When I begin to imagine where I would like to land professionally when my schooling at Seattle Central comes to an end, I reflect a lot on the last 10+ years of working in a small realm of the design field. For the last 13 years I have worked as a letterpress printer. My role has been largely rooted in producing and not creating. With the exception of being able to print my own passion projects, my work is largely centered in bringing other’s creations to life. While I very much love my craft, its history and the attention to detail it requires, I have found myself wanting to be the creative mind behind the object produced.
Working in letterpress has its benefits and its setbacks. It has given me the chance to live in 3 different states, to experience working in small teams, and even be the sole production worker managing my own production floor. I have learned on many different machines, honed in my skills in many components of producing print work and learn all of the foundational elements of design through executing detail oriented prints. It has also pushed me at times to pick up a second job (on top of working full time) just to get by, I have never once been offered benefits, and I don’t think I have ever been afforded a paid holiday or PTO benefits.
In my early 20s these weren’t much of a bother. However now, I am more hopeful on building a stable life and working towards a goal of being a home owner and prioritize health and wellbeing. I don’t love the idea of big corporations, but hearing Joe speaking of how long he has been at Microsoft and how candid he was about how he viewed his relationship with corporate jobs and how he viewed merging his beliefs with the work he does, it was clarifying and really inspiring.
If you asked me 10 years ago if I would ever consider working for a big company like Microsoft, I would have laughed. The more I conceptualize life in the design field it seems more attainable and I’m hopeful to find a place that is larger than the companies I’m used to being employed by. Whether it be in branding, UX or another design focus, I hope to find meaningful employment that will set me up for a stable career path going forward.