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Graphic Design Security

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Hairspray
Posts: 298 - Karma: 14
I'm just wondering about graphic design job security, its been my plan for about a year and a half now to go into that career, it seems to be the only one that fits me, im still in highschool but im already designing a dj's album cover, am going to design a local rappers cover, and have done a lot of other things like that. I really like and am influenced by work by Hello Monsters and that style, and im just wondering if going into that career, designing albums, skis, boards, and things like that, would be a logical choice keeping in mind job security and pay.
Nov 19 2009 10:19PM
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Blandct
Posts: 1858 - Karma: 37
if you have the drive im sure you will succeed. Just make sure you learn web...lol lot of freelance opportunities with web.
Nov 19 2009 11:17PM
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DJeli
Posts: 38 - Karma: 12
Drive is important and so is getting reference/portfolio/contacts.

I as well have considered to go into Graphic Design/Ad. Design, but to be honest it's a hard field to prosper in with all of the multiple agencies and freelancers so you really need to shine like for instance Brand Nuu the designer. I hope to freelance in graphic design/photography but I'm going to school for 3d Animation hence there is more opportunity and money in that field.

Building a portfolio is really key and getting contacts, those will give you a job if you decide to freelance.
As well making website is usually a job of a graphic designer, I suggest learning all of the programs in the whole Adobe Creative Suite, as well as more. A big thing is to do a lot of tutorials and experiment.

Buy Magazines and keep up to date with new techniques and the community. Blogs/Community sites are your friend.

Graphic Design has a ton of potential but you need to be ahead of the curve in order to prosper.
Do you have a portfolio site or a place with your work?

Sorry for the long post lol. Hope it helps.
Nov 20 2009 11:44AM
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Hairspray
Posts: 298 - Karma: 14
Thank you! No, i dont have a site that serves as my portfolio, i do have a photobucket but thats not very professional. I have a lot of designs but yea i think i just need somewhere to post them up so people can look. Are there graphic design, firms? Like an orginization that could hire you and put you on steady pay instead of just trying to random design jobs? Because right now, things may change, but for the past year or so i've wanted to major in graphic design and buisness and i wondering if there are firms that would hire someone with those degrees and put them on a steady, good enough, pay? This is far, far down the road aspiration but i hope to one day own my own graphic design, firm if thats the word, myself
Nov 20 2009 12:03PM
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QuazBotch
Posts: 3908 - Karma: 216
The Marketing Industry is a place a lot designers end up. That could be in-house at a company that actually produces products, or at a marketing agency that a company hires to do their advertising work. Either way you could be designing brochures, catalogs, website/online stuff, or contributing to TV/video work.
Nov 20 2009 1:09PM
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Hairspray
Posts: 298 - Karma: 14
I'm hoping to design things like albums, skis, snowboards, surfboards, things that are related to an active or creative lifestyle
Nov 20 2009 1:53PM
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Trent_Palmer
Posts: 226 - Karma: 936
Thats what we all hope for (video for me instead of graphics) but its funny how things can change. I went from only making ski video to editing toy commercials because it pays. So definitely aim for doing the cool stuff but just know that there are a lot of people out there that want to do that too, so much that many people do it for free (as is the case with making ski videos) so try to make yourself as well rounded as possible because most likely you will be doing some jobs that you dont have an interest in, but those are the ones that will get you paid, then you can do all the fun stuff too knowing that it wont pay as much but you enjoy it more. Kinda a hand off I guess.

Stick with it and you'll get there. Oh, and watch out for graphic design schools, I spent a year and a half in a graphics program and learned NOTHING, if anything they managed to make me less creative... Total waste of time and money.
Nov 20 2009 6:30PM
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Hairspray
Posts: 298 - Karma: 14
Then what should i do to learn more in it? Because right now I dont really understand photoshop and corel painter and tablets and all those things that are necessary, and im gonna go to college, i don't think specifically a graphic design school, would that teach better? Or are there ways I can learn to do it while still in highschool? Thats what im really looking for right now
Nov 20 2009 6:42PM
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Trent_Palmer
Posts: 226 - Karma: 936
Hmmm, I take back what I said about graphic design schools, they just arent for me I guess. Just make sure when you look into them you make sure they have a high success rate of graduates getting jobs.

As for now I would start watching tutorials whenever possible, thats how I have learned everything I know. lynda.com is great, it has some sort of subscription fee but its worth it (especially if you compare it to the price of a class on photoshop or whatever) so thats definitely where I would start. Other sites are good too, lynda is just what we use at my work. Then you should look and see if there are any graphic design/marketing agencies in your area that might need an intern, that is a super good way to meet the right people that will teach you how everything works with clients and everything, plus it will give you an in so when you are ready to start work as a designer you will have someone to go to. Other than that, just do a lot of design stuff, even if its just for fun/practice, and try to do a wide variety of styles so that you dont get stuck in a groove of making everything the same.



Nov 20 2009 6:54PM
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Hairspray
Posts: 298 - Karma: 14
Awesome, thanks! I'll look into that stuff
Nov 20 2009 7:00PM
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Blandct
Posts: 1858 - Karma: 37
lynda is really good... At school we get a subscription for it. Otherwise its about 25 a month
but so far ive used it for several things

Started watching the videos fro cinema 4d and quite a few of the flash ones.

