Design + Industry Reviews

It is known that D+I have very high quality of output. This comes at a cost, and attracts premium clients with high expectations. It is rare that these clients and their problems are easy to solve / fun to deal with (thats how things are in any industry). The stakes on some of the more high profile commercial projects are high and thus the details will be under scrutiny and the approach will need to be justified. Don't take this personally, they might be spending $X at D+I but they are risking $X times 5 to go on this venture and launch this project so they're often nervous, projecting their angst and just trying to mitigate risks and 'help' (lol). I read some of the reviews here and think these are a couple of disgruntled employees who perhaps didnt want to learn in the way D+I teaches (through action and example), and similarly were as inflexible as they accuse D+I of being. (I dont hold it against them or anyone - everyone learns differently and likes different environments). You want to learn from the best, have access to the best clients for high profile career making jobs? D+I can offer that - but as the headline says it comes at a price. There is marginal handholding and things can feel pretty sink or swim - to some this is an opportunity and to some this is an abandonment. For me? I have had access to more diversity of clients, projects, design approaches and exposure to new tech than I know I could not get somewhere smaller or on my own. I don't really get the complains about 'career opportunities or high staff turnover' - the department heads and head of D+I have been here for an average of a decade or more each. The management structures haven't been built by some business school textbook but clearly by these designers. Yeah it means its not facebook or snapchat level awareness of everyones emotions and lifestyle but those places were designed to use HR depts and fringe pleasantaries to inflate value. And yeah, it means there hasn't been too many spots at the top leading the departments but I have experienced and seen a designer at any level crush a job and be handed or pulled into another because of the positive word of mouth from the client or team. This is a place where if you do well solving a complex client and project they will hand you another. If you're not the type that sees these challenges as developing you as a designer then go to Tiller or somewhere where you can sit around in D+I's literal shadow and not have the expection of industry leading quality. I checked out glassdoor before accepting my job here and I don't think anything written here really expressed what my truth/view is above so i wrote this to help. I'm not the type that thinks if you hang out in the kingdom long enough you deserve your turn to wear the crown - you earn it.

Most of the cons with D+I are typical of design consultancies and hard to get away from if you want to be a part of the design consultancy world. Design consultancy can be a difficult game and if this is the first consultancy you work in then it may seem that the 'grass is greener' elsewhere. Your success will depend on how well you manage your clients. If you struggle to manage clients well then you will have an uncomfortable time. D+I does expect a lot of autonomy from its employees and you have to be able to hold your own. It may be a steep learning curve for those with less than 5 years experience. There will always be time and budget constraints in consultancy which will frustrate you at times.