Novice web designer vs perfectionism: how to be?

Question

PSD

Greetings from the Muhosran non-name office. We make shitty sites, and I'm not ashamed to say it out loud. But in this thread we will talk about something else.
There are two abstract budding designers.
The first designer is me.A sense of justice does not allow me to download free layouts to use them at work in my office. Perfectionism does not allow stealing icons from flaticons - I draw them myself. The desire to invent something of my own does not allow me to make typical flat layouts with tastelessly thrown blocks-bricks - I regularly experiment with textures, shadows, overlays, shape and volume. I believe that the fashion for flat will go away, and the created design should remain valid. I do not support blindly following the fashion of web design and redesigning sites every year for the next current trend. Oh yes, I am also afraid to use pictures, patterns and illustrations from photobanks in my layouts. Even free ones. I don't know why, it's just me.
And there is another designer - my colleague.Openly admitting that he came into design only for the sake of money (before that he was a system administrator). He started learning Photoshop design about a year ago and found his first job three months later. His design workflow boils down to finding the required ready-made layout on the Internet, replacing some colors, backgrounds or fonts, and filling the layout with the same stolen icons. The authorities don’t understand and don’t delve into it - the result suits everyone, but the shitty sites made according to these layouts multiply one by one.
Now a question. I will not count money and go into someone else's pocket. I will not talk about which of us is right and which is not. I will not once again breed pathos about what design is - routine or art.
I will only ask one thing. The bosses are unhappy with the time I spend on my work. I am not satisfied with my salary (obviously not corresponding to the labor costs), nor the quality of work, nor the attitude towards my layouts. Objectively, I understand that I have more prospects with such an attitude to work than my colleague, but I want to eat not in the abstract future, but now.
Which of my principles should I score on? Is it forgivable, for example, to fill the layout with other people's photographs (until the necessary ones have been provided)? Will I be considered humiliated if I use free ready-made icons?
PS I am an endless perfectionist and try to equal eminent metropolitan or foreign firms in terms of quality and approach to work. I hope for your understanding and detailed answer. Thank you.

Answer 1

In my opinion, you are mixing several concepts - perfectionism, conscience, maximalism, and maybe a bunch of words that you and I didn’t get into.
You need to separate them and highlight the main thing. Your main excellent quality is perfectionism.
You yourself write that you are a beginner designer - so why not use templates?
They do not have to be left as they are (change a couple of fonts and put in photos)
, bring them to a normal look, make them as "high-quality" as possible .
After all, then a case may just turn up where the template obviously does not roll, and here you will already prove yourself.
At first, I tried to do the same from scratch, but it turned out like this, but with templates changed beyond recognition , it’s quite ok.
That is, perfectionism is precisely "quality", which, in my opinion, is the most important thing for a beginner,
and then the approach to work (templates, pictures from stocks).
That is, you can score on conscience and justice (do you still believe in it ??), but not on perfectionism.
You have a craving for learning - the same should not be neglected, but here's what to do everything yourself, not knowing enough yet - the same bust.
Try to learn new things on each site no more than 20-30%,
because your employer needs the same money, including for your salary.
Now you can afford (or for the time being they allow you) to spend a lot of time on training,
but then the habit will remain, and the opportunity may disappear - in general there will be PPC.
In general, you should constantly ask yourself the question - what profit will be from the fact that <insert your own>, and what will happen if this is not so <insert your own>.
After all, it would be a shame if you climb a tree for the sake of a photo for the main page, break your arm, process the photo all night in plaster, make it to the deadline, and the client simply takes it and replaces it with his own, made in the dark with shaking hands on a soap dish.
By the way, a real case with a friend...
In general, it is difficult for a perfectionist until there is little experience - then it will go faster, it will be easier =)
And in general - one cannot change one's character, one can only change one's character.
PS I suffer all my life. Sorry for so many superfluous words - it boiled for myself.

Answer 2

Is it forgivable, for example, to fill the layout with other people's photographs (until the necessary ones have been provided)? Will I be considered humiliated if I use free ready-made icons?

Forgivable and not much, the main thing is that there would be no problems with copyright.
Free layouts, it's sacred!

Answer 3

Once upon a time I worked in such a "studio", though as a proger-backend, which spanked 20 sites a day, and also hung noodles on the ears of dissatisfied customers, on average 2-3 came a day.
As a result, they lured me to a project where unique was valued above all, and the use of a ready-made library had to be justified.
And in my place, as far as I know, the studio hired 2 students in a couple of months with a salary 3 times less than mine, everyone was only happy
. Why am I, if I really have the talent to create unique ones, there will be those who will pay well for it. So earn yourself a portfolio while sitting in this studio and go freelancing. A beautiful unique design can cost up to half a million