What am i known for at work

In all these seven years I have been a designer, i have been known for the following in the work place…

- the guy who can write content on demand.
- the guy who can draft that critical mail to anybody.
- the guy who can be trusted to get a particular info somewhere somehow.
- the guy who can keep a tab on the industry happenings and spot the trend.
- the guy who can give some original input / gyaan on any design/decision review.
- the guy who can speak his mind anytime he wants [and sometimes even rather brutally].

But I don’t think anyone has said ‘Oh PK is an awesome designer’. The one tag I’m yearning for. Not yet.

I guess my designs have always been from passable to good.. otherwise I would not have survived this far… But yeah nothing earth shattering about my design work so far..

There is a possibility that the Industry needs more of ‘jack of all’ than ‘master of one’ folks…Maybe I would not have truly survived in this corporate coolie dom if i were a great designer..they just need somebody with adequate skills.. not someone who can be really disruptive in their skills.

Anyway, the conclusion is

Either,
a) Me being okay in written communication sort of distracts from my core skills, OR
b) I am just plain not so great in design. Meaning not really talented and all.

The litmus test will be on the days to come..

What if it was more the latter than the former?? Will I become a useless fellow?
Nah. I will become a project manager!

I am not sure if its just that i am feeling really low about my skills since its been sometime I’d worked on a project individually or its just a case of reality hitting me.

9 Responses to “What am i known for at work”

  1. Joseph Says:

    “What if it was more the latter than the former?? Will I become a useless fellow? Nah. i will become a project manager!”

    Well said and Welcome to the club.

  2. prabukarthik Says:

    Joseph

    I wish that doesn’t come true :)

  3. Karthik Sankaran Says:

    you are a real damn good designer….you better be;)

  4. prabukarthik Says:

    karthik

    danks.. un adhangam puriyudhu :)

  5. Chakra Says:

    > But I don’t think anyone has said ‘Oh PK is an awesome designer’. The one tag I’m yearning for. Not yet.

    - Perhaps, ppl haven’t seen the work you did for my site.. direct them to my site… howz the idea?

    P.S: I didn’t get this idea in the bathroom… got it at my desk. :)

  6. prabukarthik Says:

    chakra

    Thanks for the confidence boost :)

    adhuku reasons irukku.. i had no pressure to somehow deliver, no conference calls, no vetti discussions, no arguments …nike ad la vara madhiri ‘just do it’ dhaan…

    pesama idhey policy apees layum follow panlaamanu parkaren
    maybe work for a small company for some time and see how it goes.

  7. Malesh Ponnusamy Says:

    Myself being a designer I can relate to your situation. More than once i found myself in this classic crossroad and from there on it has been just moving on. No one is going to turn around and say u are an amazing art director…. i guess good work is expected out of us as part of our profession. It is like the XBOX commerical - HALO 3, Believe where the war veteran indian general says ” A soldier shouldn’t be honoured for what he is expected to do”.

    I think more appreciative and supportive words from the peer group can boost a designer’s confidence.

    It is like you have national players who are talented and looked upon and worshiped as idols, setting the trend, having the media spot light etc. Then you have the ‘A’ team players who are unknown and unacknowledged yet they try breaking into the national side with occasional brilliance and then you have the regional players who are just good to be there. After a point of time ppl find their niche, through a series of failure, dejection and not so good times.

  8. prabukarthik Says:

    >>>I think more appreciative and supportive words from the peer group can boost a designer’s confidence.

    It can. But does it work that way? If you say yes, then i envy your workplace and/or your optimism :D

  9. Malesh Ponnusamy Says:

    in order to be a good designer you need to put up with lot of criticism!!! they say it helps in developing the work which i think it is the ultimate. the work needs to speak for it self doesn’t matter who designed it.

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