One of the questions that constantly comes up in every creative’s mind is this: “Is it time to upgrade?” Being in this profession, it’s no secret that the equipment and gear we use to produce our work costs a pretty penny.
As a designer, I’m always drooling over the latest Macbook Pros from Apple because I’m invested with my workflow on MacOS (and because they look damn good). For my cousin who’s a photographer and videographer, he’s constantly on the lookout for things like new lenses and camera bags for his work. If you’re a digital artist, the new top spec XP-Pen tablet with a stylus that provides 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity is sure to catch your eye. But how do we determine if these beautiful machines are worth your hard-earned money?
I have a Macbook Air that I’ve held on to since my days in university. Back then, I bought it for it’s light weight and long battery life, which meant I could work on assignments late into the night while out at some cafe without needing to plug in for hours. But now I find the demands of my client work is starting to take a toll on its processing power, screen resolution and colour accuracy, in addition to the small 128GB storage capacity. It freezes when handling heavy files and slows down when I am tending to multiple applications.
As a result, I have been looking up reviews for the new Macbook Pros with a strong intent to buy one to replace it. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised that my Macbook Air’s shortcomings were not so dire after all. Even though those struggles with it are real, I decided to hold off on buying a new computer because I couldn’t say with certainty that it was indeed drastically impacting my work quality and efficiency. Always ask yourself how much of an inconvenience your current hardware is to you and how much of an improvement the new gadget you want is over it. Remember, keeping costs low is a priority over that new shiny Macbook you want so much.
That being said, an important part of the creative process is feeling good about the journey as well as the end result. Dredging on with tools that you’re unhappy with just for the sake of keeping costs down is going to cost you in terms of your satisfaction with your work. I recently purchased a Canon M50 mirrorless camera to replace my Nikon D5300 DSLR that I use for my work, and I bought it because I felt like I would really enjoy using it and be satisfied with the pictures/footage it takes. I didn’t reach for a more expensive camera loaded full of advanced features because money was an issue for me, but the M50 wasn’t cheap either. It was how it made me feel about using it. When you feel good during the process, you’ll feel proud in the output, and finally you’ll feel confident presenting your work to the client. Never disregard your need to feel fulfilled in what you do.
So I’ll leave you with this: The trick when deciding to upgrade your tools is to find a balance between practicality and delight. Don’t go for something out of your budget just because you crave it, and at the same time don’t hold on to something that makes you miserable with it.
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