It definitely is unique! And even if

[hasty raven]

I remember when I had more confidence, lately it feels like marketing is all I'll ever do, like i'm just outdated maybe because I'm older now? I've tried to get into branding and UI and UX over the last 10 or so years too and I just don't have the right skills and experience to get work or even volunteer roles.

I feel like design isn't used well in conversion marketing because the goal is only to get the lead, nothing else matters. Almost all decisions are made on opinions, favoritism and not research or even basic accessability standards. This is just my experience, maybe it is different for others. I've tried reframing these scenarios but it doesn't make up for things that simply didn't happen. This is how I realized design could be used to solve problems, but the work I was doing wasn't it.

[shrewd dragon]

Design is used very well in conversion marketing. It's just a different goal. As you mentioned, the goal for conversion marketing is to get the lead. The design here is how can you create a layout that optimizes for the conversion? Where does the CTA go? How could you design or add elements onto the website to give the user confidence about your product?

There are also branding specific designs where conversions isn't #1 because they do their marketing somewhere else. You can check a site called -- www.siteinspire.com and you'll see a bunch of cool website that are more creative.

The demand exists, you just need to find people that match what you like.

[hasty raven]

That makes sense. I think I've also always felt a bit guilty about how semi-predatory the marketing work I've done is and I know that affects my confidence in how I talk about it. I hope one day I'll be able to work somewhere I feel better about, just not sure how to find it.

Thank you for the site recommendation too. That's an interesting point about sites that are more brand focused and not entirely conversion based. I think I would like to do something like that, if possible.

[hasty raven]

I guess I just feel like my story isn't very....good? So many people coming into design are coming from backgrounds like medical, robotics, science, engineering...I'm a self taught designer who never finished college. Like, I wouldn't hire me if I read my story, I would hire the engineer or person with a medical background...they are obviously much smarter than someone like me. I dunno how else to reframe the experience I have because it just doesn't compete with someone of that calibur

[shrewd dragon]

haha i too am self taught. studied business in college and then left my sales interview to start up a graphic design portfolio and eventually got a job in the fashion industry. Moved to UI.UX and also self taught (youtube). Now i'm managing other designers and helping them become the best versions of themself.

I think best course of action is to fall in love with design again. do projects that truly inspire you (for fun) and figure out what you really like to design / do. I think you'll find the spark again and start to see where you can contribute and others cannot.

[hasty raven]

I love to solve problems and the way UX works seems to align with that. I've been trying to learn UX for about a year but I'm so lost. I had a plan but it hasn't gone well. I have no mentor or design community to share work with, or even any UX work to show. I wish I could just design and code HTML/CSS wordpress themes and websites again, but that isn't helping me grow as a designer and hasn't been in demand for years.