Graphic Design

So yeah, I know there are alot of guys on here that are in the graphic design field.

I start classes on Friday to begin my journey into the field. I am going for a Bachelor's in Graphic Design at the Art Institute of Tampa and am scared crapless. (Thanks to T-Roy for the pep talk that got this whole ball rolling)

Although I know that there isn't money or alot of jobs in it, I am aiming to one day to start designing album covers at least on the side. I want to be a "Mini-Rexorcist". But I have always been a visual person and get excited about logos and crap like that, so I think that I should do pretty well. We'll see. I know I won't get rich at it, but working in the GD field will at least be more fulfilling than my present field.

But who here is in the field already?

I did graphic design for the company that I still work for between 1999 and 2002. It sucked. I eventually took another drone job within the same company (which was probably a bad move on my part but that's a whole nother thread) because the hours were terrible, I had to work Saturdays, and there was no creativity involved whatsoever.

I dabble in it. I think I'm pretty good for someone who just farts around in it. I wish I could take some courses in it. I don't believe in going for a 4-year degree. I think that's a bit of a waste. When you're in year 4, years 1 and 2 are going to be obsolete. It's like getting a Computer Science degree. I started on that when I joined the Air Force, since it went along with my job specialty, but after one year I already realized that the curriculum was out of date. So I quit that path.

I'm not trying to sway you here, of course. A solid foundation can be had taking this route, but make sure that along the way you do a lot of self-teaching. There are some great websites out there that can help you. One of my favorites is http://www.good-tutorials.com. If you continue to teach yourself, you may learn that after a year or so the courses are actually well behind where you're at.

As for jobs, you can find great jobs in this field. Advertising is a big one. You can do what Rex does and work with bands. But we recently saw with Mattias Noren, not every band or label pays you for your work, so you'd have to work out some different sort of contracts. Another avenue you can look into is book cover design. With the recent boom in Print-On-Demand publishing, a lot of would-be writers are putting out books. So doing covers for them is a possibility. But yeah, it's a good path to choose, but one that takes a bit of creativity to become successful at.

Yeah I dabble in it as well, thus my interest in the major. I agree with all your points Eyesore. I don't have any utopian dreams about this degree, but I am also trying to keep an open mind. I can't do what I do much longer.

I'm a pretty good artist. I've been told by friends and family alike. I just think of band names and make logo's of their names. I should put some up someday.

Oh yeah, I have some mad skills in MS Paint as well.

EvyMetal wrote:

I'm a pretty good artist. I've been told by friends and family alike. I just think of band names and make logo's of their names. I should put some up someday.

Oh yeah, I have some mad skills in MS Paint as well.

Your family and friends lie. Remember that.

Doesn't Ult do something like that full time?

I'm employed as a graphic artist for a large sporting arena, creating graphics for the center-hung display and all of our LED signage in and around the complex. I mostly work in PhotoShop and AfterEffects. Although it's been awhile, I still do some drawing and painting in my free time when the mood hits me. I've dabbled in photography, but developing my own film was too expensive and time consuming so I gave it up.

In allot of ways, I think being an artist is like being a musician. The great ones didn't need lessons or even have to try. They just did what came naturally. Practice only fine-tunes your instrument, be it a paint brush or guitar, but the know-how, desire and talent was always there.

Eyesore wrote:

EvyMetal wrote:

I'm a pretty good artist. I've been told by friends and family alike. I just think of band names and make logo's of their names. I should put some up someday.

Oh yeah, I have some mad skills in MS Paint as well.

Your family and friends lie. Remember that.

maybe some times

I can't draw a straight line so you're already better than I am and I won't be of any competition if that makes you feel any better. Good luck!

Eyesore wrote:

You can do what Rex does and work with bands. But we recently saw with Mattias Noren, not every band or label pays you for your work....

Actually I do my stuff on the side from my normal full time job. My "real" job is a graphic designer at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. And as we've seen with Mattias Noren (www.progart.com) a LOT of bands and labels alike, are cheapscapes and want something for nothin'. Or they don't pay you or pay ultra late. If I didn't have a full time job, I'd never make it on band artwork. I'm still waiting to get paid for a cover I finished a year and a half ago after promises of paying up month after month. One label said they'd use two of my covers if I gave them a 2-for-1 deal. So I cut my price for them in good faith that they'd use the other cover on something......nope, that didn't happen, but they got their cover for half of what I was charging at the time.

