Vantaggi
Assuming that most of the designers haven't quit or been let go by now, know that you'll work with an amazingly talented, knowledgeable, and thoughtful group of creatives. Your work will be consistently pushed and challenged by your peers. Every designer has (and had) a youthful, explorative passion that made every project enjoyable. If a company is only as strong as the weakest link and honestly, I can't say our design team had any weak links. If there's anything to get excited about at Iconologic, it's the team.
Svantaggi
The majority of these reviews are from 2015 before Iconologic closed and restructured as "ICON". The current state of Iconologic is a disorganized totalitarian, veiled by a seemingly promising list of clients and its cling to decades-old design work. Current management at ICON has a history of preying on young designers by selling them an idea of conceptual work, leadership roles, and a wide range of design experience. The realities of this office is experiencing an array of HR violations and discriminatory, micro-aggressive behavior directed towards women and minorities. ICON should be a last resort for any Atlanta designer. If you stay here for any extended period of time, you are bound to see yourself plateau within 6 months despite the promises of growth. Expect thankless 60+ hour work weeks. Expect fear tactics to be deployed for your compliance. And, if you're lucky enough to be a freelancer, expect weeks of stalling pay. Working here surfaced a level of distress, worthlessness, and financial tension for myself and other employees — all of whom have since quit or been let go due to non-compliance with this archaic structure. We've endured sleep deprivation. We've had leadership refer to us with racial epithets. We've been asked to work during vacations and consecutive weekends. And unfortunately for many of us, our full-time employee status didn't allow us to collect overtime benefits. I do not wish the kind of condescension, disrespect, or prejudice endured during my time at ICON on my worst enemy. And, unfortunately, with no HR there is little to do about it what goes on. Please beware of ICON Atlanta. And if this just so happens to be your only career opportunity in design, I suggest you freelance to avoid being taken advantage of work-wise. Pad your portfolio. Network. Be courteous to your fellow designers. And if you find yourself in your car, uncontrollably sobbing/screaming into the void, know that the spirit of former ICONers everywhere are screaming with you.
