What you wanted to be growing up

[Mrccbirdguy]

What's up everyone? Because I'm bored outta my mind and haven't made a thread of value in a while, I thought I 'd ask the question : What did you want to be growing up?

When I was in my Teens I was split between 2 jobs: An ornithologist ( A bird expert) or an opera singer. ( Yeah Weird one.)

As a kid I always was fascinated with birds ( Hence my username) I also loved to sing. But about that point in time you hit young adulthood, you realize being a bird expert might not be the most best job. That and I can't actually read music, despite years of trying to learn.

So, what about you guys? What did you want to be before the tidal wave of adulthood came crashing over you?

[heyImKP]

I wanted to be a respectable adult with friends and loved ones... OOPS really messed that one up

[UsernameUser]

Jeff Magnum

[Heretic-Anchorite]

First I wanted to be Batman, then a Ninja.

Now I just want to make money, and lots of it. Currently I'm getting an Electrical Engineering degree; It pays well and I enjoy tinkering and making stuff anyway.

[Big-Boss]

I remember that in Kindergarten I said that I wanted to be a football player. lulz

[donglepuss]

blowtorch operator :(

[CiviLies]

At one point, when I was a little kid, I wanted to become a dragon.

[WaffleCrisp]

Archaeologist. Be in the army. Can't remember anything else.

[NanoRim]

A doctor.

But then I realized that medical school is expensive and that I would probably crack under the pressure, so now I'm just aiming for a more realistic job.

[billybobthwarten]

astronaut, paleontologist

[CoconutMoose]

In preschool I wanted to be either a ballerina or an artist, because ballet is pretty and art is fun. Then for all of grade school I wanted to be a veterinarian because I loved animals (and still do), but I realized I was just saying that because I liked animals and not because that's particularly what I was interested in. Then I didn't think about what I wanted to do until freshman year of high school. Art was always in the back of my mind, but I pushed it to the back because it's not a feasible way to make a living. After a while I realized all of my more practical money-making options are boring as hell and I decided to say "Fuck it let's do art." I have yet to reach adulthood but I am very sure I won't be deciding against it within the near future.

[SatanBrain]

I wanted to be a general.

[Peepers]

I wanted to be a Jedi, then I wanted to be a rock star.
I failed miserably at both, as I am now a Dark Lord of the Sith who took a long time off from writing music and now has to reteach himself how to play bass/guitar/keyboard.

[Oddlem]

At 8/9/16 09:37 AM, CiviLies wrote: At one point, when I was a little kid, I wanted to become a dragon.

Same.
...I was a pretty weird kid.

[Painbringer]

Originally, I imagined myself as a carpenter, with a hammer, nails in my mouth and white pickup truck.

But my parents scoffed at the idea, so I had the choice of electrician, "house designer" (architect), or civil engineer.

[UsernameUser]

Dead.

[axehandle-stain]

A drifting space corpse that would be worshiped as an elder god by a society of semi-intelligent microbes.

[Void]

I wanted to be an author, illustrator, cartoonist and vet when I was a kid.

Now I don't know what the fuck I'm doing with my life

[Decky]

It changed through time:
>6 - Fireman or Binman. I think it was the idea of having a uniform and they were the jobs I knew that did.
6-10 - Marine Biologist. Then I saw Jaws and that was ruined forever.
10-18 - Cartoonist. Then I realised that there aren't a lot of jobs in that and I wasn't likely to ever get one.

And now I'm a Graphic Designer. It's been an interesting job and I think I've found my place.

[Fenny]

I wanted to join the Marines, but they turned me down for depression I had in 2007.

Now I'm in the police force.

Edit: So yeah, I kinda did do what I wanted to do as a kid, I guess.

[Decky]

At 8/10/16 11:25 AM, BonemanCharles wrote: do you have actual work? I got commissions to do stuff for people I knew but it never paid off in the end

Yes I do. The idea is to get IN WRITING a contract/brief of EXACTLY what it is you will be doing and how much it will cost. That is if your talking about clients that didn't pay up. As for finding payed/stable design work, that is a case of years of voluntary and crappy jobs that the paid guys wouldn't touch. In my experience anyway.

Edit: Looked at your page, you're good. Keep at it and don't give up, you'll get there.

[WahyaRanger2]

I wanted to be a ecologist. A real ecologist, the likes of Steve Irwin, or Jeff Corwin. I loved watching those guys on TV, running around the world grabbing deadly ass snakes by the head. It was fascinating.

Then I entered high school. I wasn't challenged enough, not to pat myself on the back, I glided through without a care. Didn't do a dick's worth of homework my whole four years there, and still held B's on average.

My laziness engulfed me, and by the time I matured enough to realize my mistake, it was too late. Despite having honorable awards from school for my scientific wit in contests, on paper I looked like just another pawn in the scheme of American society.

I wound up at community college where my lack of dedication smacked me in the balls harder than a 12 gauge buckshot. I'm now entering my fourth year for an Associate's degree, stone set for a fate of mediocrity.

At best I'll end up a croonie for the DEC, writing tickets to people having too much fun while camping.

At worst, I'll decide to listen to those voices in my head that are saying I fucked up, it's too late to turn back, I'll never be worth shit, and I should end it all.

So yeah things happen kids are silly haha

[Lionelion]

As a kid I wanted to be an explorer.
Then music and video games happened

[Decky]

At 8/10/16 10:05 PM, BonemanCharles wrote: It just got frustrating making a design and then after that doing what the clients suggested and then having them say, "oh" that looks awful, I liked it how it was originally" "you know what, the original looks perfect lets keep it that way"
I guess I should have charged by the hour
also I have little confidence in myself, so I didnt pursue doing it with complete strangers

As a designer it is always important to realise that your time is valued. To that end, a good thing to do is to make a plan of how long the brief will take to complete (be generous here, you will need some contingency time if the worst should happen). Have a figure in your head for how much you'll charge per hour (I go for a relatively cheap £15ph ($19.5ph) if they're new to keep the customers flowing) this will give you a total price, write the contract up with a payment plan. I usually go for half now, half on completion. Make it nice and legal and they'll have no room to refuse and you'll get some start up money and plenty of time to complete the brief.

As for your confidence, you really need to get some. I'm quite shy around new people but when it comes to clients I will bug the hell out of you. I'm more than happy to email/call somebody every other (or even every) day until they respond. Get bothering those local studios and you'll get some briefs thrown your way eventually, I guarantee it.

Hope this helps you out. I'm always happy to help out a fellow designer so drop me a PM if you have any other questions. Good luck.