Tips for the Design Team-Curious: Update

Hello, hello.

How's the weekend treating you? I wanted to pop in today and share a snippet of information which I was going to call gossip ... but which is actually far too mundane for that now I come to think of it! But here goes ...

A few months ago when I blogged the Tips for the Design Team-Curious series I kept saying how you were welcome to share your own DT stories, hopes and experiences with me either here, via Twitter or by email.

I accepted that some people might not feel comfortable sharing their hopes, wishes or frustrations in a public space, so I was really happy when many people felt happy enough to do so.

And so now part of me feels obliged to repay your honesty and openness by telling you my latest DT related facts!

Fact 1:

• I applied to be on the Basic Grey Design Team [here's the projects I sent in to them with my application]:

Fact 2 - the salient fact:

• I wasn't selected. [You can see who was - here].

Fact 3 :

•  I'm OK with that. Really OK. [James hasn't had to hide my craft knife or keep me away from open windows or anything! ;-)

After everything I wrote about reducing my DT responsibilities over the last year or so, I'd applied for a new position mainly because:

• I'd pretty much decided that  the only new team I'd consider applying for would be that of a major manufacturer and you don't get much bigger than Basic Grey ... so I applied.
• I like their products.
• They felt like a good fit for my style. [Just like I set out in Part 3 of DT-Curious - see ... I do take my own advice!]

In deciding which examples of projects to send in I was scrupulous about only sending in work which truly felt and looked like mine. Like 'me'. Likewise, my written application was [for better or worse] very 'Julie'.

My reasoning was: If they were going to select me to design for them - I would rather offer them the real me and NOT get picked ... than offer them things I thought they'd like, but which weren't quite 'me' at this given moment in time, then have to act and create like I was someone else for a year!

There's one big reason I felt disappointed when I saw that my name wasn't on the list of successful designers: I wanted to be wanted. And who doesn't want to be wanted?

But there are actually many more reasons I'm OK with the outcome [I won't go into them all, but y'know, things like time constraints, trying to focus on paid work etc]. And that balance suits me fine.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, mainly because I think it's a natural conclusion to my Design Team-Curious series:

•  I thought that by showing you I'd followed my own application advice - about being true to yourself - you might feel more confident to tackle something similar. Because look! It worked! I survived!
• And I thought that maybe one person reading this might feel better about their own DT disappointments if I shared mine.

And if all you take away from this post is a comforting sense of schadenfreude then, hey ... whatever gets you through the night my friend. Whatever gets you through the night!

Julie ;-)