InVision has released the 2019 Product Design Hiring Report, which is apparently the first global survey of its kind to assess the product design hiring landscape. It’s an interesting read if you are interested in a career in this space, are a hiring manager, design leader etc. Should share it with HR too, they might understand the realities of the industry.
Dann Petty has put together a series called Freelance TV that documents freelancing. Inspired by the interviews, I thought I’d talk to the many freelance roles I have for filled over my career.
Independent
There is a stigma with the word freelancing that made me uncomfortable early in my career. To me I did not work for free, I was not some guy working in a basement etc, rather I was an independent professional and I guess, literally a one man show for the first 10 years of my career, because I chose to be self-employed as I had no formal design education.
Freelancer slash unemployed
Between working at agencies, I was forced to freelance in order to bring in some sort of income between finding full-time employment.
Freelance employee
While holding a position at agencies, I have worked as a freelance designer while also earning a full-time salary. This was nice way to earn some extra income, but it’s time-consuming and really difficult to pull off given the attention to detail I am used to putting into projects.
Freelancer at an agency
Probably my least favorite experience has been freelancing at agencies. The sitting at an agency having to design or direct seems forced and just didn;t sit well with me. People don;t treat you with the same level of respect and you pretty much just feel like a screwdriver executing someone else’s bad ideas.
Whatever your situation and your reasons for freelancing, I hope it gives you both the freedom and rewards you deserve.
This morning I had the pleasure of giving a pretty open talk titled “10 Things Craig Jamieson” at Creative Mornings in Cape Town on the topic of Transparency. Thank you to everyone who woke up early and was present, you were a great crowd, I truly hope you enjoyed it. Please find my deck below.
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I will be talking at this month’s Creative Mornings in Cape Town and the topic is Transparency. It will be held at Friends of Design and if nothing else, there’s breakfast! Best of all it’s free, so register now to join me.
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This morning I had the pleasure of giving a talk to the world class second semester students of Friends of Design. I gave a brutally honest 50+ point presentation on things I have experienced and thought they ought to know.
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We all have ego’s and they are gluttonous beasts within all of us. As designers, our egos get in our way and often chase a lot of great opportunities away. My best advice I have for everyone, including myself. Get rid of your ego, focus on your work and be excited by every opportunity that comes your way. We are problem solvers and there’s little that should be beyond our ability to apply our thinking.
Yes we all want to work on hot brands that make us feel great, but doing great work of your own, trumps the success of others, honestly, get over yourself, there are very few people who can singularly lay claim to an entire brands success.
I was watching a talk the other day where the speaker explained that when you work at Apple, it’s not your design, it is Apple. Ego is gone! Product and brand are great, you work there, contributing the team that makes Apple great.
There are a lot of great people willing to afford us many opportunities if we just drop the ego, so be rid of it and you will do the best work of your life.
Quite often when my friends introduce me to new people, they are unsure how best to introduce me, as explaining what I do is challenging, in truth, even for myself. But more often than not of late, I get introduced as a user experience designer, big thanks to my friends who always pop in “one the of the best …”, kudos! They call me this because I often talk about user experience as part of how I think about solving problems, and a practice I have gotten comfortable with, as I typed that I rolled my eyes, but I reluctantly use user experience as part of my thinking.
For me it’s all kinda simple, I design useful stuff that people simply love. The industry buzz word is user experience and it’s opened up an entirely new category of the team member in product teams and the like, who play not only a huge part in the success of a product etc, but they have huge clout!
I really believe that everyone is a user experience designer, as we are all responsible for the experience of the end user. But then that’s like saying everyone’s a designer because we all solve problems. Well, it’s how you solve those problems that define who we are and what we do.
Of course, given my constant attention I give to better experiences for users, or more specifically people, I am more broadly understood as being a user experience designer. But I am not. The guys that stand out for me as user experience designers might not be thinking on a whole other level as me, but they apply themselves on a level, I simply am not comfortable doing.
The thing that makes someone, specifically a user experience designer, is not purely how they think or the methodology they practice, but the tasks they do, such as user research, creating personas and hypothesis etc. There are lists of things user experience designers do, that I can do, that I enjoy hearing about, that I understand and I include in my decision making, but I simply don’t like to do myself.
I have been designing for digital channels and making stuff for nearly two decades and there are many I do well, but I am well aware that what I am when you strip away any fancy titles I might have received or called myself in order to qualify myself, is simply a designer. Where I practice my design is a whole other conversation. But what I am not, is a user experience designer, I simply subscribe to thinking and best practice and apply it to my work.
If only I could find a better handle for my social platforms, as I cringe that I still use @digiguru with all the misconceptions and remarks that name refers to, both the reference to digital, despite most of the work I have done has been in this gray area of what some people call digital and to sitting cross-legged in the lotus position somewhere on top of a mountain in the Himalayas.
