It’s not all about the Benjamin’s

I know the economy is bad. I know people are shopping less. I know people can’t afford the luxury goods they could yesterday. It sucks. Short of painting a happy smile on a pretty bleak situation, there is not much to say to designers to make them feel better about business being slow, or dare I say non-existent. 

I can offer two things to help. First of all, these economic trends tend to follow the pendulum rule. We will eventually dip back up. Second, I was reading Seth Godin’s blog who said this in a post about money:

“No, people (most people) don't do things only for money. There's usually a minimum threshold that gets someone to pick a job and stick with it, but beyond that, the things we do are expressions of who we are and what we love and the impact we wish to make, not selfish acts designed to earn a few extra bucks. (No one paid you to read this post, I bet).”

I liked this post (read in full), and especially the part about doing what we love. You design because it is in your heart to design. Someone buys your product, because it evokes a feeling in them, and that feeling leads them to purchase. While no one will argue that money is one of the ultimate goals here - and necessary for survival - just remember while you’re waiting that you have other forces and factors that make it worth waiting.