The Side Hustle (aka Never Not Working)

Photo from Jared Eberhardt's "Side Hustle" series w/ Aron Draplin

As seniors we're all to familiar with sleepless nights and endless hours glued to our monitors in effort to meet a deadline for a first finish, or worse, a final finish. We can see the end in sight and yet our hardest hour is upon us. But, We will survive, we will make the deadline and we will feel great. But then what? Get a job a small firm, maybe a large agency? In at 9 our at 5? What does life look like for a graphic designer post graduation?

Well if you'd like to make a B-line for the door promptly at 5 o'clock in order to watch Netflix all evening, then you fall under the category of "designer as occupation". Which is quite alright, no shame in that. But maybe your restless at the job after a couple years. Maybe grinding day in and out for the man just isn't doing it for you anymore. If you're the type that never turns off, constantly seeking creative outlets through art and design to give meaning to your life, then you fall under the category of "designer as lifestyle". Your obsessed, you need to create, and simply clocking out at the end of day will not keep you satisfied. You will likely find yourself freelancing at night, Netflix maybe still on, but far in the background. You'll have many evenings drinking till 2am – not beers, but coffee, in an effort to meet a deadline for a spot illustration for the New Yorker. And in just a few hours you'll wake up groggy – the day job awaits. You've arrived as a designer and there's no rest for the brave. 

The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this.....He must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating…” —Pearl S. Buck

If you fall into the latter type of person, the "SIDE HUSTLE" will become a term that will both haunt and reward you your entire life. Your not alone, many designer's have walked in these shoes before you. Maybe your like some of our notable Tyler alumni; you fancy yourself an artist, like Paula Scher, painting on massive stretched canvases; or you have a creative voice and unique ideas, like Jess Hische with self-initiated projects (Don't Fear The Internet, Daily Drop Cap Etc) ; or maybe you like to use design to create fashionable products, like the Heads of State's Pilot & Captain line. All are hard working designers that haven't settled for the middle of the road. They've chosen the path less traveled. And for this they've eked out their place in design history and continue to inspire the next generation to go above and beyond the brief. 

Many designers have continued in the tradition of the side hustle and have told their stories all over the web. A truly inspiring blog worth sharing is THE GREAT DISCONTENT – an online and print publication that talks to notable designers about their beginnings, creativity and major moments in their careers.
 

Dana Tanamachi, an amazing hand type designer, has an interview on The Great Discontent that inspired me to not only continue to stay passionate about side hustles like freelancing and personal art work, but also to be patient with my work, to put in the time at a 9-5 and build up to potentially transitioning the side hustle into the main hustle. I encourage all to read the whole interview, but here's a great piece about grinding harder than most ever do:

[TGD]  Did you continue to work your day job for a while and then make the transition to freelance?

[Dana]  Yes, absolutely. 2011 was certainly intense! It was challenging, but also exciting; I refer to it as my “hustle year”. I was enjoying my full-time job at Louise’s [Filli] studio where we had all developed a great system of working together. I would be there during the day and then after work, I’d go straight home and bust out the chalk ’til the wee hours of the morning—then sometimes I’d wake up early to finish. During my lunch hour, I’d try to send an email or two. It was a really full year and sometimes I look back and don’t know how I survived.

When commissions really started picking up in early 2011, it was certainly an exciting time. Like any normal person, I daydreamed about all the possibilities and what it would be like to turn my dream into my day job, but to be honest, keeping my full-time job for the next nine months while inquiries were steadily increasing was probably the best decision I made last year. After all, I loved working with Louise and John and I wasn’t quite ready to part ways. 
 
During that season of serious hustle, I read a book called Quitter by Jon Acuff. In it, he encourages people not to bail on their full-time jobs as soon as they feel like their dream is gaining some traction. These were wise words that I needed to hear. A full-time job provides stability so that you can take more risks on your dream. In our culture, we’re prone to demonize our day jobs and exalt our dream jobs, but we fail to see that the former can be a platform for the latter. In his book, Acuff explains that the word “no” is the most valuable word you have as someone working towards your dream. He says:

“…when you still have your job you don’t have to obsess about the consequences of saying no [unpaid bills, going hungry, etc…]. You can instead focus on the benefits of saying yes to the right opportunities. When you keep your day job, all opportunities become surplus propositions rather than deficit remedies. You only have to take the ones that suit your dream best.”

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