I took this photograph of a tree and experimented with turning it into a minimalist, cinematic movie poster called The Shadows.

I wanted to keep the composition simple, use natural light and shadows, and create a mysterious atmosphere without adding too many elements.

I'm exploring my own visual style as a designer, so I'd genuinely appreciate some honest feedback.

Does it feel like an actual movie poster, or is there something you'd change?

Constructive criticism is welcome! :)

Hello everyone,

My daughter is a college junior in Florida. Her college life has been miserable in the last 3 months since she started her major. She came home exhausted every day and finally opened up to me about what had happened. I know how big her dream is, how passionate she is about being a designer, and how hard she's worked to make it happen, so I really need your help and advice.

She transferred from another college in Virginia (as a Junior) to Florida because of my new job, and she was doing extremely well there.

The Florida college didn't accept all of her credit for drawing classes, so she had to retake them, which added 1 more year. The college also requires a passing portfolio review to start her major there. In her first semester, she applied for the portfolio review (using her projects from her last college) but did not pass. She emailed the review committee multiple times for feedback, but no one answered her.

After 1 year, she applied again with projects from her drawing classes and other classes from the college, and they let her pass.

In the first 3 months of her major, her projects were always considered too clean, too neat, and too corporate and commercial, and the professors were very harsh when grading her work. Then she found out that a group of students always got full grades, and they had volunteered in the department. What doesn't make sense to her is that their work isn't outstanding, which violates many criteria in the project's rubric. She then went to the professor to ask about her work so she could better understand and improve, but the professor said all she needed to do was follow the rubric and the professor's 10-word comment.

The classes became toxic for her because those students keep spamming the class's group chat with how great they are, why they get good grades, and why others don't.

I know my daughter's style. She is very nitpicky about details, and everything must be in balance with the Swiss Grid system, with a good combination of colors. She always treats her work as professionally as possible so she can put it in her portfolio.

For her first article design project, she chose a medical article and did extensive research on which colors to use and which image to include. The professor didn't like it and said it made the article feel negative (even though the content itself is negative). The professor wanted to amplify the feeling and told her which style to use, as well as to do more Photoshop, like combining multiple images to create a new one. She followed the guidance, showed the professor again, and got approval. On the project's final discussion day, a student from "that" group said it would be better if she changed that style a little, and the professor agreed, so she had to redo much of the article. She told me that she would be fine if the comment was about a technical issue or something, but a comment about "style" from another student is not acceptable to her. She felt that those students act like the professor's assistants in class and behave as if they are higher.

She is waiting for grades on her current project, and she said she wouldn't know what to do if her grades are lower than the others again. She said the others already got full credit even though their works violate not only the rubric but also the project rules.

Sorry for the long post, and thank you so much for reading until this point.

It is so sad to see my bright girl dragging her feet like that, and I don't really know how to help her.

I have some options:

- She can teach herself with online courses, then build up her portfolio. I know it would be hard to get a job at a big corporation without a BA.

- She can transfer to another college, like ASU, which I think is more her style.

I would love to hear your advice about her situation. Again, thank you so much.

Additional info: her grade is importance because they wont let her do another portfolio preview by end of semester if her grade is B. If that happens, she would need to transfer or change major. The college has 300 students sophomore then down to 140 in junior and only 15-20 graduate.

Maybe, just maybe, 'make it pop' actually meant creating those little fucking little splash lines on literally every fucking design.

Art use to be fun for me to get away from the stress and design Clg has just sucked the fun out of It I am a 3rd yr design students my jury is in 10 days have I done anything hell naaaa !!! I have literally 0 motivation I literally open my laptop and stare at it I have slept properly for days coz obviously I haven’t done any work but that doesn’t stop me to not do it at this point I am like what the point AI is gonna do it anyway all the Intership and remote jobs i have applied to told me the same thing I literally have 0 Frnds my love life doesn’t even exists i just watch reels and sleep that’s my loop I am mentally so exhausted I don’t want even talk to my family coz they just don’t get it so kid if u are thinking to join a Clg specifically a design one think a million times ☺️🙏🏻

Hey guys,

I’m a senior studying Visual Communication Design and honestly hitting a bit of a wall with my graduation capstone. My prof shot down my original idea, basically telling me: "Find an app or interface we are all forced to use every day, do a deep dive into why its UX/UI is manipulative or terrible, and redesign the whole thing."

Here’s my angle: I actually know how to code which pretty much no one else in my design cohort can do. I don’t want to just present a static figma prototype, I want to build and code a fully working app to stand out.

I also really want to avoid those cliché, overdone student concepts like "yet another climate change or recycling app". I don't want to design a preachy lifestyle guide telling people "do this, don't do that." My goal is to build a tool that genuinely removes friction and makes everyday life easier. Since I'm pitching this to a jury, maybe tackling an issue involving children, parents, or accessibility could be a strategic win, but the core has to be real human value.

any ideas ?

