Things were somewhat chaotic the when I first started, resulting in me having a video advertisement to finish in my first few days. At that time I had just begun learning about working with motion graphics. I was still figuring out the software and the process. Because of the short deadline I had to submit work that I really wasn't happy with and wanted to spend more time on. But this was just the beginning. My position was pretty reliant on my own judgment regarding the quality of work. My co-workers had responsibilities separate from the graphic design area. The feedback I was recieving and the expectation placed on my work were quite different from what I was used to in my design program.

This meant two things: I had a lot of creative freedom over each little project (probably a lot more than a graphic designer with my experience normally gets) and I was responsible to myself for good design.

I could spend 5 minutes whipping together

a poster while I had my morning coffee or I could execute a more thoughtful approach. It was entirely up to me, as long as the project was done by the deadline. My superiors were more concerned with the content rather than the design execution.

Back to fighting with the video deadline: because it was such a whirlwind of a project that I just had to get done, I ended up submitting a pretty disappointing result.

Over the next few months I received many different types of projects ranging from posters to brochures to website maintenance. The amount of work needing to be done combined with my co-workers' lack of design knowledge led me to lowering my standards of what I considered good enough.

Unfortunately, what was not good enough by my standards received praise from my co-workers. At that point I realized how easy it would be to slump through the world of graphic design as a lazy, unmotivated, and careless

designer. However low a designer sets their personal good enough bar, so much design work simply needs to get done there will be work for them.

I don't want to be a designer that simply grinds out mediocre work. It was an interesting experience being placed in a situation where the quality of my work was not being pushed by others. Whereas for the last three years I had been recieving feedback from other designers, which continually pushed my standards.

I think that everyone has their own good enough bar. From my school peers' projects I can tell have been made to be just good enough to the endless visual atrocities I encounter everyday, standards vary.

Having completed my time at this job I now understand how easy it is to have standards compromised by deadlines, workload, and design ignorance. I feel determined to not only push my own standards continually but also drive the expectations of those around me.