Am I A Designer Others Would Choose?
That realization stayed with you longer than you expected. You had been so excited about working with another designer—someone in your niche whose work you genuinely admired. You imagined an equal partnership, a flow of ideas, a chance to learn from someone more experienced. But the reality wore you down. Instead of the dialogue and shared effort you hoped for, you found yourself taking on the tasks no one else wanted. Your ideas were dismissed before they were even considered. The project itself aligned with your skills, but the experience left you drained, frustrated, and far from what you had envisioned. As you reflect on it now, one question keeps resurfacing: Are you the kind of designer others would choose to work with? The answer isn’t obvious. You realize now that, even though you're new, showing that you take your work seriously and contribute thoughtfully is what makes others want to collaborate with you. During that project, you didn’t assert yourself when things felt un...