We recently came across a beautifully written article by a university professor that laments the lost passion that many of us feel for design as a career.
Michael Buckley is a prof at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, but he previously worked as a creative director and graphic designer in publishing and media. Michael’s explanation for why he left the corporate design world to become a professor is lovely:
“The main reason I recently transitioned to a university professor is the fulfillment that comes from shaping how students think, question, and create. It’s certainly not the money — I make half what I earned in the corporate world — but the work feels meaningful in a way a paycheck can’t measure”
He really gets to the heart of why so many design teams feel less creative and less meaningful than in the past. Design processes (like ‘Design Thinking’ and ‘Jobs to be Done’) are often performative, design templates and design systems are often primarily about compliance, and, of course, AI has stripped away a lot of genuinely creative work.
We think that most importantly Michael really challenges designers to think deeply about how design will change the world:
“If you want to change the world, you’ll need more than Figma and good intentions. You’ll need influence.You’ll need vision.You’ll need the persistence to work within—and sometimes around—the systems in your way.”
We particularly love Michael’s challenge to stop thinking that higher compensation will add meaning to our careers — we really need to look at the other levers that can bring joy and meaning back to us as designers.
Please give his article a read and let us know what you think on LinkedIn.
Recently on our job board
We added about 183 new jobs to the job board in the last week. These are the best:
Product design
Senior Designer, Accountant General’s Dept at GovTech Singapore
Web Design Officer at Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust in the UK
Digital Design and Strategy Lead at IDEO.org in San Francisco, USA
Product Design Intern at Kiva.org in USA
Digital Product Designer at Mount Sinai Health System in New York, USA
Staff Product Designer at Open Government Products in Singapore
UX design
Interaction Designer at Dept for Transport in York, UK
Associate Platform Designer at eHealth NSW in Australia
Senior Interaction Designer at Incubator for AI in London, UK
Service design
Senior Service Designer at BaptistCare in Baulkham Hills, Australia
Strategic Design Director at Defra in UK
Service and Social Innovation Designer at La Sécurité Sociale in France
Senior Experience Design at National Trust in Swindon, UK
Customer Journey Designer at Notting Hill Genesis in the UK
Senior Service Designer at University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada
Graphic design
Mid-Weight Creative Designer at British Heart Foundation in London, UK
Production Designer at Canadian Red Cross in Canada
Senior Executive Brand & Copywriting at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore
Associate Art Director at Everytown for Gun Safety in New York, USA
Graphic Designer at Gay Men’s Health Crisis in New York, USA
Graphic Designer at Göteborgs universitet in Gothenburg, Sweden
Senior Designer at Human Rights Foundation in New York, USA
Creative Content & Design Specialist at Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health in Palo Alto, USA
Graphic Designer at Odyssea in Zografou, Greece
Graphic Designer at Oxfam Pilipinas in Manila, Philippines
Designer at Teenage Cancer Trust in London, UK
Industrial design
Senior Industrial Designer at National Healthcare Group in Singapore
User research
User Researcher at Breast Cancer Now in London, UK
Assistant Dir, Behavioural Science at Health Promotion Board in Singapore
Senior User Researcher at Ministry of Justice in UK
Senior User Researcher at Scope in UK
Design Researcher at Superbloom in New York, USA
Senior Digital Experience Officer at The Salvation Army in the UK
User Research at UK Health Security Agency in Gloucester, UK
Other
Design Project Manager at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford in Palo Alto, USA
Multimedia Communications Officer at NHS 24 in Glasgow, UK
AI Fellow for Health at PATH in London, UK
Copywriting
Content Designer at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) in Swindon, UK
Senior Creative Writer at University of Global Health Equity in Kigali, Rwanda
Senior Content and Social Media Producer at Wellcome Trust in London, UK
Product management
Associate Product Manager at American Red Cross in USA
Executive Director of Product and Design - PIT Crew at City of New York - Office of Tech & Innovation
Product Owner Web Platform at ETH Zürich in Zürich, Switzerland
Lead Product Manager (MOH) at GovTech Singapore
Innovation Lead at McAuley Community Services for Women in Footscray, Australia
Director, Digital Strategy, Communications at Vera Institute of Justice in Brooklyn, USA