I stumbled upon this hashtag #NationalFreelancersDay on Twitter, which celebrates National Freelancers Day on June 9th (Yip, I’m so ‘merican like that … ) so I thought it’s only appropriate to write something given that while I don’t call myself a freelancer (which has something to do with my distaste for the word ‘free’ for obvious reasons) I am kinda a freelancer.
Permanent employment has simply escaped me and being an entrepreneur feels like it requires me to have more of a business with product, employees etc. While I am certainly always trying to find that next big opportunity, I remain self employed. Its common these days to rather say, what occupies your time and for me I mostly contract, consult, coach, produce and educate independently, which is another way of saying, freelancer.
Happy National Freelancers Day!
While the work I do is most certainly not free, I am feeling generous, so to celebrate National Freelancers Day my thoughts are something like this …
On this, #NationalFreelancersDay, I’m going to write off the debt from those poor clients who were never going to pay me anyway.
Its been a while since I actually got to code a website from scratch without some sort of CMS or other hosted solution. Web design simply is nothing like it was when I started out almost 2 decades ago. A lot of the major engineering is gone and for that matter, so is a lot of the design/styling. We really don’t do as much grunt work as we do, know what works. So I was thinking about what a web designer in todays online world looks like.
Nomadic
Working nomadically is nothing new to web designers, but it’s never been easier than now to work remotely. As co-working/co-living spaces become more available, with high end internet access availability, there really isn’t much holding web designers back from enjoying travel/vacation and work, a term we like to call a workation.
Basic skills
No web designer should have the right to call themselves that if they cannot at the very least understand how to write html and style with css, but I have a sneaky suspicion there are plenty of folks out there who simply know how to use the customisation panel within WordPress or their hosted online solution.
Knowing
There doesn’t seem to be any reason to have to code anything from scratch anymore, so the modern web designer really does have to know, rather than have to do. You could probably surpass more seasoned web developers by simply trying all the platforms out there and understanding their offerings than actually being able to develop anything.
Designing
Often we forget that despite being able to code, or not, there is the design, in web designer. There is very little need to design anything anymore, it’s more like a mix and match type of process. I don’t even see the point in doing a mockup design anymore, I think it’s easier to just jump straight in and add your logos, select fonts and colours and add your content.
Content is king
This old rule still stands true, even today, except it’s a whole lot easier to do now than at any other time before given how comfortable we all are taking photos of just about everything using little more than our phones and writing micro copy on the fly. Crafting words will always be an art thats hugely valuable, not even spelling is something we ned concern ourselves with, given the incredible tools available to us in editors.
Thinking
I haven’t been paid to do much for years, most of how I keep the lights on has to do with design thinking. How I see things has become far more valuable than how I (physically) do things. Knowledge, experience and approach mean a whole lot more to people than how neat my style sheet is.
Users vs taste
While every designer should have good taste, I guess it’s what separates us, it’s far more important to understand our users needs than to impose a design style. I still believe I’m an artist, my tools have just changed, my choices show my style, but my methodology and approach are the real art for delivering an experience people will love.
Innovation
You don’t have to be hugely innovative to be on the edge of web design, you simply have to know how to use the right offerings, but if you do want to innovate, then there are plenty of opportunities to join teams of designers building apps, templates and services that require that sort of thinking. But being a pioneer does not a web designer make, you can earn without being the inventor, rather you are more of a curator, so to speak.
The web is dead
If that was the case, then I see web people. Web designers are everywhere and I would think it’s one of the easiest things to get involved in, no matter what your experience. The learning curve is constant, you have to keep your skills sharp, whether it’s designing, coding or learning the latest online offerings. Being a web designer will always evolve, the web is not going anywhere. As long as there is a browser, web designers still exist and while I’m sure their is a decline in people accessing the internet by way of the browser due to apps, there is a growing internet access footprint as connectivity becomes more available.
In 2016, you don’t need to design or code to be a web designer, you just need to know how to solve problems for the web.
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2015 has to have been one of the most challenging years of my life and I honestly felt at times I just wasn’t going to make it. But I hung in there and it turned out to be a pretty epic year as I rediscovered a whole other side of life. So in no particular order, here are 15 epic moments I experienced this past year.
Hong Kong
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In 2014 I departed on a contract as a Creative Director at JWT Hong Kong. I got to work on several regional projects for Nikon Asia and a few other local and international brands. It was a tough experience living there, fresh food was scarce, serviced apartments were small, gyms were expensive and I worked all the time, but I found my groove and welcomed in 2015 in a new apartment that felt like a home. While my adventure was quite suddenly cut short and I returned home in March, experiencing living in Asia was an eye opener and something wonderful I’ll never forget.
Surfing
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My most recent accomplishment, it took 40 years before I finally got on a surfboard and I loved every moment of it. I have wanted to do this for the longest time, but thankfully on my last trip to Cape Town, there was some good weather and I finally went to Muizenberg, hired my gear and after a quick tutorial, I was paddling away trying to catch my first waves.
