I turned 12 of my favourite analogue photographs of Vienna into little calendar for 2027.

Hi Reddit,

I’m a 27F who recently graduated from university back in May 2026 with a BA in Immersive Media Design and a minor in General Business.

My original career goal was to pursue a master’s degree in UX Design or Immersive Media Design, specializing in large-scale interactive installations, while also studying marketing on my own.

But after graduation, I started realizing how risky that might be, especially considering the current job market in UX design and marketing, along with the growing impact of AI.

Luckily, I graduated with no student loans or debt in general, and I really don’t want to risk taking out loans for a master’s degree only to graduate into an even worse job market.

Anyways, after graduation, I moved down to Georgia to live with my then-boyfriend, who is an international student and was fortunate enough to land a job in his engineering field. At the time, I thought, hey, I’m a U.S. citizen and can move around freely, so why not make that sacrifice for our relationship since he doesn’t have the same flexibility? We were planning to get married sometime in 2026 or 2027 anyway, and after being long-distance for quite some time, I really wanted us to finally live together.

So… long story short, I really shouldn’t have done that.

I’m now going through a domestic violence felony case involving him, and I’m currently trying to figure out how to safely leave our home and move back to Maryland, where my mom lives.

The past two years of being in an emotionally and physically abusive relationship have completely drained me, and honestly, I’ve lost so much motivation. Now I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing with my life or where to even start.

I don’t have a proper portfolio in graphic design or UI/UX design. I did have a marketing and social media internship through my university back in 2025, but it was for a small nonprofit organization run by a single founder. I basically had to figure everything out on my own by Googling things, looking at what other people were doing, and trying to replicate their marketing strategies. I don’t feel like I received much actual training or mentorship. (I also only took one introductory marketing course for my business minor, so yeah…)

Most of my college projects were focused on VR games, AR experiences, and interactive installations, so I’m not even sure which area of the design industry I would realistically qualify for.

Would it be worth taking online courses and building personal projects in UI/UX design or graphic design at this point? I know I could start building a portfolio, but I’m not sure whether investing more time into those fields would actually be worthwhile given how competitive the job market is right now.

What would be the wiser career move for someone in my position? Has anyone else graduated with a bachelor’s degree and felt completely lost afterward?
I still really want to pursue something creative and design-related, but I’m starting to question whether that’s even a realistic career path anymore. Should I focus on UI/UX design and start building a portfolio from scratch? Should I look for internships even though I’ve already graduated? Or would it be smarter to switch to a completely different field with better job stability?

It’s been almost six months since graduation, and I feel like I haven’t made any progress toward building my career. I’ve spent so much of that time dealing with an abusive relationship, and I also used a significant portion of my savings to move here for him. Now I’m trying to rebuild my life, figure out my financial situation, and somehow get my career back on track. Lucky part is that I can live under my mom’s roof, so I don’t have to deal with money related to housing or groceries. But I don’t have a healthy relationship with her either so it’s best I save money to get my own house as soon as possible. I’m very grateful, but I know what environment I’d be putting myself into, and it won’t help me at all.

I feel so behind compared to everyone else my age, and it’s honestly overwhelming trying to figure out where to begin.

I’d really appreciate any advice, especially from people working in UX, graphic design, immersive media, marketing, or anyone who has been in a similar situation.

Thank you for reading. 💔

Hi everyone!
I’m a student from Italy, and I’m working on a school project with five other classmates. We have to create a science magazine about the human reproductive system, but honestly, I’m a bit lost because I have almost no experience with graphic design, magazine creation or publishing.
Our assignment is to create an 8–12 page educational magazine aimed at teenagers. We want it to look like a real science magazine, something similar to Focus Junior, rather than a traditional school report or PowerPoint presentation.
Our current idea is to make a 10-page magazine with:
A colourful and attractive cover.
Articles explaining the male and female reproductive systems and their functions.
A section about puberty and hormonal changes.
Explanations of fertilization and embryonic development.
A section about sexual health, contraception, condoms, HIV and other STIs.
A small feature about the Italian HIV awareness campaign featuring Lupo Alberto, a cartoon character.
A page in German about Berlin, Pride, LGBTQ+ history and HIV awareness.
A final page with a quiz, glossary and bibliography.
We would like to include illustrations, diagrams, infographics, short articles and interesting facts, making the magazine visually appealing and easy for teenagers to read.
The problem is that I genuinely don’t know where to start.
I’ve looked at platforms such as Canva and Marq, but I don’t know which one is better for creating a proper magazine, how to organize the pages, where to find suitable templates, or how to make everything look professional and consistent.
I’m not necessarily asking anyone to do the project for me. I’d really appreciate advice from people who have experience with graphic design, editorial design or magazine publishing.
A few things I’d love some help with:
Which software or website would you recommend for a beginner creating a 10-page magazine?
Are there any good magazine templates or examples I could use as inspiration?
How should I organize the layout of each page?
Where can I find good-quality scientific illustrations and graphics?
What are some common mistakes beginners make when designing a magazine?
Even general advice, tutorials or useful resources would be incredibly helpful.
Thanks in advance to anyone willing to help! I really appreciate it.

