Topic: career advice

Right now I am a college student who is unsure of what "exactly" I want to major in. I love design. I love graphic design, I love layout design BUT i am not an artist. I can do computer graphics and layout but cannot draw a damn thing by hand. Now the Graphic Design program requires some art classes, such as painting and drawing..etc. I suck at it! I would love to do web design as a major but with it being "semi new" there are not many schools that offer it. I am just wondering what are some of your degrees? What is your advice?

Right now I am editor of our campus magazine but don't want to get stuck in a communications degree when what i love doing is designing. Help! I have to figure out what i want to do with my life. Hehe.

I'm not overly familiar with the US education system but here are some thoughts:

1. Do what you enjoy if its not quite what is required for the job you are aiming at you can always pick up new skills as you work. People come to the table from a range of backgrounds demonstrating that you can deviver top class web pages (see 3) is more important than the minutiae of your qualifications.

2. Perhaps doing the art classes might improve your drawing technique and you might discover new talents.

3. You are the editor of the campus magazine - give it a strong online presence and make it a showcase for your talents (not just as an individual designer but as a leader of a project drawing together a group of people with a variety of different skills) - this will impress a potential employer far more a piece of assessed coursework for example (remember to make notes and save screenshots/code for your portfolio).

Emperor

Dont be afraid of a few painting and drawing classes, in your average courses about 75% of the people cant draw. The rest will be a mix of the Gifted artists and the Practiced artists. What I learned in art class is that there is almost always someone better than you and almost always several people worse than you who just want to 'talk' about art. Drawing and painting classes are not about turning you into the next DaVinci, they are about breaking down the barriers between the tool between your ears and the tool in your hand. Mabye you start with stick figures and you end up with block people, progress is progress. Personally I would say skip the 'web design' major and go for a solid grounding in fundamental graphical concepts, space, layout, motion, tone. This will translate to the web, to print work, to 3d animation, to every aspect of the way you look at the world. Most 'web design' programs I have seen are geared toward teaching you the how to make things, a good art teacher will help show you why you make things.

Degrees....well I am degreeless, I have taken an intro lightwave class, some flash stuff, some programming stuff, (cobol, I am a master of cobol...its like being king of guam.) got some liberal arts stuff in there too. Oh yeah and one intro to drawing class...hahah. No degree, not yet. The only thing I have going for me is that I have a few natrual inclinations toward art and I deluge myself with graphics on a daily basis. When I get motivated I will have my animation degree, if I get really motivated i will go chase down a MFA, not for the diploma because with a fine arts degree and 2.50 you still cant get a grande latte...no, just for the love of art.

I lost focus, gonna stop now, just dont fear the art classes, you will be amazed at how many people cannot draw, take the class...because its there.

Bachelor's degrees in Communication and Political Science, with a minor in Math.
I am also a horrible artist...I mean awful.
I get by with a decent knowledge of PS and a whole lot of patience.
I would say, take at least a few of those art classes, I wish I would have. (and I still may)

Don't forget the power of a well rounded education in anything. Education is education. My Poli. Sci. experiance actually taught me a whole lot. As project manager of training programs I find myself working with many different people, from programmers to customer support personel to Vice Presidents--each with their own agenda. The best part of my education was learning how to learn, and learning how to deal with all sorts of people. The details (particular languages, software, etc.) can all be learned 'on-the-job'. School is for growing.

That advice about getting your campus mag on-line was exellent. More experience available there than you can shake a stick at.

mobrul

Thanks for the advice and yes I am terrified of the true talented artists in those drawing and painting classes. I took a tour of the program and the adviser was showing me things that people have painted and so and so and I could feel my palms sweating. All I could think about was "they're all gonna laugh at me" Haha. Anyway thanks for telling me not be afraid. I will take that advice and try my hand at it.

And yes, I am putting our campus magazine online this year. This will be the first time it has ever been online and there are only 2 other magazines in our state that are online so this is going to be a big undertaking for me. A bit nerve-racking but I'm going to do my best. I'll probably be coming on here a lot and saying take a look at it! Hehe.

