44 here, was a freelance illustrator and designer for 25 years. Never once had an age issue thrown at me however what did me in was the rise of China and India competing for American clients. There was no way I could compete when I needed 500 (or 5000!) for a job and they would do it (poorly) overseas for 50 bucks, or a fiver... :/
When I saw the writing on the wall I quickly started learning css, html and javascript. I now am at a software company doing ui/ux and a whole lot of javascript. It hurts my head however I still manage to keep on the cutting edge of things (and as long as I can see to read, I hope to always continue keeping on the cutting edge).
Where I work it's almost all millennials with just a smattering of Gen X'ers here (me being one). I get a lot of age jokes thrown at me but still very respected none the less. When this job runs it's course, I'll probably work remotely doing code... since in Slack, no one knows your age (and doesn't care as long as you can deliver code and comps).
44 here, was a freelance illustrator and designer for 25 years. Never once had an age issue thrown at me however what did me in was the rise of China and India competing for American clients. There was no way I could compete when I needed 500 (or 5000!) for a job and they would do it (poorly) overseas for 50 bucks, or a fiver... :/
When I saw the writing on the wall I quickly started learning css, html and javascript. I now am at a software company doing ui/ux and a whole lot of javascript. It hurts my head however I still manage to keep on the cutting edge of things (and as long as I can see to read, I hope to always continue keeping on the cutting edge).
Where I work it's almost all millennials with just a smattering of Gen X'ers here (me being one). I get a lot of age jokes thrown at me but still very respected none the less. When this job runs it's course, I'll probably work remotely doing code... since in Slack, no one knows your age (and doesn't care as long as you can deliver code and comps).