Tengo un trabajo de oficina de Lunes a viernes, sin embargo los fines de semana no hago nada y todas las noches de lunes a viernes también los tengo libre, en vez de perder tiempo sin producir nada me preguntaba si existen trabajos del rubro como diseño gráfico, digital, 3D o similar donde no tengas que postular o competir con otros si no solo cumplir con un pedido disponible y si cumples los requerimientos pues te pagan y ya, se entiende? Eso existe?

Hi guys
I have been working as a product designer for 7 years now
I have total years of experience more than 10 years

I started as a. Graphic designer and eventually moved to product design (not from design education background)

From last 1.5 years I haven’t been working full time due to some health issue I had and I have been doing some freelance gigs but few

Now I want to start and apply again for jobs
But as a designer I feel dead. I feel I have nothing left in me

I don’t know how I even put AI to my work and I don’t feel confident about it

I’m looking for advices from you all lovely people
So that I can work on myself and make a comeback

I would appreciate you taking time and putting down your valuable advices for me

ok so I don’t even know how to explain this but here goes.

I’m a brand designer. That’s my job, that’s what pays the bills. But I’m curious. Like really curious. And my curiosity is literally what got me where I am right now lol.

Started with “let me just try this one thing” and now I’ve built:

• The System: a habit app for Android. You waste screen time or skip your tasks, it penalizes you. And you gotta send photo proof that you actually did the thing, no cheating
• Drift: basically a perfect bridge between your Android phone and Windows PC
  • transfer files
  • sync keyboard and clipboard
  • sync your gallery so you can watch stuff from your phone on your PC and vice versa
  • sync notifications
  • auto pauses whatever’s playing when you get a call
• Figma automations: hooked my design workflow up with AI so all the boring repetitive stuff just gets done
• Weave automation: I can do a week worth of carousels in a day. Like a week of content in a matter of hours, not kidding

And no, it’s not AI doing everything. I’m still the human in the loop. I decide what goes out, I check everything, I fix what looks off. AI just makes me crazy fast.

Tbh I’m having way more fun with this than regular design rn. Every week there’s something new to build and I’m hooked.

But here’s my problem:

• no idea who actually needs this stuff
• no idea where to find those people
• don’t even know what to call what I do lol

I know these are high paying skills. I just don’t know how to get in front of the right people.

So if you’ve been here or you know who hires for this kind of thing, pls help a guy out. Where do I even start?

How should I flat-rate vehicle wrap designs?

I'm a full-time packaging designer (bags, boxes, etc.) and I've been taking on commercial vehicle wrap work on the side. I charge flat-rate because I hate tracking hours and like juggling multiple projects.

Most jobs are "here's an AI mockup, make it print-ready," and the client usually supplies most/some of the assets. I'm not experienced enough with wraps to know what I should be charging for that.

What would you charge for this kind of job?

Should it vary based on how many assets are provided?

I’m interested to hear everyone’s stories about how they found their passion in Design! I always love learning about how people found their way into this career/hobby, especially from a young age

This is my portfolio https://orlee.framer.website/ but I have not added or updated more samples of my work from my computer.

I know there are so many designers that lost their job also but I think the AI industry is breaking the economy cycle. If this things evolve then all people will lose their job and how will people afford to buy the products that AI advertised?? Only the elites and the AI creators get rich but businesses will be affected also moving forward.

I’ve been in the industry for awhile now and now seeing a shift from product centric — marketing centric. Before the product was the central idea and marketing worked around that. Now I’m seeing a shift where the central idea is in marketing and a product will follow. I understand the importance of both but What do we think? What’s more important?

Give me some ideas in this hand band to design it to next level

I’m trying to find out what is your biggest pain point or what do you dislike in your daily work as a designer. So far when talking to other designers, I’ve heard things like too much work, unclear briefs, clients are a pain and so on. Anything that is bothering you and if you had a wish to change one thing, what would it be?

Posting to see how many people are self taught using YouTube/Reddit/Tutorials versus being taught in a class or by someone else!

Before reading through the brief, please check out my portfolio to get a concrete sense of my visual style, execution, and design capabilities:

👉https://vishejeetportfolio.vercel.app/

I specialize in bespoke digital experiences, detailed visual design, custom UI/UX, and expressive interactive elements rather than generic, template-driven layouts. The client reached out specifically because she wants an unconventional, human-made aesthetic that reflects that level of craft.

Background & Project Context

A client who runs an independent print magazine recently sent me an extensive brief for a "one-page website."

