the blog of johnathan montelongo, a graphic designer

This bay, like other naturally occurring bays, has happened over millenia and without human intervention. What could anyone have done to stop it? What humans did, however, was build a town stretching inland from the coast. In other words, they didn’t try to change anything but instead worked with it. 

It occurrred to me this morning, as I sat on this bench sipping my morning coffee, that this bench was a loving gesture of a group of people paying tribute to nature for the benefit of other people. Whatever the weather does, the view from this bench will always be impressive.

Why is this relevant?

It’s important to take stock of these clarifying moments. Things are happening in the world and in our lives that we can’t control, but we can decide how we respond. That requires a healthy outlook and degree of self-control, which requires constant maintenance.

Lately I’ve been trying to smoosh a recurring mental gremlin known as self-doubt. Pop psychology might suggest it comes from having no formal education in design and being somewhat isolated as a freelancer who is lucky enough to maintain a steady flow of work to the detriment of contact with others. 

I’d buy that.

Last year was a tough one. I feel grateful for the work opportunities that have kept me busy and kept the wolf at the door but the drawback is that I haven’t prioritised time to plan what to do about professional insecurity and directionless wandering.

I few seeds may have germinated while sitting on that bench this morning. Seeds that might help visualise the destination and map the route. 

“...employers are on the lookout for skills that can enhance their customer and end user experience.”

“...the primary culprit in your bad moods is a deficit in one of the big five: flexible schedule, imagination, sleep, diet and exercise.” (Scott Adams, How to fail at everything and still win big)

“It’s better to focus on what we can control: ourselves and our own actions. We can’t control other people. We can’t control most stuff on The News.” (The Escape Artist, Apply own oxygen mask before helping others)

"There are nearly endless opportunities to improve each day and finding them largely boils down to being curious. People who are better in the end are usually curious in the beginning."

“If you met someone exactly like yourself... - same experience - same resources - same problems

...what advice would you give them?

As a freelance graphic designer who’s workload was dipping prior to the Christmas lull, it was stressful to have to take yet more time off. I think that’s where my job search kicked off this year.

Almost 12 months later, I can’t seem to secure gainful, salaried employment despite numerous applications sent and several interviews attended. The search has varied from roles in design, marketing and project management to bar-work and night time supermarket shelf stacking. 

However, I’m still in receipt of fairly regular, reasonably well-paid, meaningful and interesting commissions which keep me busy, afloat and in work, running a business.

But I still want/need/crave a change.

Rewind back to the flu-ish based sick days last December. I don’t remember from where the seed fell, but I started reading about UX design on training sites and Medium articles. It appealed quite strongly to the functional side of my design brain. To clients, I’ve always maintained ‘Good Design is Invisible’ (Dieter Rams), who often just want me to make their poorly written copy or mild messages look ‘pretty’. Perhaps there’s a brilliant, principled yet sadly overlooked and frustrated UXer in me, struggling to be noticed. 

This time, the ‘seed’ was nothing more enigmatic that a sponsored Instagram post. Perhaps it’s like the opposite of love at first site, but nonetheless you wonder, ‘is this The One?’

To UX, or not to UX. fUX yes, or fUX no? 

To go down this route, I need to secure some casual employment, get my head down in the books as well as out there at the meetups and try to get some unpaid but useful experience. 

So for the benefit of my future self:

Don’t waste money starting something you haven’t tried for free. There are countless open-source materials and freemium trials out there. Commit to learning some basics, getting experience and meeting the pros unless it’s not for you, then stop, or it gains traction, momentum and is almost all you can think, then