What I’ve Learned in Two Years of Post Grad as a Self Taught Designer

I honestly don’t know where to even start with this story, but I think this is an important story to share with young designers.

Hello! I’m Fiona and I make fun stuff for a living for a really cool company!

Two years ago I was young and stupid.

I started this blog soon after I had graduated from UCSD with a degree in weird art. I had BIG ambitions. When I say BIG I mean BIG and I also mean a lot of them. I basically wanted to do everything that I thought related to design, and I wanted to do them consistently and well. Not only that, but I wanted to accomplish all of them in ONE YEAR.

Well. I did it all.

Just kidding. That’s something the old me would’ve loved to say.

It’s been two years since that post. I’ve only done one of those things:

Get a full time gig in relation to Design/Art.

(You can read the rest of them here, if you’re willing. Maybe grab a beer and have a good laugh while you’re at it.)

Now, let’s cut to the good stuff.

Something to know about me: I like making lists.

Within the past two years I,

• 7 Months Post Grad–Got 3 phone calls for interviews after many applications. Made it to two on-sites.
• Got an offer for one job, almost took it while still waiting to hear from the other.
• Finally heard back.
• 8 Months Post Grad–Got a job at PlayStation, YES. That game company owned by that other company called Sony. I wasn’t a FTE, but I was still employed next to them and thats all that mattered.
• Not only got a job at PS, but I was officially a Designer. You can read about that experience in detail here.
• 8 Months and 1 Week Post Grad– Lost a loved one. Then another.
• Apologized for missing work profusely.
• Learned a lot about design in an extremely corporate yet exciting gaming world where I was the youngest employee there. All I can say: There are a lot of rules.
• Designed materials for PlayStation booths, merchandise, internal and external events. Many of these designs were massive to go on walls and pillars. I even took a stab at in-console sale designs and the end of the year wrap up site. I even learned the difference between RGB and CMYK, the hard way.
• Encountered and befriended a lot of experienced designers and project managers.
• 16 Months Post Grad–Got laid off. Actually maybe over half of our Creative Services got laid off. This is a difficult and long story to share but basically it sucked. It was brutal. And it was the way the corporate world worked.
• Lost my beloved childhood dog.
• 18 Months Post Grad–Got one on-site job interview. I’ll also be honest, I applied to a lot of jobs within that time period and only got maybe three phone calls.
• Loved the people there. The work had potential to interest me. It was still related to the gaming industry. I realized I have a good ability to convince myself I can succeed anywhere. I wanted this job.
• Got a job offer and accepted it! WOO HOO!
• 18 Months and a Week Post Grad–Heard back from one of the original companies that called me and they asked to do an on-site. Uh-oh.
• Went to another on-site.
• Loved the people. Loved the product (though I had never used it before). Loved the work. Convinced myself I really really wanted this job, but awkwardly knew I already had a job I hadn’t even started yet.
• 18 Months and 2 Weeks Post Grad– Reneged the first offer and took the offer with Discord.
• 19 Months Post Grad– Moved to East Bay and began commuting to the city for my new position as a Graphic Designer at Discord.
• Learned how to take BART.
• Made friends with wildly talented coworkers who brought out my true chaotic self.
• 21 Months Post Grad– Began living in the pandemic world. Working from home.
• Lost a loved one to COVID-19.
• Address my life long mental health issues.
• Learned a lot. Felt strong imposter syndrome. Went through a rough emotional and creative patch. Was inspired by amazing coworkers. Had a lot of fun designing and making.
• 26 Months Post Grad– Got my first promotion to Mid-Level Graphic Designer.

That’s a lot, I know. So what it took me two years to cross one thing off my Post Grad List? I was able to do it really well. At the same time, I know that two years is barely anything, and yet I have gained an incredible amount of knowledge about design, life, and myself. I think the coolest part after reflecting on all of this is that I know there is so much more to come.

Things that I would tell my 22 year old self as a 24 year old:

• Don’t get too emotionally attached to any piece of work. Sometimes you do have to accept that you are “just” a designer. Sometimes changes will have to be made or projects will have to be completely canceled. Sometimes the client wants what the client wants and it is not worth the emotional turmoil to go back and forth on this. That being said…
• Learn to pick your fights. Somethings will be worth fighting for your creative opinion on. Somethings won’t. And if you miss your chance, there’s always going to be more projects to flex on.
• Stop apologizing. You don’t need an excuse to miss work. School was wrong! Work isn’t about attendance. It is about getting work done. If you know you aren’t in the mind set to work that day you cannot do work. We’re all human.
• You might always suffer from the trauma of school attendance and testing. Sorry.
• Acknowledge that you can’t do everything. It’s ok that you studied computation design but don’t know coding. It’s ok that you don’t know 3D design or animation. It’s ok that you have holes in your design education. You know that you have the capabilities to do things. Be resourceful. Get things done in your own ways.
• You won’t know what you want at first. Do everything at first but then narrow in. You will realize as you work on more and more projects the things you like to do are your strongest works.
• Follow your passions. This is the cheesiest one, but the one truest to you. You, Fiona, love things and when you love things you love them a lot. Continue to connect your passion for entertainment and design. (This is how I got my one of my biggest passion projects BingeBean, a now dead IG account with tv/movie recommendations. My passion for event planning is how I was able to sell myself into Event x Graphic Design roles.)
• Have fun with it. Let yourself do things you enjoy, not just so you can put it on your resume. It works out better that way.
• Life comes first. Work will always be there. It can be a hard thing to accept but at the end of the day, its most likely that your design career isn’t directly saving any lives. What matters the most are your loved ones and the time you have with them. If things come up, leave work behind. You can always make up work, but you might not be able to make up time.
• Give yourself credit. I know you have imposter syndrome, but maybe sometime you can look back on your journey and remind yourself that “You did that.”