Ive done a bit of Google research on this but was wondering if there was any info you guys and gals could shoot me to help here.
I was recently going to quit my job in London, Im a website and graphic designer there and have worked as such for 7 years. I decided the next step would be to freelance fulltime - I just think it would be more flexible and more fluid for me, and I enjoy the diversity it offers.
When I told the company, they took a week to think about it, then hit me for a loop - they wanted me to go and work in the New York office, as they currently have no designers there. Its literally in Times Square, which sounds and looks awesome.
While this is a unique and fantastic opportunity, there are things to consider, such as Visas for myself and my partner (we arent married yet so its a bit of an issue at the moment).
What I was hoping for was any help on these two things:
1) Are there any designers here that can give me a guide as to the range that a midweight-senior level designer can earn as an annual salary in the states?
If it helps, Im well skilled in Photoshop, Illustrator, Fireworks, Flash, Motion and Dreamweaver, although I ended up honing the design skills instead of additionally learning code so my HTML/XML is limited.
I also have an art background so I do lots of vector characters and illustrations (see
www.titan-designs.co.uk for examples).
2) Cost of living - Ive been told that Brooklyn is a good place to rent a studio apartment, that is commutable to New York quite easily. I was wondering if anyone could comment on this and/or knows what kind of price range to expect for monthly rent?
Other than that, if there are any people here that are ex-pats or have lived in the UK and US, Id love to hear about the differences and of course great things the US has to offer :-)
Im hoping that everything works out as it would be fantastic as an experience, and Im an avid traveller so this is great for me, but just want to make sure that what they are offering me is enough for a designer at such a level and to ensure Im relatively comfortable paying bills and such.
Any help here would be wonderful, thank you for your time all!
Leo
