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Where 40 Hours of My Week Goes

\n\n\nI don't talk about work much here, because saying too much can get you in trouble. Though I suppose I can talk about what I do in general. I'm a graphic designer, which means I design things that are printed - brochures, invitations, posters, info sheets, etc. This is NOT the same thing as a web designer. I know it kind of sounds like the same thing, but deisgnig with pixels and designing for paper are two totally different worlds. (Why yes, I have had to explain that more than once.)\n\nThe thing with me, is that I've actually done a fair amount of web design, but never for work. It's always been for my own personal use. Until recently. I've become the e-mail blast guru and I was recently given a project which involves building a small website. \n\nI spent most of today working on that, and I got so absorbed in it that the day FLEW by, and I've been trying to figure out why that happens when I work on web stuff, and not so much when I work on print stuff. I think this is the thing, after 13 years of doing print design, my brain is pretty used to solving problems that might come along. You could even consider graphic design itself a problem solving task (how do I display this information in a way that emphasizes the main message but doesn't look like crap?) However, when I'm working on web stuff, which I do a whole lot less off, there's all sorts of different problem solving tasks - not just the design part, but the \"Why isn't this working?!\" issue, too. I get totally caught up in finding the solutions to the problems I come across. They're frustrating, but it's a new challenge, and I think my brain likes that.\n\nPrint design is always going to be my first love (there's nothing like holding the final product of something you designed in your own hands), and I don't think I could do web design ALL the time, but it's nice to make my brain work a little harder every once in a while.