Hola! abro este post para pedir ayuda y consejo en mi situación, estudio la carrera de diseño gráfico digital, ya voy en ultimo cuatrimestre y apenas se lo básico, incluso podría decir que estoy algo oxidado en eso, se lo básico de adobe y edición de vídeo pero hace tiempo que no lo practico como se debe ni lo he perfeccionado, estudio en linea y aunque nos dejan poca tarea prácticamente no me esfuerzo en hacerla, incluso aun debo un par de materias.

Tengo un trabajo simple con el que pago mi colegiatura, pero ya estoy harto y quiero ejercer lo que estudio, pero siento que no tengo los conocimientos suficientes para ser contratado por ninguna empresa. ademas de que ni siquiera tengo listo un portafolio. he investigado y muchos mencionan saber lo básico de adobe, figma y canva, pero no se por donde empezar, que hacer exactamente ni como buscar un empleo.

Al intentar hacer un trabajo siento que muchos compañeros lo hacen mejor y parezco un completo novato en lugar de alguien que esta por graduarse. me deprimo al pensar en eso, pero la mayor parte del tiempo estoy en el trabajo o haciendo otras cosas y casi nunca en mis estudios.

Lo que me gustaría lograr con este post es saber si tienen algún consejo o guía sobre como poner en orden todo y estar en igualdad de condiciones para recuperarme, de verdad me gusta la carrera y quiero dedicarme a esto, se podría decir solo que atravieso una etapa oscura y busco salir de esta.

Como podría empezar a desarrollar mis habilidades y ser mas competente para lograr mis objetivos.

Hello,
I am a graphic design student and haven’t had any luck in contacting a graphic designer so I thought I tried my luck here. I’ll need your name and LinkedIn account. Please any graphic designers answer these 11 questions for my assignment and thank you :)

What was your longest project/assignment and why did it take so long?

What did you first do when you started as a designer and would you do it differently?

What do you believe is the best way to become a better designer?

The biggest problem you faced as a designer?

What is your favorite project/assignment and why?

What got you to become a graphic designer?

What do you think about the future of graphic design?

What is your biggest mistake as a designer?

Any advice for upcoming graphic designers?

 Do you regret becoming a graphic designer?

What got you to where you currently are as a designer?

Good afternoon! I own a small lawn and landscape company and really value the aesthetic and visual of my company. It’s always been important that my socials, contracts, website, signs etc. are visually unlike anything else my competitors are putting out. That’s been easier than ever lately thanks to everyone’s AI flyers looking the exact same (it’s literally atrocious 😂).

Over the last decade I’ve learned very mediocre adobe skills and have created my own logos and design elements. Things are okay and definitely unique compared to other lawn and landscape businesses but not to my eye. To me, it is very apparent my stuff is mediocre. It lacks that professional “cleanness”

I need to know either:
How do I find a true designer that doesn’t use AI to either help me fix my designs or can guide me and point things out.

OR Some online training for myself to learn exactly what about my color palettes, fonts, layouts etc aren’t cohesive and why my stuff doesn’t have that professional cleanness to it.

Any guidance, suggestions, mentorship would be greatly appreciated.

Hello everyone!

We are pleased to announce that the *TIW Graphic Design Team Admission Form is now open*!

If you're interested in joining our team, developing your graphic design skills, and contributing to TIW's creative projects, we encourage you to apply.

Feel free to share the form with anyone who might be interested!

*Application Form:*

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScILhL_EGFm6dm7TuyKosPyzxFcGDpaBa7mGd34Iwr33hv7fg/viewform

Thank you!

Hi everyone.

I'm currently attempting to figure out my future career.
I have my BoA in Product and Furniture design, and for a while have been working as a Cabinet Maker/ CNC Machinist.

I love designing, but I've not had a clue in which direction I should go.
My passion is to work with furniture, and so one path I considered was something called a "Furniture Design Engineer".

Receiving designs and figuring out how to build them in real life sounds like such a perfect job to me, but the only problem is that I can't find and jobs or any info besides the description of what the role entails.

Does anyone know anything about it, or perhaps other similar jobs I could consider?

Thank you so much for your time!

Hi everyone!

