Graphic designer doesn't have imagination

Hey, I'm a graphic designer, but I always face one problem—I struggle to imagine things. I've tried many times, but I feel like I'm not great at being a graphic designer. I just have to work to earn money.

  • Yes i do really hate old campaigns.. But the problem is i can imagine.. Imagination is like a complicated process. I've tried to do it many times but it ends up being a bit dizzy lool

  • What I've learned is that creativity or coming up with novel ideas is really hard for anyone, however well qualified. What I do is try and feed myself with lots of stimulus, take existing ideas and modify them, improve them. That's what everyone does. It's just that some people are better at projecting the illusion that their ideas came out of thin air. The reality is that everyone steals from everyone else. Especially in the field of commercial design, where time is money. I've worked in agencies where our creative director was always rehashing old campaigns.

  • I'll tell you something else I learned from another member here, a while back.  He pointed out that autism, by some definitions (from antiquity) suggested a direct correlation between "our job" and "our being/self" - ie that in times-gone-by, autistic people were termed "people who ARE their job" in a certain respect.

    I have no reason to doubt the authenticity of that information, nor do I doubt that I have "Chinese-whispered" the details a bit.......but I know I have the "spirit" of this point correct.

    I found this very useful to know.  To a very large extent, it does sorta explain me.  I do what I do, and people give me money for that, sometimes.  Whether I get money or not for what I do, I do it anyway.  That's a tough gig brother, to some extent, and utterly beautiful in some respects too.

    I a very "Numberish" way, I think I am asking you if you think you should be doing something else with your life?!  You are a gentleman of a certain age (although I have little precise idea what age-group you fall into, [nor your pronouns tbh!!]) but us males are prone to self-searching and wondering a lot about what we were "MEANT" to be.  That isn't a bad thing, in my opinion, but it can be a bit of a burden at time?!

    If you think you would be happier joining the circus, or entering the ranks of "der management", rather than doing your current gig.......then give it a go?!  Why not!  Can you find the spoons and resources to try something else?  Is there something else SPECIFIC on your mind?

    Please accept these comments and queries as all well meaning and well intentioned, from me.  I only attempt to be helpful and friendly with my words.  I know that I can be misinterpreted.

    Yours

    Number.

  • I don't like the idea that I'm belittling abilities, on the contrary... There's nothing to lose in this world if you encourage yourself... and believe in your abilities and keep fighting... But it's hard to accept yourself in a place that's not your place... as if you were a square trying to live in circles. 

  • Yes I know.. I love solving problems.. In fact I have been in the work system since I was young.. I grew up in a work environment more than a family environment.. For example, solving problems is my talent and encouraging team members I was a manager before.. But design needs to satisfy tastes and attract the target audience.. It's as if you are selling content, and an image.. It's exhausting just thinking about it lol.. But being a manager or a teacher who is more specialized, I found myself in those two sectors 

  • Management doesn't require imaginative skills..

    Oh I don't know - I've had pleny of situations where one of my team came to me with a problem and said "you're the boss, you work out how to deal with it".

    I would then have to sit down with them and go through the problem step by step and try to work out why they were behaving that way - was it a genuinely unsolvable problem, were they just overworked and near the end of their tether or were they unhappy with me and trying to make it my problem.

    It takes imagination to try to work out their mind at this stage (especially hard for an autist like me) and try to find a way to get them to find a way through it (thus building their confidence) and help them grow their skill set from the experience.

    There are so many vairables to take into account that you need to get creative as well as analytical.

  • Yeah, I do it every day—copy-pasting with a few changes—but I don’t really understand what I’m doing. I keep wondering why I’m even here. Lol.

    After wasting hours, I go back and finish the projects. If my mom didn’t create stressful situations about work, I think I’d actually be great in management..

    Management doesn't require imaginative skills.. It requires analytic skills

  • I just have to work to earn money.

    There is honour and righteousness in that.  It is to be applauded, in my opinion (if you can find the ability and spoons to do work.)

    I've tried many times, but I feel like I'm not great at being a

    .......I'm not sure it matters how that sentence is finished......I believe that MANY of us who are able to work, feel the same way.  I'm also pretty sure that, in reality, it isn't true to a large extent!  I suppose it depends on how you define the word "great" in this context.

    Personally, I think that, if someone is prepared to give you money for "doing your thing," then empirically, you are "great enough" to feel worthy and valued in your role.

    As a "type" we are known to often be hyper critical of our own abilities and achievements.  "Self-loathing" is VERY common amongst many of us.  "Self-doubt" and "utter lack of self-belief" is EVEN MORE common amongst us.

    I reckon that perhaps we need to be patient with ourselves.  "Greatness" can come in a blinding flashing from nowhere-in-particular.....so keep the faith brother, whilst you keep earning.  This is infinitely preferable to all the alternatives?

    Just my opinions Noon - fwiw.

  • I always face one problem—I struggle to imagine things

    I find it more useful to have a near encyclopedic knowledge of what has been done well by others and look at ways of reworking this for my customers.

    You will probably find that there are precious few original ideas any more and that everything is a re-imagining of something else.

    By working on the "find what works well and tune it for the specific application" and making it a less obvious copy then you can point out similar ideas that were successful which is why you think your version will work well too.

    Just a thought