There are some good honest folks out there though. I do a lot of work for Retroactive Records and have never once been stiffed. In fact, I get paid early sometimes. And there are a lot of great bands out there too that are happy to pay for quality work. Its just that you don't know who is good or bad until its to late sometimes.

BRIAN, as I've said, I've been a graphic artist for 14 years, pretty much straight out of high school. I did complete a 9-month design course at a local biz college in Sacramento when I was 19. My one regret.... not getting a 4-year degree. Your doing it the right way, you won't regret it. It will seem like a waste perhaps before you are done and possibly even your first couple years in the field. But you will be able to get much bigger and better jobs with the degree from a place as prestigious as The Institutes. I've been passed on a ton of higher profile jobs because I don't have that STUPID piece of paper that seemed so ridiculous at the time! You will only regret it, if you don't finish it. So do it brother, all the way!

I went to school with a 40 year old dude, that was the best artist/illustrator I've ever seen....and he is the KING of murals/paintings in AZ to this day. Rex I'd have to say is one of the best I've ever seen to date. Whoever did the Terminate Damnation cover for BTA is SICK too.

I just have college jitters like I'm a 17 year old punk just out of high school. I will do the best I can. I'm pretty excited to finally be going.

are you like...gonna take your wife to homecoming and stuff?
....and you are a punk.

spectrefate wrote:

I just have college jitters like I'm a 17 year old punk just out of high school. I will do the best I can. I'm pretty excited to finally be going.

Are you gonna pledge a frat, go out for the football team and stuff?

Knuckleheads.

I have a BFA from Rochester Institute of Technology for Graphic Design.

Fat Freddy wrote:

spectrefate wrote:

I just have college jitters like I'm a 17 year old punk just out of high school. I will do the best I can. I'm pretty excited to finally be going.

Are you gonna pledge a frat, go out for the football team and stuff?

DUDE, he needs one of those gnarly brandings on his arm...that raises the skin and everything. BEEEERRR BONG!

I suck at anything that has to do with art...be it finger painting or design...haha, I was just never good with my hands.. (which is quite ironic, concidering that I am a drummer) .

Fat Freddy wrote:

spectrefate wrote:

I just have college jitters like I'm a 17 year old punk just out of high school. I will do the best I can. I'm pretty excited to finally be going.

Are you gonna pledge a frat, go out for the football team and stuff?

Did you ever see a football team made up of poofy art students? They might have fabulous uniforms, but they can't play worth a lick.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

spectrefate wrote:

I just have college jitters like I'm a 17 year old punk just out of high school. I will do the best I can. I'm pretty excited to finally be going.

Are you gonna pledge a frat, go out for the football team and stuff?

Did you ever see a football team made up of poofy art students? They might have fabulous uniforms, but they can't play worth a lick.

Haha, true. I majored in art for my first year in college (I had a big idea of becoming a comic book artist at the time) but my school was more fine-arts oriented, rather than commercial art, so I decided it wasn't a good idea. I didn't fit in with the other "art" folks, mainly because:

A. I didn't own a black trench coat or a beret
B. I was straight
C. I wasn't pretentious

So I changed my major to Communications. Probably a good move in the long run because by the time I graduated I'd lost interest in comic books anyway.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

spectrefate wrote:

I just have college jitters like I'm a 17 year old punk just out of high school. I will do the best I can. I'm pretty excited to finally be going.

Are you gonna pledge a frat, go out for the football team and stuff?

Did you ever see a football team made up of poofy art students? They might have fabulous uniforms, but they can't play worth a lick.

OUCH, that's a fricken' low blow!!

Perhaps I should be frightened of art school because:

A. I believe the only good Beret is a Raspberry one
B. My backside doesn't accept deliveries
C. I don't have the energy to be something I'm not

AHHH, who cares. I was so square in artschool it was rediculouse. They need you allot more than you need them trust me. It will be fun. I wore NAVY and UCLA sweatpants and Christian metal shirts or sport teams shirts everyday to class and they could NOT figure me out for the life of them....but I owned them all as far as design and drawing/painting, which I think made them all hate me even more! LMAO Teachers got a kick out of it too.

We had orientation on Friday and I was looking around trying to find a dude without a faux-hawk in the room. I wasn't successful.

Those darn emo-babies.