into it after 30 is a waste of time. Wish I'd known this 2 years ago, would not have wasted my time learning a field with no future for me.
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You will be competing against hoards of talented young people who went to art colleges and spent years mastering their craft yet are willing to work for pennies because they aren't supporting a family. I agree that you have to find a way to switch to a better job but as someone working in the art field I'd say that supporting family doing art might not work for you.
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This sums it up nicely, don't bother.

Motion graphics is a nice hobby for people in another career, but it is not one you can transfer into.

 

[SomeMacGuy]

I ran a freelance design business from 2003 to ~2015, (still doing it for a side hustle, kinda). I have a 4-year Bachelor of Design degree and loads of experience. Around 2011-12 I started to notice the market changing. Tech companies were increasing in size and more and more had in-house designers. I wasn't getting enough work so I got into selling real estate and I'm making 3x as much money as I ever did doing design. Hate to say it but Fiverr, etc ruined the market, and with third-world "designers" willing to work for absurdly low prices it was an inevitable race to the bottom. I'm not sure what it's like now. I do miss it but I really enjoy the opportunities having a decent income has given me. This is just my experience of course, I prefer living in a rural area and I wasn't willing to move to a big city to work so that's definitely part of the reason for how my career went. If you have a family that depends on you you're in a very difficult position that doesn't lend itself to chasing your dreams, unfortunately.

 

[OlliFlamme]

Don’t change job, as it is your lifeline.
Define your dreams as just dreams: these are not ambitions but an imaginary escape. 40 years and a swap into a world of creativity will only get you in a similar disappointing job as today: you will be doing a likewise boring job, but sitting on a chair while continually staring at a screen. You’ll be watching your clock in the corner of your screen instead for the one on the wall.
Physical work is less straining on the mind and actually enables you to find insight and in er peace of mind. Also, a warehouse job has a real life social aspect to it that is hard to get in designing etc.
Define your realistic opportunities by defining your qualities that are not getting enough attention. Define your job by giving it advantages over other jobs, like above. Seek for a in er will for improvement without fooling yourself. Take and seek responsibility, insight, functionality and search for improvements in your daily routines that can give an impulse to the right people. You need a social network to develop and expose your abilities. When the right person sees your commitments, you will see progress, as opportunities will present themselves.

Your situation is the one of the grass being greener at the other side. You have more praise for other people than yourself. Hence, you use profanity for your job and pay descriptions. See it as the first step to accept your current state of being, and use the love and care foe your family as a drive to find the next step.

Straighten your back, rebuild your pride and self respect, and others will respect you more. Seek opportunities, and others will show opportunities. Don’t be a looser and live in your reality.

I am 42. My job is a boring as it is exciting, it depends on how I look at it. I have a good pay, but I feel that my ambitions are not getting fertile soil to develop in. But what I feel for my kids and from my kids overshadows all of my concerns, as long as I keep balance and keep my mind grounded in the reality of everyday.

 

[SigEp265]

I ran a freelance design business from 2003 to ~2015, (still doing it for a side hustle, kinda). I have a 4-year Bachelor of Design degree and loads of experience. Around 2011-12 I started to notice the market changing. Tech companies were increasing in size and more and more had in-house designers. I wasn't getting enough work so I got into selling real estate and I'm making 3x as much money as I ever did doing design. Hate to say it but Fiverr, etc ruined the market, and with third-world "designers" willing to work for absurdly low prices it was an inevitable race to the bottom. I'm not sure what it's like now. I do miss it but I really enjoy the opportunities having a decent income has given me. This is just my experience of course, I prefer living in a rural area and I wasn't willing to move to a big city to work so that's definitely part of the reason for how my career went. If you have a family that depends on you you're in a very difficult position that doesn't lend itself to chasing your dreams, unfortunately.

How old were you when you got into real estate? Residential ?

 

[a2jack]

001: No one can see you in that warehouse. Change jobs.

Get out in the world. If opportunity has not found you by now, you must get out in the world and hunt it down.

Drive a cab, be a bartender, or Best, If you can sell, go into warehouse related industrial sales.

It's pretty clear from the pros here, the graphics career is a no go for you, except as a hobby.

Why have you not engaged these pro posters with questions ? This is a direct contact into the field of your dreams.

Perhaps assertiveness is an area you might want to work on first. Good luck. a2

 

[Scepticalscribe]

001: No one can see you in that warehouse. Change jobs.

Get out in the world. If opportunity has not found you by now, you must get out in the world and hunt it down.

Drive a cab, be a bartender, or Best, If you can sell, go into warehouse related industrial sales.

It's pretty clear from the pros here, the graphics career is a no go for you, except as a hobby.

Why have you not engaged these pro posters with questions ? This is a direct contact into the field of your dreams.

Perhaps assertiveness is an area you might want to work on first. Good luck. a2

Good point; I would have expected the OP to return to the thread - given that he started it - and perhaps engage with some of those who offered advice and counsel, some of it very good.

 

[jbachandouris]

I don't really like the word dream, I prefer vision.

A dream is a fantasy with no plan to accomplish. A vision has 'legs,' a direction and a plan to accomplish what you're looking for.

At this point, as long as the OP's health is fine with this job, he should stay there. I am almost 52 and have tried chasing 'dreams' to no avail. Working contract gigs on the side might be an option, but with a wife and kids, switching careers after 40 is a bad idea.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I don't really like the word dream, I prefer vision.

A dream is a fantasy with no plan to accomplish. A vision has 'legs,' a direction and a plan to accomplish what you're looking for.

At this point, as long as the OP's health is fine with this job, he should stay there. I am almost 52 and have tried chasing 'dreams' to no avail. Working contract gigs on the side might be an option, but with a wife and kids, switching careers after 40 is a bad idea.

I think that you can (or one can) follow "the dream" (though I would agree that the distinction you draw, naming it a "vision" rather than a dream is a lot better), but it need not be your primary source of income (or identity), but a secondary one, or one that supplements the core functions and features of your or his life.

 

[||\||]

Design and programming are two totally different education tracks. If you want to make a change, decide, first, which way you want to go.

 

[a2jack]

The OP is long gone. He wasted our time. a2

 

[Szczelec33]

Why is computer programming or app making so much less competitive? Isnt the fsct those jobs pay way more mean more people would want them? Thus the ammount of developers and artists probably being similarz. I never udnerstood the phrase „competitive”. Seems like ane xcuse for companies to prioritize and pay one employee or career less thsn the other for sn arbitrary reason?