Anyone else interested in going into this sometime in life? I know I do.. I want to go to college for the advertising/marketing aspect of it and then eventually start my own business somewhere down the line. Who else likes graphics? If you do, check out the new Signature Of the Week graphics competition going on here at the city! http://forum.grasscity.com/artists-corner/292947-signature-week-competition-week-1-celebrities.html
One of my buddies is going after this too. He's already landed a job making about $11 an hour, basically just drawing shit all day. It's a pretty sweet career, I'd say. I'd look into it if I wasn't so artistically challenged.
Maybe not everyone.. but for those who are serious about it and are talented at it I think there will be plenty. Afterall the internet is only becoming more and more popular each and every day.
Well Tonyizzle, I have had a few years of experience doing professional design work and I didn't enjoy it at all. I'm sure I have a different design mentality and social interaction than you, though, so you might still enjoy doing it. The only good thing about it was that I was able to pay for most of my tuition for the school I'm going to now with the jobs I did then. I worked for three years doing business cards, presentations, mailers, signs, illustrations, websites, and my area of specialty, 3d animation. Now with the non computer stuff, the clients aren't too bad, they don't pay well, but at least they grasped the process. On the other hand, anything that is done with the computer, clients are total bitches who don't understand a damn thing. They think that computer=automatic and easy. Since they have no idea about the process and backend work that goes into websites and animations, their demands are usually ridiculous. They expect just because its a small graphical change they request, that the recoding would be simple, which is normally not the case. I've had projects almost completely done except that the client decides that they don't like something now (even though they signed off on the proof) which made me tear it up completely and start the layout from scratch. The client doesn't want to pay for that additional time because from their perspective, the project is done. argghhh. There's just too much animosity between client and designer. My stress levels were through the roof, where normally they're resting on the floor. Now you might get a good gig, I certainly got a few. I was able to do several revisions of a 3d animation that netted me five figures after all was said and done. So there is a chance you can be profitable. Just make that cash and get out, the industry is just like prostitution. You get worn out and beat up and you're useless to anyone who has money. Thats why I had to quit and go back to school so I could do something with my skills that doesn't make me interact with the clueless masses. I'm hoping for an art restoration job, fine engraving or if all else fails, being a teacher. Yay for staying in academia!
Damn.. sorry to hear you haven't had good experiences. Kinda brought my hopes down a bit.. I intend to start taking classes for graphic design this year, I really hope it isn't a giant waiste of time and money
well I didn't really mean to discourage you, if design is where your heart is at, go for it. What made my experience miserable was the fact that I also had to act as saleman, researcher, photographer and project manager for each job. It was in a very small firm and where as other places will have a specific person for each job, I and my coworkers, besides the backend coding, had to do everything ourselves. I fuckin hate being a salesman! It makes me feel dirty. But if you go, learn all you can and make good contacts while you're there. The design industry is very lucrative if you're skilled, enthusiastic and can network. If you can get a good job at a large firm, you'll only be dealing with the internal project managers (no clients) and expect to make some decent money to start. But as soon as you start lagging, you're out of there for someone younger and more desperate. In this economy, designers, especially commercial and promotional ones, aren't in high demand unfortunately and you must be really good to have any job security. I say if you go this route, just know its probably not going to be your permanent career. Plan on either making a shit ton of money while you can and retire to some island or having some other skills so you can do something else when the industry starts to get to you. My suggestion would be to study fine art instead of graphic art, because while graphic art will train you on the current software (which will be obsolete within a few years or months), the communication and aesthetic skills you pick up in fine art will carry over to every other field of art. Or if you don't want to go that way, an even better choice would be to get an engineering degree if you're any good at mathematics and geometry. You are still designing, but its actually things instead of commercials. The engineering field pays very well and theres always a job for a good object or system designer.
Just curious if I could get a couple of opinions on this picture I did, I want to know what you think no matter what the reaction.
i like it a lot, it's pretty fuckin sick man. if you can get that on a hoodie, i'll gladly throw you $$$.
I'm just finishing up my degree in graphic design. I own my own business as a commercial photographer, so I went back to school to expand my business (since photography and graphic design go hand in hand).
Another new idea just checking for opinions and for TN1F i'm not some lame that just multiplies filters to get a great effect, its all about layers and blending options and a slight mix of filters