Because once a graphic designer, forever everyone’s formatting savior.
So apparently, if you used to be a graphic designer…
…and then went into IT, networking, cybersecurity, GIS, database admin, Zoom hosting, and surviving Windows Patch Tuesdays…
That doesn’t matter.
Because the minute someone in the office hears:
“Oh yeah, Teo used to do design work…”
Boom. You now own the entire 250-page budget book.
Layout? You.
Major photos? You.
Photo edits? Still you.
A few blurbs that magically appeared under someone else’s name? Also probably you.
Fighting with tables in Word while securing the network? 100% still you.
Since 2022. Three years of “Can you just…?”
It all started so innocently:
2022: “Hey Teo, can you help clean up the formatting?”
2023: “Actually… could you just do the whole layout?”
2024: “We really liked your photos last year — you got a better eye than the contractor!”
2025: “Can you add charts, graphics, update the narrative, and maybe ghostwrite the opening letter? No pressure.”
250 Pages of Suffering, Now in Full Color!
This isn’t some cute Canva presentation.
This is a government-grade, professionally printed, annually distributed document that’s 250 pages long and somehow still growing.
It has:
- Complex budgets
- Capital project summaries
- Tables that shift if you breathe near them
- Photos from five departments
- Charts, callouts, headers, footers, and demons
The only thing it doesn’t have?
A budget for an actual layout team.
So here I am.
Again.
Still using Word like it’s InDesign in disguise.
Yes, the good photos were mine.
Not all of them — just the major ones.
You know, the ones with the:
- Good angles
- Clean composition
- No visible clutter
- Slightly dramatic clouds for added funding vibes
Taken between IT tickets, patching VLANs, and answering “Why can’t I print double-sided?” for the 400th time.
And yes, I wrote some of it, too.
It starts with:
“Can you just fix this sentence?”
Then suddenly I’m describing our agency’s five-year capital improvement plan like I work for a think tank.
While running backup reports.
While re-labeling a network closet.
While secretly wondering how I became most of this document.
I know I’m being exploited, but I’m weirdly proud
I’m tired.
Word tried to break me.
The style guide gave me flashbacks.
But the book looks awesome.
People ask, “Who did this?”
And someone always says, “Oh, Teo fixed it up a bit.”
Fixed it up. FIXED. IT. UP.
TL;DR:
- I used to be a graphic designer
- I now work in IT
- Which means I now do… both
- And since 2022, I’ve been creating our 250-page budget book
- Layout, photos, edits, minor writing, and therapy support — all included