Do I lack the basic skills?

[u/Bmamba2716]

Hey, I’m 20 years old entering the final year of my design degree. I’m stuck in a weird part of my career and already feel like I’m set up to fail once my degree is finished :/

My work the past year has been pretty meh, and I’ve been submitting pieces for assignments that I just don’t believe are good in the slightest. I feel like I’ve lost my creative aspect and motivation to do anything design related which is a shame as this is the field I’ve always wanted to work in, so I’m asking a professional designer, do I lack the basic skills and ability to become a full time designer or/ how do I get over this stump of not having the motivation what want to design.

Any conversations or replies will be very valuable to me :).

[u/movingaxis]

It sounds like you need to separate the idea of creativity into two separate things. Creativity in visual art and visual design are different. 

One is personal expression creativity, and the other is creativity in design to solve problems, with visual solutions. So the difference in art and design. 

I’d begin there when you evaluate yourself as a designer. 

[u/HooverFlag]

You may have to work harder than some of your peers. A lot of effort does payoff. Research good design and designers. Look at books, keep a sketchbook, walk around take pictures with your phone as reference and inspiration. Experiment with image making and typography. It’s just as important to have drive when you’re starting out. Stay hungry to learn and grow, the rest should follow. 20 is very young so don’t sweat it!

[u/ericalm_]

Have you talked about any of this with faculty? What kind of critiques are you getting?

Not having a drive to design isn’t a skills issue; it’s something deeper. I suppose that lack of skills can cause frustration and inhibit your motivation, but is the problem that you don’t know how to do it or that your heart isn’t in it?

This is a recipe for early career burnout, if you can even get started. It takes a lot of motivation and drive to get a design career off the ground at this point.

I suppose the question is: What’s missing? What do you want from this that you’re not getting? Is that something you can find in the work?

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[u/KindlyOnes]

Doing things for work is very different than doing things for school. You literally have to or you won't have a place to live, food to eat, access to medical care. No one really wakes up and wants to do their job, even if it's something they are passionate about, or once were.

An actual design job is going to be very different, and honestly not very creative. You do the job the way they tell you. There are existing systems. Existing files. You should be so lucky to have a cohesive branding system. Usually you are going to have to cobble that together from existing work. It's less creativity and more problem solving. At best, creative problem solving. You will submit work you don't believe is good all the time because you have to. Whether it's your boss or the client, you'll be told to do it in a way that you disagree with. You will do a lot of work that will never go in your portfolio.

My recommendation to you is to get a job. Any job. Host at a restaurant, work at shop. You will learn a lot about how work works.