Nathan Exposed » small annoyances

Every worker in every industry has some kind of small annoyance. It’s part of life, I suppose.

One of my small annoyances as a designer is people who e-mail me and say “Do you know when a rough draft will be ready?”

Um… no, I don’t. If I had the psychic ability to look into the future and tell you when things will be done, don’t you think I would quit this job and go save the world with these powers?

Okay, I’m being sarcastic. It’s a logical question and I’m sure I do the same thing to people.

What irks me is the subliminal poking behind it. I can be assigned a project and 5 minutes later, someone will ask “So when will this be done?”

Christ! I’ve just sat down to absorb what you want. You already want it to be done? I don’t know when it will be done, because it isn’t done!

It’s a little thing, I know. But it’s a continuous question when you’re a designer. Someone always asks it, and it strikes me as funny because I can’t really tell you when it will be done. The best I can do is provide an estimate to give you comfort.

Thu, Jan 25, 2007 @ 7:13 am | Filed in Humor | Permalink

6 Comments

I know the feeling. Sometimes people just don’t realise inspiration isn’t something you have at hand all the time.

Posted by danny on Thu, Jan 25, 2007 @ 9:32 am

I don’t think it’s a question limited to designers… Of course the answer to “When will it be done?” is “When I’ve finished it!”

Posted by Tom on Thu, Jan 25, 2007 @ 4:40 pm

Or how about: “Do you know when the fog will clear?”
Yup, sure I do. About the same time that hell freezes over.
Oh, and I know if you’re going to make your flight connection too. Yes sir, I sure do. I know everything. Just ask me, I’ll tell ya.

Posted by Lewis on Thu, Jan 25, 2007 @ 5:41 pm

“So, what are you trying to say?”
“I just said it. What are you trying to hear?”

Posted by DEL on Thu, Jan 25, 2007 @ 5:57 pm

If you are going to include my comment as the last sentance of your blogpost, I’m just not gonna bother anymore.

Posted by Mikell on Thu, Jan 25, 2007 @ 6:11 pm

RE: Your Next Blog Post

“Do you know when a rough draft will be ready?”

“So when will this be done?”

Posted by purpletwinkie on Sat, Jan 27, 2007 @ 12:43 am