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“You’re Just Too Creative for This Role”

While studying art in college you get to work in every aspect of that industry. Once you enter the workforce, some get their feet wet in various areas of design until they find what makes them comfortable. While others continue to work in various aspects of design giving them a very broad array of different creative projects in their portfolio. For the latter group, it seems to all pay off when hiring managers acknowledge that you are a highly creative person. However, this can be a double edge sword when you heard the words “you’re just too creative for this role.”

This presents a unique challenge for the designer. You have the desire to be very creative with the work that you do, but you also must find gainful employment to help you pay off the education in the industry that you love. Would it be considered a compromise to accept a position that is not as creative as your portfolio reflects? There are options. You could broaden your search. Instead of looking at local positions, you could start to branch out to other cities or even states. You’d be surprised how many companies in other locations would appreciate your creative aesthetic. However, a huge move may not be something that you’re interested in at this time in your career.

Another option is to accept the less creative position while freelancing on the side. With freelance work, you get to choose the projects that you work on. This will continue to help you build on the creative aspects of your portfolio. Still, there are companies that do not want their employees to freelance. Is there another option? Yes! There are so many creative competitions through the year. Most competitions are free of charge. The creative designer can always enter these competitions. The adrenaline rush that comes from not only entering the competitions but completing the projects, will give the creative designer a sense of fulfillment. It will also put their work in front of very influential people in the industry, and could lead to highly creative positions more suited for the designer in the near future. Doesn’t the thought of that just put a smile on your face?

Just remember if you feel that you are too creative for a graphic design position, or you’ve even been told this by a potential employer, there are always options to work around this issue. These options could lead to better opportunities in the near future. Some helpful advice for the creative designer is this; “don’t give up on yourself if you can only land the less creative positions.” If this is your situation, learn what you can while you’re in the role and think of ways to use those new skills in your more creative designs. In the end, it will make you a much happier and well-rounded designer.

Keeping a Firm Hold on Creativity

Pablo Picasso said that “Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist when you grow up”. This statement is so true. We don’t have a care in the word as children. We create without boundaries and our eager innocence drives us to share our art with the world. As we grow older and go through secondary school and then college, our desire to be praised for our work is overshadowed by the fear of being harshly critiqued. We become more reserved with our boundaries in the desired to be accepted by the masses. We allow our past work experiences to shape our body of work as designers. After 7 years of working as a graphic design in corporate America, I had a host of credit card designs and only a few packaging samples to show for my bachelor’s degree in graphic design.

In 2011 I decided to go off on my own and start a freelancing business. This was a huge leap of faith and I wish I could tell you that my efforts were greatly successful. I had my own company with moderate success for about 4 years. During that time I was able to really boost my portfolio and show clients that I could provide artwork in a wide range of fields from web design to branding, packaging, marketing and even animation and modeling. It was like the kid inside of me started to take over and I was eager to show my work again. I felt recharged, reassured and rejuvenated. Almost everything that I worked on was portfolio worthy. Though I really enjoyed working for myself, the clients were not consistent. I enjoy having the ability to pay my bills on time so I decided to get a full-time contract position in the creative field. I had to adult.

I still long for the days that could choose which projects I would work on, having a hands-on approach while molding young minds in the fields of design and animation, and having a very creative day to look forward to each time that I woke up. Who knows, maybe I will give this creative firm another try in the near future. But in the meantime, I will educate myself on how I can market my business and my skill set in order to drive more clients and repeat business in my direction.