Recent Posts
Inspiration September 17, 2016
Picture the the ideal scenario: You have a skill and passion for art, design and creativity. You turn this skill into a career and spend the rest of your life doing what you love. This is a dream come true for every woman, but those who have made their passions into careers did not get there by taking the easy route. Most likely, they worked to prove their worth.
If you’re interested in graphic design and want to turn it into a profitable profession, you will have to invest your time, energy and education. Here are some starting tips to help you make a name for yourself in graphic design.
Building a diverse portfolio is essential to getting your work noticed. “A professional portfolio can help in any circumstance where you want to make a strong impression, provide proof of your value and differentiate yourself from your competition,” says The Muse. Put together a collection of all the work you are proud of so that future employers can see what you’ve been doing in the field.
Also, graphic designer Brianna Flavin from Rasmussen College advises aspiring artists to always practice drawing and writing to develop their personal styles. In her article, “What I Wish Someone Had Told Me Before Becoming a Graphic Designer,” she cites Dolly Sanborn, art director and designer at Appleton Creative. Sanborn reflects on her experience and says, “I wish that I placed more importance on drawing. I saw the illustration majors with sketchbooks, but not many designers carried them around.” According to Sanborn, drawing is useful in order to build a “visual vocabulary” and to “form a clearer pathway to a creative mindset.”
Additionally, graphic designers should know how to write because they will be expected to be able to communicate. Brian Sooy, Aespire founder and design director, says graphic designers will occasionally be expected to “write copy” and communicate professionally via email. So, designers should “learn how to write, and write well,” he says.
One of the best ways to gain experience is to intern for a graphic design company. This will help you build your resume and expand your connections, which can one day help to land you a full-time position in the graphic design business. Also, keep in mind that some employers will hire interns who performed well throughout the duration of their internship.
As Monster says to aspiring graphic designers, “Until you’re in the ‘real world,’ there’s no way that you can be 100 percent certain that you know what to expect. Coursework and personal practice will get you so far, but you may be missing out on tools or languages that you might not learn or be well versed in that your ideal job may require you to know.”
Interning will expose you to real-life job expectations and will help you master field-related tools. Dan McAuliffe, Manager of Conversion Optimization and Digital Business at Dyn, tells Monster, “Interning before getting a job in design and UX can be extremely beneficial because up until that point, you likely haven’t designed with the customer in mind. While in studying design in college … you’ve been creating for your professors, your classmates or your clients. However, when employed at a company … you need to design for beyond yourself, beyond your boss and even beyond your business.”
If you already find yourself messing around with graphic design software in your spare time, why not use that time to begin your own projects or business? You can certainly make a career out of freelance graphic design work, although you might prefer the steady hours and security of a design company.
For those women considering freelancing, Creative Drum says it’s beneficial because it provides a greater variety of work, is more flexible and gives you the opportunity to work from home. “Working as a freelancer allows you to take on a range of tasks for a variety of employers. This exposure to a number of different challenges will generally push you to develop and improve more than working with an employer might,” says Creative Drum.
But as great as this opportunity may sound, just keep in mind that there are some drawbacks as well. Creative Drum says freelancing can make it difficult to maintain a healthy work-life balance and lacks job security. While freelancers may get paid at a higher rate than contracted employees, “there are also the inevitable dry periods to consider,” Creative Drum warns. Not only that, but at the beginning of your employment, you have to provide your own equipment and design software.
The final decision is yours, but freelancing is definitely something to consider if you’re trying to diversify your resume.
You might think that since you are capable of learning the ins and outs of graphic design on your own without a formal education, but that’s not entirely true. According to Rasmussen College, “Whether you earn an associate or bachelor’s degree in design, having this formal education under your belt qualifies you for more than 10 times as many jobs as an individual with no degree.”
Here are some top schools where you can study graphic design:
What can you do with a degree in graphic design? Here are eight jobs to consider:
As Creative Boom warns, “You won’t get far in design if you don’t have a love of art, or a curiosity for the world around you.” Designers are constantly improving and one of the best ways to keep growing is to be naturally curious. Explore the details of the world surrounding you and also look at the big picture.
This curiosity can help maintain your passion and drive to succeed. “Design is a labour of love. The work inevitably entails odd hours, long edits, bizarre briefs and tricky workloads. You have to use that passion to keep going when you are exhausted but you know [you] could make it better,” says Creative Boom.
Overall, if you are truly passionate about graphic design, then there’s no reason you should give up because you don’t think you can make a career out of it. Use these tips to continue building your resume and broadening your experience until you have made graphic design your dream career come true.
