Last week, a designer posted a question on Creative Boom’s Instagram that really blew my mind. They lost their jobs, went freelance out of necessity, and now they’re watching projects dry up while everyone talks about AI, layoffs, and “downsizing.” So their question was simple yet devastating: “Is this the end of my creative career?”
I’ve been freelancing for over ten years and have been through slow times before. But as I read through the 40-plus replies to the post, I realized something disturbing.
This isn’t just another quiet January-February. The creative industries are experiencing something fundamentally different. Pretending it’s business as usual doesn’t help anyone.
It’s no longer the off-season
“Honestly, it feels pretty bleak right now,” wrote illustrator Louise Rosencrantz. “It doesn’t even feel like ‘off season’ anymore. It’s more like the work isn’t circulating at all.”
This sentiment echoes through the posts like a refrain. Illustrator Lara Paulussen is more direct. “I don’t think this is still the off-season: it feels more like an entire industry is dying.”
For graphic designer Mike Williams, it didn’t happen overnight. “The off-season has lasted 18 months for me,” he said. “Every project and studio wants a unicorn; all hiring committees want three to four professional roles filled by one person. It’s the same across many industries; the knock-on effect of the global recession affecting marketing budgets filters down to studios and then freelancers.”
Illustrator Luke Spicer tells a similar story. “I haven’t had a commission for at least 18 months and have given up now,” he said. “Finding a job was hard enough five years ago. Now it feels almost completely futile. If things improve—whether it’s the AI bubble bursting, the economy improving, or demand for man-made art increasing—I’ll try again. Right now, I’m stuck in an unsatisfying part-time office job, barely making ends meet.”
These are not panicked newcomers or people who have not been through difficult markets before. These are established creatives with skills, portfolios and years of experience. They all say the same thing: something has changed.
When you’re facing a year and a half of drought, the usual assurances about seasonal declines and budget cycles don’t quite come to fruition. It’s not about the Christmas budget or the summer holidays. This work is indeed not as popular as it once was.
The side hustle is not sold out
One of the most striking patterns in the responses was how many successful creatives took on other jobs… and how unapologetic they were about it.
Designer Alison Bick’s story is particularly resonant. Ten years ago she took a part-time administrative job at a small heritage charity “to tide us over” while building her design business. “The charity now has 20 staff and I became a designer about eight years ago,” she wrote. “I never imagined that I would now be working in my dream design job for the same organization. And my dog comes to work.”
Likewise, designer Jade Douglas works nights and weekends at a board game bar to pay her rent and bills. “It really helps reduce stress, and it’s also a fun thing to do when I introduce myself to new potential clients.”
There is nothing shameful in these stories. If anything, it’s relief. The myth that “real” creatives support themselves solely through their craft is always more damaging than their ambitions. Many great artists throughout history had day jobs. Having other sources of income doesn’t make you less of a designer; rather, it makes you a designer. It makes you a designer who can afford the rent.
As brand designer Chloe Marie Doyle says: “We can tie a lot of our sense of self to our work. Almost to the point where we can’t see ourselves doing anything else as work. But when things are slow, it’s okay to look outside of our usual scope.”
Still a work in progress (obviously)
On the bright side, not everyone is desperate. Some designers report turning things around through strategic changes.
For example, brand identity designer Amy Goodall is having a bad year in 2023. But she said, “I started to really look at my brand and my marketing objectively. I rebranded, repositioned myself, started marketing and changed my messaging. Now a lot of the right jobs are coming my way.”
Graphic designer Jackson Hallman adds: “The jobs are out there, the budgets are out there, and people who want real designers and not just AI are out there. But it’s not always easy to find them. You need to be creative in your approach.” For example, two years ago, designer Courtney Flannagan quit her job to go freelance and focus on Pinterest as her primary platform. “I rarely pitch my work because 90 percent of my clients come from Pinterest,” she says.
Main points
I read these success stories with a mixture of hope and skepticism. Yes, some are thriving. But when most responses describe an 18-month drought, it’s no longer enough to say “it’s just an improving market.” It’s like telling someone to bring an umbrella during a flood.
So what do we actually do? To be honest, I don’t have a clear answer.
The creative industries are changing in ways that are both slow and sudden. Artificial intelligence is not going away. Budgets don’t magically expand. The gig economy continues to devalue creative labor.
But from reading that post and my own experience, I do know the following:
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This is not your failure. When dozens of talented, experienced creatives are in trouble at the same time, the problem is systemic, not individual. Here are my three takeaways.
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Survival looks different for everyone. Some people will swerve completely. Some people will find part-time jobs. Some will double down on marketing. None of these paths are wrong.
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Community is important. The most valuable part of this post isn’t the advice; This is validation. Knowing you’re not alone doesn’t solve the problem, but it does make the struggle feel less like a personal failure.
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Adaptation is inevitable. Whether that means learning new tools, finding new revenue streams, or completely rethinking what a creative career looks like, the industry that existed five years ago is not coming back.
Illustrator Connie Noble perhaps said it best. “Things are terrible right now and everyone is scared – not just creative people – and it’s okay to worry. Your career isn’t over because creativity doesn’t leave you when the work stops.”
She is right. Work may stop. But identity is not. Maybe that’s the distinction we need to remember as we figure out what happens next.