Hah! Whenever I read something like this, I remember how intimidated I was as a kid, we had 3 kids who grew up with me who just had this "gift" for drawing things, they were awesome! Still, I had more passion for it, and after years of struggle I persevered and now believe I'm a better artist than they ever could be. A natural talent for drawing would be nice, but mostly it's just tricks that can be learned. What about the pictures in your head? Are they pretty, special, even? If they are, you may have what it takes to make it in the art world. I learned to darw the hard way, but made the most progress while studying Industrial Design, the teachers there didn't expect *anybody* to know how to draw, but they did expect us to have ideas, and simply showed us all the techniques to get them out on paper, cool beans. "Art" happens in the head, the rest is just tricks and techniques that can be learned.

Your pal, -doc-

Well ... i have to say that your last words Doc, in the previous post, just touched me ...

quote:

---

"Art" happens in the head, the rest is just tricks and techniques that can be learned.

---

I just feel this is reality .. actually for me ... im real bad with a pencil in my hands ... just cant put on paper what im really thinking about. but im pretty sure my time will come. just keep on practicing.

oh, if you say you suck at art, them you should take art classes! becasue then you'll learn and not suck anymore

i am in the same position as you, kinda, have to decide what to do at uni (college for you americans) i decided to not do webdesign/gfx design at uni and decided to do network engineering instead i'll keep on designing as a hobby, casue its fun! and i know i can get a job doing network engineering and its not to hard and kinda fun as well

btw doc, this is a great part of the asylum! cool!

Nicely put Doc. I'm far from a true fine artist, but I got my degree in architecture and learned a lot about sketching and other forms of visual representation along the way and got a lot better at "art" in the process. A big part of improving as an artist is simply doing it

Chris


KAIROSinteractive

hey maruman !!! actually youre right !!! i should take art classes which is what i am actually doing ... im a student in his learning process ... of course, i will get better with time ... well, i hope :P

Wow!

Hi everyone,

I haven't posted in the asylum for quite a while. I've been traveling and recovering from an ongoing illness. I would just like to add that I love to draw and have been scribbling all my life. Throughout school, classmates were always eager to copy my work, but I didn't mind, I always thought it was flattering. Now, I have been able to transfer my talent with a pencil to a computer mouse. I am 19, and have been involved with "web design" for over six years. I don't have a degree yet, and probably won't get one anytime soon because I am too ill. I had to quit school at the beginning of my sophomore year in high school because I developed Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's disease (IBD). At the moment, I do contract work and am employed as a web developer for a local design firm. What I'm trying to say is, don't worry about how you'll look to others in the class, I took some fine art classes to get back into the swing of things and I hated it. Take the class because it's there and because it's all about growing, experiencing new things. I was always more than willing to help anyone that was struggling with their technique, and I'm sure that with whatever art class you choose, you'll find more help than you need. It has been difficult for me to decide whether I want to keep doing web design or get back to my roots. Before my illness, I used to draw everyday. Now, I'm always busy with online projects. For me, the internet has replaced pencil and paper, and I hate it. I like designing sites, but I love drawing. I just feel like I put the pencil down too long, and now I've got to catch up. In a way, I resent ever getting involved with computers and neglecting my other skills. I know that I'm not alone in wanting to throw my computer out the window or smash it into little pieces.

We all need direction, just keep trying, who cares about what other people think.

I can tell you right now, I wouldn't mind a little help.


Rattula

Maybe I should sell all my stuff, it's actually what I've been meaning to do anyway. Anybody interested in a couple of workstations and a plethora of legit software?

I'm not joking, if anyone is interested, please let me know.

If there is anyone that can relate, please share your experiences.



"Your perception of the obvious is quite remarkable!"



[This message has been edited by rattula (edited 10-03-2001).]

I've spend the last four or so months trying to find that ~perfect~ degree for me but I eventualy figured out that it didn't really matter. Sure, you have to aim in the right direction but you don't have to be dead on target all the way. Choose something that will offer you a good deal of flexability in the general area you wish to pursue.

Some important things to keep in mind when your shopping for a degree:

Make sure the uni your going to study at has execelent faculities <-sp?.
Make the course work for you, no one wants to hire a graduate who did nothing but learn the course material. You need to push yourself further...
Be prepared to step on some heads along the way.
Smile.
Always double knot your left shoe.

I think I'm making myself more ill everyday. I can't seem to decide what I want to do.
I think I might need to make drastic changes, and school is out of the question at the moment. [see my previous post]


Rattula


"Your perception of the obvious is quite remarkable!"