Walking, Hiking & Forest Bathing
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I love walking, it’s something I enjoyed doing in Hong Kong all the time. There is a freedom to being abl to walk outside and explore the city we live in. While it’s hard to do in Joburg, other than walking in malls, I have spent a fair amount of time in Cape Town where I walk along the beaches, the city streets and of course the promenade.
I have also started doing trails/hikes with my friends along Table Mountain. I have so much to explore and even some of the trails I have done a few times, offer the same magical experience. At sunrise or sunset, these walks bring me closer to nature, give me the freedom to walk and offer up some incredible views.
A good friend has introduced me to walking in the many forests in Cape Town, which he calls forest bathing, soaking in the miracle of natures tall trees and feeding our souls with its beauty. It’s a fantastic way to escape the city vibe and reconnect with the land and breathe in some fresh air.
Secret Sunrise
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I discovered that I really enjoy waking up early and starting the day with a good old dance, with like-minded people. With our wireless headphones we collectively wakeup to celebrate the sunrise with a stretch, a hug, smiles, high fives, get really goofy and expressively dance. I have learnt that the more I let go, the more fun I’ll have.
Skating
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I was never a great skater, but I have always enjoyed skating. After years of collecting boards, which I use to hang on my office wall, I decided it was time to kit one of them out and start skating again as I have noticed the trend pick up while at the coast. I don’t expect that I will do any crazy tricks or frequent a skate park, but I do enjoy riding a board again and sharing the experience with friends.
Cape Town
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My job allows me to travel to Cape Town just about every week, so I have rediscovered my love for the mother city and everything it offers. I have always regretted moving back to Joburg, so I really do try to take advantage of my opportunity and make the most of time at the coast. It’s absolutely magical there, surrounded by the ocean, beaches and the magical mountain. I will make this place my home again as it offers me the type of lifestyle I want.
Product Design
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Not satisfied anymore working in the Advertising industry, I decided to take the leap into product design and joined Standard Banks mobile team. I cannot be so bold as to say I will never work in Advertising again, but being on the client side and working with a team who strives to build something useful, people actually want to use, is a refreshing change in my career.
This is 40
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I turned 40 and I remember being young and laughing when people commented that life begins at 40, but if the past 4 months are a sign of things to come, it truly does. Yes I lack the youth I once had, but I feel younger than ever inside, I feel great and I am excited for what the next half of my life will bring.
CrossFit
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For years I have played down CrossFit and despite hearing how incredible this training was, I believed CrossFit to be more of a cult based on what I had seen and heard. But as they say, don’t knock it until you try it. So a good friend convinced me to go and I absolutely loved it and feel it has contributed a lot to some much-needed weight loss and being generally fitter.
Diet
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One of the things I struggled with while in Hong Kong was food and I really changed a lot of eating habits, which have made me realise just how much we over eat in SA and waste. I shop small now, I am not a foodie, so eat out of necessity and through the help of some friends have started ridding my body of excessive sugar intake, reduced the amount of meat I consume and have basically become fruitarian. While I don’t want to define myself by what I eat, I am eating cleaner and healthier than ever and I believe this will greatly contribute to me looking and feeling better, inside and out.
Teaching
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I had the great privilege of being able to share some of my knowledge as I began teaching again thanks to Dave Duarte and the team at Treeshake. I designed a course which is now taught by the team, but enjoyed teaching it too.
Roadtrip
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In an effort to try to move to the city where my heart is, I took a road trip on my own to Cape Town and stopped off both there and back to see family and friends. Travelling alone gives you plenty of time to reflect, observe without distraction and to be with one’s self. While I did not secure the opportunities I was hoping for, driving through this beautiful country was a welcomed experience.
Awareness
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I for the first time in a really long time, am very much aware of the changes going on within myself. Every day I see the differences the new experiences and habits I break and make are evolving me into being the best version of myself.
Friendships
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I have reconnected with more friends from the past than any other time in my life. For the longest time I felt myself distancing from wonderful people, but in 2015 that all changed as I reconnected with so many people who have gone through similar journeys as mine and who have come to the same realisations. I am truly grateful for every reconnection I have made and look forward to the wonderful experiences we will have together. I am also really fortunate to have made some new friendships due to the willingness to experience new things and hope they will be long and full of laughs.
Life
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I will probably shock a few people, but I have not been loving life, I would say I had almost given up on finding any new joy, but these past few months, as I clawed my way out of some tough situations, I have a new lease on life and couldn’t be more excited to enjoy each and every moment, experience new things and open my mind, body and soul to the miracle of this wonderful world we live in. I have an ever growing list of things I want to experience, so follow my feeds if you want to keep up. I am aware, I am alive and I am excited about the possibilities.
Bring on 2016!