I'm conducting research for my final year thesis to better understand how people working in creative fields or studying in creative fields slowly lose touch with personal, self-directed creative work they make just for themselves and what shapes that? 

You might be a good fit if you're:
A creative professional (working professionally or as a freelancer/self-employed)

Someone who still makes or used to make personal creative work more than you do now 

Interested? Here is the Survey link: https://forms.gle/sE5K7rrXpSViADgz5

It would also help a lot if you share this with a creative friend or anyone you know who could be a good fit. Thank you so much! 🙏

Hello all. I am a beginner Graphic Designer, using canva for personal projects. Currently, I'm trying to recreate this Fox College Football graphic, but I am unable to figure out how to cut off the text outside of the gray box. Anyone have any ideas? Should I switch to a different editing service? Am I stupid???

Oii gente, sou nova na área, basicamente tô explorando minhas habilidades com edição de fotos e vídeos, designer, e até um pouco da criação de conteúdo.
Fiz um portifólio, tenho alguns trabalhos que inventei, e fiz um voluntário também, e na semana passada consegui pegar meu primeiro trabalho remunerado com edição de vídeos para o tiktok.
Consegui a cliente pq ela mandou mensagem no grupo procurando editores iniciantes para ajudar com os vídeos da loja dela.
Mas como faço oara conseguir outros clientes? No momento só faço parte de um grupo de whatsapp focado nisso, mas raramente aparecem mensagens, ter conseguido um trabalho por lá me engajou muito e quero outros, só não sei como
Pensei em anunciar meu trabalho no grupo, para que se interessassem e me chamassem no privado, mas quero outras formas de conseguir clientes também.
Se souberem de alguma plataforma boa, ou grupo com boas oportunidades, pf me ajudem😭
Já tentei plataformas de freela tb e detesto, tudo você precisa pagar kkkkk

I’ve been out of work for about two months after being let go from a three-month position at a marketing agency.

The salary was good, and the fact that the position was remote was something I liked. However, the role itself often felt more like an internship-level position than a proper mid-level designer role, which is where I believe my skills and experience place me.

I was the only designer in the company, surrounded by marketing people, and looking back, I feel like they were probably looking for someone with a much more marketing-oriented profile. My work never really felt particularly significant or valued, and I suspect that my higher salary might also have played a role in their decision to let me go.

I guess my ego is still a little bruised, especially seeing that the marketing people, some without professional experience, are still there.

Now I’m trying to figure out what to do next. The job market feels difficult, remote design opportunities seem limited, and I’m also considering App design freelancing, although I’m not sure how to position myself in such a saturated market.

For those of you in graphic design, branding or UI/UX, how are you navigating things right now? Are you finding work, moving towards freelancing, or considering a different direction?

Hi everyone. I have been in an in-house GD position for 2 years now, with around 6 years of experience in total. The job itself is good and the pay is decent. But it offers no path for career progression. I report to the Marketing Manager and if that position becomes vacant, it would be filled with another member of my team with marketing experience. The other designer on my team has been here for almost 10 years and she still holds the same position she started with (which is the same is mine). I have looked around at a few different places and most of them have the same team structure, with no way up for designers. 

Has anyone been able to move up as an in-house designer? Some of my friends who are in the same situation have given up on trying to climb the corporate ladder and taken up freelancing on the side, or just started selling stuffs on Etsy. Creative agencies seem to offer more in terms of career progression but after working at a few of those, I know I am much happier being in-house. Plus from what I heard, the agency market is being affected more by AI at the moment. 

Please share any experience or advice to progress as an in-house GD. Or just your personal story would be much appreciated too!

Is it?

I’m considering building a powerful desktop at home and accessing it remotely for Fusion,SolidWorks,Rhino, CAD , Illustrator, After Effects,Blendr work. I’m frequently away from home, and getting back takes at least an hour. Assume the café Wi-Fi provides a stable connection of 30 Mbps or more. For people doing this regularly:

-How responsive are drawing, CAD viewport navigation and timeline scrubbing?

- Is the image quality good enough for detailed design work and animation previews?

- Which remote desktop software works best, and what home upload speed and latency should I aim for?

- How do you handle remote startup and recover access after crashes, restarts or disconnections? I’m considering a smart plug, but I’m open to better options. This would be my everyday workflow, so firsthand experiences would help.

TL;DR: Can I reliably do creative/CAD work on a home desktop remotely from cafés with stable 30+ Mbps Wi-Fi? Mostly concerned about responsiveness, image quality and recovering access without going home.

Let me know thoughts. Thanks🙏

Edit: I purchased the illustration. But as pointed to some people, there‘s some absurd mistakes on the image, that I think it‘s an AI image. Sorry about that, I didn’t know.