Agencies aren't so bad - they CAN really be a place for mentorship and learning best practices, especially for younger designers (as with all places - depending on the people of course).
Most people's issue with agencies is that it comes down to unit economics. The bigger the agency, the more plates are in the air, and the more tuned in to really bleeding the $-to-productivity out of their designers they need to be. Paying right at or just below market value, expecting long weekend hours, "but our culture is excellent" is what has given a lot of agencies a bad name.
Smaller craft agencies in your cities may be a lot better in that regard - and may be a little better fit for what you're looking for - an interesting challenge. It's still VERY difficult work, but I feel like there's a different feeling to working at those speeds and helping to grow a team and company - as opposed to clearing contracts as efficiently as possible for a larger agency.
There's always middle-grounds but it all comes down to 1. who works there? and 2. how does the company think about their employees (...which may not be immediately apparent during the interviewing stages, but which you can look for tells based on the person interviewing you).
Agencies aren't so bad - they CAN really be a place for mentorship and learning best practices, especially for younger designers (as with all places - depending on the people of course).
Most people's issue with agencies is that it comes down to unit economics. The bigger the agency, the more plates are in the air, and the more tuned in to really bleeding the $-to-productivity out of their designers they need to be. Paying right at or just below market value, expecting long weekend hours, "but our culture is excellent" is what has given a lot of agencies a bad name.
Smaller craft agencies in your cities may be a lot better in that regard - and may be a little better fit for what you're looking for - an interesting challenge. It's still VERY difficult work, but I feel like there's a different feeling to working at those speeds and helping to grow a team and company - as opposed to clearing contracts as efficiently as possible for a larger agency.
There's always middle-grounds but it all comes down to 1. who works there? and 2. how does the company think about their employees (...which may not be immediately apparent during the interviewing stages, but which you can look for tells based on the person interviewing you).