Blue-collar design

Maybe it’s just me.

Whenever someone hears what I do for work, they act like it’s magic. Like design is glitter and sprinkles emoji turned into a job. From the inside, that feels rather silly.

The problem isn’t that people think this way. The problem is when designers believe it themselves. You set yourself up for disappointment if you think this field is a shortcut to a cushy role pushing pixels.

The truth is simpler: Design is a digital blue-collar job.

Yes, it can be creative and rewarding. Yes, you’ll get to work on great projects. But at its core, it’s skilled labor.

The easier it is to enter the field, especially if you can do it from your grandma’s couch, the harder it is to stand out. There’s always someone ready to do what you do, faster, better, and cheaper. If you can’t answer “why you?” clearly, I'm afraid you're not going to get the results you're aiming for.

Craft makes all the difference.

Doing the work again and again until it becomes second nature. Noticing the details others miss. Having patience when progress feels invisible. Turning failures into lessons. Showing up even when it isn’t fun.

That’s the recipe. Time, patience, perseverance, attention, consistency. Put enough of those together and you’ll finally have an answer when someone asks, why you?