Making the Move

Making the Move

I must be a lunatic. In the most tumultuous, cost-cutting, sky-is-falling era in our industry, I left my comfortable and salaried job at The Boston Globe Magazine and put myself on the chopping block in NYC. If I was going to become a better designer and start climbing that ladder, it would have to be in New York, and it would have to be now.

So armed with the phone numbers of a few contacts that I'd met over the years, I packed my U-Haul and said goodbye to my job of 7 years and all of my beloved colleagues (not to mention a big 2 bedroom condo--with a yard!).

And from Manhattan, I am happy to report, so far, so good! Joining the herd of forever roving designers, I've been blessed to land a great long-term "freelance" job at Fortune.

And the plunge wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be. It turns out the magazine world isn't THAT different from the newspaper world. I just have an office, bigger budgets, free Starbucks, glossy paper, a photo staff, longer deadlines--um--ok, so it's totally different. And it's better.

I thought coming from newspaper would put me at a disadvantage. But I've been pleasantly surprised to find the opposite. At the Globe, I had my hand in so many different aspects of the finished product: redesign, templates, photo shoots and photo editing, graphics and production. At a newspaper, you have to do a little bit of everything, and the daily and weekly deadlines force you to learn how to work fast. All of this helped me to jump right in at my new job, and now I'm enjoying the creative freedom that magazines allow.

While the drastic changes in our industry are real and severe, many friends and colleagues are on the street with the recent folds, cutbacks and layoffs -I am relieved to know that our publications are still serving a purpose, and new designers are still needed. With a quiet send up of thanks, there is still work to be found. I do realize that everything could change tomorrow and I, too, could be out on the street. But for now, I can only continue to show up every day, do the best work I can, and hope I still have a job tomorrow.

Emily Reid Kehe
  • Grant Glas

    I think every designer has aspirations of going to NY. I know given the shot I certainly would. Being a designer in small old Indy isn't that bad.

    "New York is to the nation what the white spire is to the village - the visible symbol of aspiration and faith, the white plume saying the way is up!"

    -- E.B. White

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