While it is technically a single continuous-scroll page, calling it a simple landing page does not represent the scope at all. The density of custom art, section-by-section variation, and interactive motion make this closer to designing a digital art piece:

• Art Direction & Aesthetic: 90s retro advertising meets Y2K collage culture. It’s loud, tactile, asymmetrical, and layered, using bold typographic treatments, cut-out editorial photography, and unexpected compositions. Every section needs a distinct look while remaining part of one cohesive brand.
• Strict "No AI" Requirement: The brief strictly bans all AI-generated art, stock imagery, or generic placeholders. Every visual asset—stickers, starbursts, doodles, badges, callouts, and potential mascots/caricatures—must be completely handcrafted by me.
• Page Structure & Scope:
  1. Hero: Big visual anchor, logo treatment, the magazine's tagline and an immediate path to the purchase section.
  2. About: Narrative section covering the magazine’s creative ethos.
  3. What’s Inside the Mag: An editorial spread preview displaying interior pages, snippets, and highlights.
  4. Monthly Buy Section: Needs two fully designed states — (1) Sales Open with an active buy button/checkout, and (2) Sales Closed with an engaging holding state that funnels traffic into the newsletter.
  5. Newsletter Sign-up: Custom value pitch, form design, and a distinct success/confirmation state.
  6. Contact Section: General inquiries form and/or direct email link.
  7. Navigation: Persistent anchor menu for section jumping.
• Motion, 3D & Interactions (from client video references):
  • Cursor-reactive movement on stickers and floating badges.
  • Scroll-triggered parallax and dynamic transitions between sections.
  • Draggable interactive carousel for previewing spreads.
  • Real 3D elements (such as an interactive flipping magazine or 3D cards).
  • Video backgrounds with lightweight fallback states for mobile.
• Responsive Breakpoints & Developer Handoff: Complete layouts across Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile, along with a full handoff pack (design tokens, clean SVG exports, alt-text documentation, and a guide for updating the monthly sale info).

My Original Pricing (Design Only)

Initially, I looked at this strictly as a UI/UX and visual design project (supplying a production-ready Figma handoff pack for an external developer). My original pricing was:

• Tier 1: ₹55,000
• Tier 2: ₹75,000
• Tier 3: ₹95,000

The Pivot: Offering Design + Development (Shopify Integration)

The original plan was to hand over design files so a developer could build it without guessing. However, I’ve been looking into handling the implementation myself using modern front-end workflows, Figma development capabilities, and Shopify’s e-commerce integrations.

Positioning this as a complete turnkey solution (Design + Build) could save the client the hassle of finding a developer who might struggle to implement the subtle motion physics and collage layouts correctly.

• Where I’m confident: Building the responsive front-end, implementing CSS/scroll-triggered animations, hooking up newsletter APIs, and configuring the Shopify integration (handling the monthly open/closed drop states).
• Where I’m cautious: Building complex WebGL/Three.js 3D interactions (like real-time physics or custom 3D page flips) that run smoothly on budget mobile devices requires specialized technical expertise. While tools like Spline make 3D embeds more accessible, high-performance custom canvas work is a different beast.

Taking on implementation changes the value equation significantly, which is why I want to reconsider how to package and price this.

Help Me Structure & Price Three Tiers

I want to present three logical tiers that give the client clear choices based on scope and technical complexity, rather than just pulling numbers out of thin air. Here is how I’m dividing the work:

Tier 1: Essential / Core

• Scope: Full responsive UI/UX for all 7 sections across Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile, including both states (Sales Open & Sales Closed) for the purchase section.
• Artwork: Essential hand-crafted asset pack (10–15 unique stickers, doodles, starbursts, photo cut-outs — 100% human-made).
• Interactions: Standard hover micro-interactions, smooth anchor scrolling, and a responsive swipe carousel.
• Exclusions: Custom 3D elements, cursor-reactive physics, and heavy video backgrounds.

Tier 2: Interactive Motion (The Sweet Spot)

• Scope: Everything in Tier 1, plus full interactive prototyping and richer layout choreography.
• Artwork: Expanded custom art suite (20+ bespoke assets, editorial textures, and 1 custom mascot/caricature).
• Interactions: Cursor-reactive sticker floating/tilting, scroll-triggered section transitions, parallax depth, and optimized video background integration.
• Tech/Implementation (if included): Front-end build, Shopify checkout integration, monthly sales state logic, and mobile performance optimization.
• Exclusions: Complex custom WebGL coding.

Tier 3: Full Sensory 3D & Flagship Experience

• Scope: The complete, uncompromising vision matching the client's reference videos.
• Artwork: Full bespoke illustration and collage library, unlimited custom elements, and dedicated brand graphics.
• Interactions & 3D: Interactive 3D magazine/card flipping, magnetic cursor effects, layered motion choreography, and advanced scene transitions.
• Tech/Implementation (if included): Full custom build, 3D integration, Shopify e-commerce drop setup, cross-browser performance testing, and initial post-launch maintenance for the first monthly drop.

