pixate looks like what I need! I'll give it a try now

I've used Ponoko with amazing results

https://www.ponoko.com/

I guess that's the bottom line! Just ask.. It does sound scary.

It takes a lot of time and perseverance to join the design community, anywhere. You need to network, write, and create stuff outside of work. Engage with others on and offline.

Frankly, it's exhausting.

I use Evernote to organize everything - I have folders for designer stuff, inspiration and tutorials; developer stuff; and every client gets their own folder. Notes for every meeting is stored chronologically, and sub folders for various phases of design/development for each client.

I also use it to store UX patterns! I use the email feature to collect data, such as analytics, and send snippets. It all gets saved in a special ux folder. I also store flattened ux templates in there, with dropbox link to the PSD.. Then it's a shared folder for everyone in the team.

I use that first client request as a foot in the door. I ask them why they want to "clean things up" and "freshen it a bit" - start a conversation about what they really need.

Then once the creative juices are flowing, start tossing ideas around. It'll soon be clear they need a redesign - but can keep their CMS.

Totally - but sometimes it's helpful (iOS, Material D), until it's not.

And then every half second animation adds up to me wanting to claw my eyeballs out.

I look for companies that value design - either they blog about it, have a high ratio of designers to developers, or I use their products and appreciate the design.

And aside from appreciating design, I want to work with good people. You can get a sense from the company culture and values from their social media and the way they respond during the interview process.

This is awesome! Liked more posts in 30 seconds than my entire life on Dribbble

Absolutely. But he was asking for specific design elements which break flow, hinder navigation, add visual clutter and hurt overall usability. (I won't get into the details here.) He wasn't taking any of my advice. I wasn't even arguing for flat design, specifically; simply that the things he was asking for are no longer done for the reasons I mentioned above.