My love and hate relationship with design tools

As a designer, I find it challenging to keep up with the ever-changing trends in design tools. When I began my career, Flash was the go-to software, but it has since become obsolete, rendering all my polished ActionScript knowledge useless. Similarly, I invested a great deal of time and effort into mastering FramerJs and TypeScript to create complex prototypes, only for the Framer team to switch to React, leaving me once again with outdated skills.

My foray into 3D design using Cinema4D was also met with challenges. Not only did the software become incompatible with my iMac due to its outdated Intel chips, but Maxon also shifted to a subscription-based plan, rendering my previously purchased plugins useless. To make matters worse, my transition to Figma was also fraught with difficulties as all my files were corrupted after importing them, and I had to recreate all my symbols from scratch.

These constant changes and challenges can make it extremely difficult to stay motivated as a designer, especially after two decades in the field. While change is a constant aspect of life, I often feel disadvantaged compared to younger talents who have just begun their careers in the design industry.