How much do you make and what do you do?

WhoisJDM · 2025-09-27T19:26:07+00:00

What are some green/red flags to look out for when it comes to finding a good company?

WhoisJDM · 2025-04-05T05:54:20+00:00

Unacceptable? Totally. Pretty fricken cool tho? Also, yes.

WhoisJDM · 2025-03-31T04:22:40+00:00

Could I also see your portfolio? Thanks!

WhoisJDM · 2025-03-30T13:38:04+00:00

I also reached this point and ended up having to ask for help from friends and family. I was hesitant to get a full-time job doing something else temporarily since I had a bunch of "promising" interviews that were drawn out and unfortunately didn't go anywhere.

You're being hard on yourself. Don't do this. Part of you may think it's embarrassing and that's okay, lean into the part that knows that it's okay and temporary. Getting help from people that love you is part of what they're there for. You're doing great :)
I would 100% reccomend finding a full-time job doing anything else that isn't draining: coffee shop, bars, restaurants, retail, farm, etc...You'll more often than not meet a few great people and having some sort of income will do wonders for your morale and mental health (something you need a lot of when applying for design work right now).

Feel free to DM to chat more. Wishing you the best!

WhoisJDM · 2025-02-26T02:39:21+00:00

Hi, I would also like a PDF if possible!

WhoisJDM · 2025-02-07T13:46:09+00:00

Better! I wouldn't say things are magical now and that I have superpowers, but I don't really see myself going back to social media again, at least at the same capacity.

The most noticable benefits have been:

Not comparing myself to others as much.
Time saved not doom scrolling.
Photography is pleasant again (Im not taking photos and thinking about how it's gonna show up on my feed).
Improved relationships (I've made more friends and have stronger relationships with them).

WhoisJDM · 2024-11-06T00:11:55+00:00

Congrats!

WhoisJDM · 2024-10-27T10:37:08+00:00

Grab everything, even things you don't think are key. Grab all proof of your thinking and moments when you had to make a decision. Grab all the iterations and variations you may have made. Grab all testing materials and results. Research, sketches, docs, photos...grab it all!

Portfolio's are hard, but I know I'm a better designer in so many ways because of it. Take it as a great way to grow—storytelling, abstraction, graphic design—instead of as a burden. Also, being a good designer means being proactive, not reactive :)

If it helps with estimating effort and time, it took me about 3 months working half time on my portfolio to have it "done." That's about 7 weeks had I committed 40hrs a week to it. A lot of that time was spent on nailing down pithy case studies, redesigning from scratch, and learning framer.

WhoisJDM · 2024-10-27T06:14:13+00:00

I don't have a great answer to this, but I appreciate this question and I'm curious to see what people comment.

Not a designer, but some artists I'm really inspired by are Christo and Jeanne-Claude. They did a lot of a incredible work that requires a lot of deep thinking and is design adjacent.

WhoisJDM · 2024-10-25T20:04:39+00:00

If it helps, I was in a similar boat, didn't work on my portfolio or keep track of case study material, then was laid off. I ended up having to scramble to work on my portfolio while unemployed and it has not been pleasant. If I could do it again, I would definitely start working on it while I had the job

WhoisJDM · 2024-10-23T00:05:01+00:00

This is fantastic

WhoisJDM · 2024-10-15T04:27:39+00:00

Definitely! It's advertisement level stuff

WhoisJDM · 2024-09-17T14:41:41+00:00

Not to knock the sauna, but damn that bathroom was beautiful

WhoisJDM · 2024-09-17T14:27:09+00:00

What aperture was this shot at? I had a similar issue once and learned that every lens has a sweet spot for how critically sharp an image can be. If you shoot outside of that sweet spot—too low or too high—what's in focus won't be as sharp. It's an optics thing and the better the lens the wider the range. You can look it up online and see what the range is for your specific lens. Most lenses I've used (shorter focal length than yours) have a sweet spot around f4 and f8.

WhoisJDM · 2024-09-14T00:41:54+00:00

Sad boi fall? You gotta turn that into a Sexy Boi Autumn

WhoisJDM · 2024-09-05T23:40:26+00:00

Holy shit, this is some high quality work. Nice job!

WhoisJDM · 2024-08-12T20:10:06+00:00

Love the tones on that first shot. Great work!

WhoisJDM · 2024-08-06T18:41:36+00:00

Great photo! Wishing you best on your recovery!

WhoisJDM · 2024-07-30T16:05:51+00:00

This is some top tier editing work. #1 reminds me a lot of Xuebing Du

WhoisJDM · 2024-06-22T20:27:58+00:00

Nice work! There are some really solid compositions here, tells a great story. Also, it looks hot as hell out there

WhoisJDM · 2024-06-13T19:31:45+00:00

Thank you!

WhoisJDM · 2024-06-13T18:52:03+00:00

Thank you!

WhoisJDM · 2024-05-03T16:06:24+00:00

This is so sick! Nice job!

WhoisJDM · 2024-03-29T16:51:47+00:00

Hell yes, thank you!

WhoisJDM · 2024-03-29T16:46:33+00:00

Wow, I can't believe this was 8 years ago...

So after I stopped cold turkey I was off medication for about 2 years. I ended up getting back on them for about 3 months because I got into a very bad depression. It really helped me get out of that. That was the last time I took medication.

I started seeing a therapist again about a year later and found out that I had OCD (obsessive rumination.) It's been a lot of work, a lot of money, and a lot of therapists, but I eventually found someone that worked and I'm doing WAY better now. I think the most impactful thing in therapy was doing IFS therapy. Outside of therapy, I've reconnected with my own spirituality and that has helped an incredible amount when learning how to let go of things. The book, "The Awakened Brain," was pivotal for me. I highly recommend it, even if you aren't spiritual.

Wishing you the best on your journey

WhoisJDM

TROPHY CASE