Can't really complain other then sometimes the tutorial has a voice that will make you want to kill yourself.
Nov 21 2009 2:07AM
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BK
Posts: 2353 - Karma: 1,122
doing fully freelance graphic design like it sounds like you are talking about is HIGHLY insecure. You are gonna be stressing most of the time trying to juggle self motivation to put in enough hours, while promoting yourself and spending time away from actually designing talking to clients on the phone and communicating and shit.

You need to gain momentum and keep it. EVen if you are slammed at a certain point with jobs, you need to be looking for new jobs still that will keep the money coming in, in a month or two.

Its good to be in the ski industry because its so tight knit that companies would rather stay in it and find designers there, other than actually pound the pavement and go find people outside it.

Find a bread and butter client that will give you work all the time, once they trust and know you, hopefully you will be working your tail off for them.

Also, while you are in school, take the opportunity to work for free on projects you want to work on, doing the BEST job you can to build your portfolio.

WOOHOOOO!
Nov 22 2009 4:23PM
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Hairspray
Posts: 298 - Karma: 14
Thanks, im currently working really hard on the portfolio, and so are you saying its possible for me to be like a ski companies personal designer to get a steady pay? and would that let me still design for other companies? not specifically skis though
Nov 22 2009 7:17PM
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DJeli
Posts: 38 - Karma: 12
If I read correctly you said you don't have a tablet or do not understand photoshop all so well?

In that case I recommend picking up a intous 4 from wacom this christmas, and the only way to really get better at photoshop is looking at tutorials, repeating them, and practicing a ton.

A key factor in being efficient is learning and using a majority of the keybinds/hot keys. (BIG TIME SAVER), thats from personal experience. The tablet when mastered saves a lot of time as well.

Keep up the good work, if you ever want let me know and I can give you some critique or some opinions/advice about your work.
Nov 30 2009 11:37AM
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freeski_Shaggy
Posts: 617 - Karma: 279
DAAP at the University of Cincinnati is one of the top design schools in the world. The architecture, interior design and industrial design programs are all top 5 in the country. While the Graphic Design program is in the top 20 I believe.

Its a really great school with a top 5 co-op to top it off. if your really interested I would highly consider looking into it. Although it is hard to get in, lots and lots of work and a 5 year program.
Nov 30 2009 2:28PM
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Hairspray
Posts: 298 - Karma: 14
awesome, ill look into that. And i do have a wacom intuos, but yea i really dont understand it all that well. Im gonna scan and photoshop this design i have and ill post it up and if you can critique it and help me out thatd be awesome, thanks!
Nov 30 2009 6:08PM
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freeskibum82
Posts: 6355 - Karma: 5,055
forget lynda.. when i interview candidates. if they mention lynda.. i hit them with a test right away to see if they can do something in 15minutes.. typically they cant because they are use to the lax way of doing it on "your own time". granted its cool people want to do design work, but go to school, work late nights and go from there.

job security is tough, many companies are outsourcing to freelancers to minimize overhead. just always keep looking for that next job. the economy sucks and jobs are unfortunately being cut, especially in specialty sectors like GD.
Nov 30 2009 9:56PM
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Hairspray
Posts: 298 - Karma: 14
alright, well ive been planning on going to a university for it. But i also just have a question, is the demand for graphic design more just for shapes and colors that are computer generated? Because as i look around it all is looking the same, and i want to focus more on developing and designing my own actual art for people rather than have a software with a bunch of premade designs that i layer over each other, i just dont think thats genuine and its not what i want to do. Is graphic design still the right field if thats how i feel?
Dec 1 2009 12:22AM
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BoardSideDown
Posts: 547 - Karma: 254
two suggestions, take a webdesign class or use wordpress to create a website for a portfolio, and take a marketing class to learn a little about advertising.to help yourself get your name out there.

keep your eyes set on your dreams and it will come with time and hard work.

Good Luck!
Dec 1 2009 12:51AM
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*joe*joe*
Posts: 31 - Karma: 13
I have the intuos 3 and it's awesome. So I assume 4 must be even better.

It's really important to be versatile, even if you show your portfolio to a ski company, for example, you want to have a lot of work that they can relate to but at the same time you want to include some stuff that is completely different. They need to see that you can do all aspects, show them ski stuff, surf stuff, snowboard stuff, whatever, but throw in something for a beauty salon or some formal, conservative designs to show you know your stuff.
Dec 1 2009 1:54AM
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ankhou
Posts: 505 - Karma: 238
I don't know if you're suffering from a misconception here, or if you just haven't been checking out any good designers lately.  Computer design work opens up a ridiculous amount of possibilities, even if you'd rather concentrate on your traditional media skills (which is admirable).  The fact is, you'll end up finishing the design on a computer, even if you create it by hand, because it will need to be reproduced.  You'll need to know how to use the programs that can accomplish this for you, and Adobe CS is a great place to start.

I'd also like to clear up what I think you might be implying, which is that some graphic designers take premade designs (i.e. clip art) and use that to create their 'designs'.  While some people may do this, no-one in the professional field would be caught dead, or survive long doing it.  While many designs use repetitive elements, these are almost certainly created by the designer themselves beforehand, and are thus being used in a perfectly legitimate manner to create a strong image.

Anyway, good luck, and don't give up!
Dec 1 2009 7:07AM
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