The Real Value of Custom Work

This isn't a drag-and-drop template site. Every illustration is hand-drawn, every section has its own asymmetrical personality, and designing for two different e-commerce states requires deliberate UX planning.

Delivering a fully functional, live-on-Shopify site that is tested and ready to handle monthly sales drops is a vastly different service than handing over a static design file. I want to make sure the pricing reflects that reality without either underselling my labor or pricing myself out of a project I really want to do.

Questions for the Community:

1. Design-only sanity check: Given the sheer volume of bespoke, non-AI artwork and responsive UI detailing, were my original numbers (₹55,000 / ₹75,000 / ₹95,000) reasonable, or was I undercharging even for design alone?
2. What should each of the three tiers cost? How would you price Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 in INR (or USD equivalent):
   • As Design-only packages?
   • As Design + Development / Shopify packages?
3. How much additional value does implementation add? What is the going rate or fair markup for taking a complex, motion-heavy design and implementing it on Shopify?
4. Solo build vs. Dev partnership: For someone confident in UI/UX and intermediate front-end tools, is it smart to tackle the development of Tier 2 solo, or should I partner with an experienced developer and bake their fee into the quote?
5. Contract & scope protection: What boundaries should I set around the "monthly sales drop maintenance," revision rounds, and mobile performance expectations to prevent scope creep?

I’d love to hear from freelancers, agency owners, and developers who have priced and delivered projects with this kind of visual and interactive complexity. Thanks in advance!

Hey everyone. I’m a designer and this is my first real freelance job. A client sent a long brief for a one-page site for her print magazine. I’m only designing the UI/UX, not building it. I have no idea what to charge for the design side, so I’m hoping you can help.

• All the art is custom and made by me (stickers, starbursts, doodles, cut-outs, mascots). The client strictly doesn’t want AI art or stock. My art is pretty detailed, so each piece takes real time. You can see my style here: https://vishejeetportfolio.vercel.app/
• The brief wants a different look for every section, so I can’t reuse a template. The style is 90s ad meets Y2K, loud and collage-like.
• The buy section needs two designed states, sales open and sales closed.
• She sent two reference videos with 3D-style animation, page transitions, cursor effects and video backgrounds. I’d have to design and explain all of that for a developer.
• Everything has to work in mobile, tablet and desktop layouts.
• The brief asks for a full handoff pack, so a developer can build it without guessing.

Page sections I’m designing

• Hero with logo and a big visual
• Clear path from the hero to the buy section
• About section
• “What’s inside the mag” preview (spreads, images, snippets)
• Monthly buy section with two states: sales open (live buy button) and sales closed (holding state that sends people to the newsletter)
• Newsletter sign-up with a value pitch and a success message
• Contact section (form, email link, or both, still undecided)
• Menu that jumps to each section
• Mobile, tablet and desktop layouts

Design and custom art (all by me, no AI)

• Stickers, starbursts, doodles, cut-outs and callouts
• Mascots or caricatures, if needed
• Cut-out photography and editorial image treatment
• Oversized type, loud colour blocks, layered and asymmetric layouts
• A different look per section that still feels like one brand
• Temporary placeholders for any unfinished art, replaced before handoff

Motion and 3D (from her reference videos)

• Designing and explaining scroll animations and moving stickers
• Cursor-reactive effects on the artwork
• Page transitions between sections
• Draggable carousel
• Real 3D (flipping cards or a 3D magazine)
• Video backgrounds
• A lighter version for phones

I’m planning to offer three levels (simple animation, medium, full 3D) so she picks. The more motion she wants, the more design and explaining it takes.

Brand rules

• Logo used exactly as supplied, no redrawing or recolouring
• Hi-res transparent logo and alternate versions for non-green backgrounds
• Fixed 7-colour palette (neon green, magenta, bubblegum pink, aqua, butter yellow, black, white)
• Contrast checks, especially neon on pastel
• Custom fonts (original files and web-use licences needed)
• Body font options are Apple’s SF and SF Mono, which need checking for web use

Accessibility and usability (design side)

• Readable body text and easy-to-use forms and menu
• Alt text suggestions for images
• Clear heading structure, page title, meta description and share preview image text

Handoff to the developer

• Editable design file
• Exported assets
• Font and licence notes
• Responsive layouts
• Short guide for updating the monthly sale info

What would you quote for the design side of all this? A rough range for the base design, the custom art and the motion/3D design would help a lot.

Thanks in advance, really appreciate any advice.

women get elegant pastel designs that look like spa decor, while guys get matte black cylinders that look like mountain bike shock absorbers. do we actually prefer this 'PRO MAX' military vibe, or are brands just terrified of making male products look soft?