The Daily Cubicle

Yay, happy monday!

So, my title at work is “Art Director”…of a corporate website…but, that really isn’t exactly what I do. I don’t direct any real art, I do as I’m told on projects, little changes here, little changes there-very little room for creative art direction. I got hired on at this company as a Graphic Artist, which is a bad enough title-sounds more like a Desktop Publisher (which of course, there is nothing wrong with this, if you enjoy what you do…) but, our company is so tied up in labels and correct titles that it’s so damn annoying that we MUST stick by these titles when they don’t mean a damn thing. For instance, I’ve been at this job for 5 years. In the  5 years I’ve given my life to this company my title has changed 4 times.

• Year One:  Graphic Artist
• Year Two: Graphic Artist of Retail & Recruitment Advertising
• Year Three: Web Designer
• Year Four: Art Director

So, as you can see I’m an incredibly important asset to this company, so much so that I am lucky enough to get a brand new title each and every year.

It’s frustrating. I don’t feel important, I get this title that is a blanket title for a variety of job functions, and according to salary.com, I’m not paid what I should be paid for holding this generic title.  Sigh. I hold a Master’s degree in Design, which I worked very hard for, and I’m not any higher in my position as the kids that came in after me with basic design degrees. Makes me wonder if graduate degrees are really worth it in the real world for a job like mine. Hm.

Funny thing is, I’m not a director, technically, the “Creative Director” is 2 levels above me, gets paid twice what I get paid and carries an ego the size of the planet Earth.

I  need a sarcastic title to put in my email signature…Artistic Director (but not really a director), Creative Artistic Super Powered Designer…etc.