Struggling to get a non art job and considering graphic design

[Griffin McPherson]

Howdy, friends

As the title says, I’ve been struggling to find work of any kind. After college my rough plan was get whatever work I can get, work at a restaurant, do retail, whatever I have to do but I have chronic back pain and I’ve developed chronic knee pain in recent years which makes any job in which I need to be on my feet a non option. I’ve been lucky enough to have decent savings and my family to support me but after months of job searching things aren’t looking any better.

Friends and family have suggested pivoting to graphic design but I haven’t studied graphic design at all and currently I don’t think I’m skilled enough to use adobe programs for graphic design purposes. Is it feasible for me to take some online classes in graphic design, build up a portfolio and find work as a graphic designer? To me it sounds like a long shot and I don’t know if getting graphic design jobs is exactly easy anyways. Do you think it would be worth the effort to build up my graphic design skills? How far away from being a graphic designer am I skill-wise? Is it more so a matter of learning to use the necessary programs?

Any suggestions are appreciated!

[Asyas_illos]

@Griffin-McPherson I’ve said this before but I think you’d do well with an animation studio, I don’t know mUch about graphic design so I won’t be too helpful there but it can’t be that difficult. Might be worth it…

[Griffin McPherson]

@Asyas_illos I can see how my style could fit into animation but I’m not sure exactly what role I could fill. First off it’s one of the most competitive fields in all of illustration as far as I’m aware. Aside from that all I really know is that there are character designers, background designers, and storyboard artist. Of those I feel like storyboarding is where I would be most capable. There are plenty of other people who specialize in environments and especially characters so I feel like I don’t stand a chance there.

[Solomon Designs]

Hi,

I graduated with a bachelors in graphic design from a university here in Florida. I took the graphic design route because illustration/animation seemed like a pipe dream for me and I wanted a practical way to make a career. All throughout school I focused heavily on illustration and honestly looking back my advice to my self would be drop illustration and focus on graphic design while in school. Type, layout, hierarchy amongst other things are very important. While I was considered one of the best artists/illustrators in my program there were much better graphic designers and our careers sense school have proven this. I have heard professor in my program say illustrators are wasting their education in graphic design because we’re stuck on being illustrators while going to design school. I will admit I was lucky and got a job the week I graduated, in search engine optimization, and I have worked there for the past two years. So in short I would say graphic design is not the same as illustration and while illustration is a good tool to have, focus on learning and cultivating design skills if you choose that path. Just my opinion, there’s always exceptions but this was my experience.

[Griffin McPherson]

@Solomon-Designs I’m still a little confused here. Are you saying graphic design is very separate from illustration? The main thing I’m wondering is would I really need 4 years of studying to become a graphic designer? And also, what is the job market like for graphic designers? Is it hard to find jobs, how competitive is it, are they good jobs? I’m just trying to piece together if it’s really a logical career to shift to or if it’s much more of an ordeal to change course

[von_Nimmermehr]

i have kind of the same story as @Solomon-Designs i wanted to be an illustrator and studied graphic and communication and how i understand @Solomon-Designs is, that its reeeally NOT the same. And it isn't
I gratuated and didn't get a job i was always to illustrativ in every graphic design thing i did...it changed over the years though. I know my craft and what i'm capable of.
i would say im perfectly capable of making nice looking corporate identitys or flyers or whatever someone need. But it never was, what i wanted to do, i didn't know that back then, because i didn't know what i really wanted.

You just can't compare illustrators and graphic design in my opinion. its just two different fields.
That beeing said. a lot of illustrators have still a good eye for stuff like that because we are trained to have an eye for the details and composition and stuff.

It's just easy to say, if you are creative and you can draw, graphic design must also be something you can do, but i think its not that easy at the end.

Also here in Germany, it's a really competitive field. we have more than enough graphic designers. if you are reeeeally good at your job you can earn thousands of euros, if not you will be the guy photoshopping the cataloge pictures for a clothes brand. And yes in my opinion you should study it if you want to work as an Graphic designer.

Everything i learned about any program or any font, anything i learned was worth it. In the end I just didn't want to be a graphic designer.

[NessIllustration]

@Griffin-McPherson You know, I keep seeing ads, videos and blog articles about "How to get work in graphic design" and "How to get consistent graphic design clients" and "How to charge more for your graphic design"...

My impression is that it's just as hard as illustration, just different.

So should you spend months/years learning an entirely new skillset to try and succeed in a job that you don't really want to succeed in, but is just a stopgap? That seems very circuitous and not very efficient to me.

You could try to get a non-physical job like call center agent, or virtual assistant.

And if you want to learn a new skill, I would suggest taking online classes in marketing. This would help you so much for your main goal in illustration! Both freelance and art shops can really benefit form marketing knowledge.

[von_Nimmermehr]

@NessIllustration Thats a good suggestion.

I just applied for an extensive marketing course to re-build my business from scratch.

If someone out there understands German, there is a Podcast called "kunst verkaufen Podcast" i really want to recommend. Episode 183 is an important one!

[Solomon Designs]

@Griffin-McPherson still a little confused here.

Are you saying graphic design is very separate from illustration?

Yes it’s very different. Graphic design can use illustration but is largely more about typography, photography, layout. Think brochures, website design, social media marketing that sort of thing. Illustration can be used but really isn’t the focus for most clients.

The main thing I’m wondering is would I really need 4 years of studying to become a graphic designer? And also, what is the job market like for graphic designers? Is it hard to find jobs, how competitive is it, are they good jobs?

The schooling for design is similar to illustration in that you can teach yourself. however how do you know what to teach yourself? Schooling is worth it if you need direction and also for meeting people in the industry and having the degree. The job market is mainly freelance such as getting your own clients ie web design, branding, logo design etc. Creative agency same stuff but for an agency with bigger clients and projects usually as well as better work flow. in house designers which would be for a company such as Walmart where you do design based on company guidelines. Everyone I graduated with has a job in graphic design. I got one from someone I know right when I graduated so I can’t speak to if it’s hard to get a job. I have a job in the digital marketing industry and it’s been worth it. I make a decent wage and work remote and just got promoted. I think it’s been worth it all though in my heart I’d rather illustrate.

[carolinebautista]

@von_Nimmermehr I keep meaning to finish the last ten minutes or so and that's why I delayed responding, but what I listened to I liked very much.
I thought I would let people know that at first he talks about something similar to what I found very useful in the book Atomic Habits, where you have habits that are part of your identity, rather than just something you do. So the book gives the example of those trying to quit smoking, an incredibly difficult thing to accomplish for many, that can say "no, thanks, I am not a smoker" when offered a cigarette instead of saying "I'm trying to quit." It was such a good book that if it relates even a little bit, I am happy to recommend it. Since the episode was something like "Is change possible?" this is one of the best books in English that addresses that.
More towards the end, when he talks about filling in all those things, like how you would ideally be, and how this ideal person would deal with problems, that was great too.

[von_Nimmermehr]

@carolinebautista i don't know the "atomic habits" (but i will take a look at it though ) but he is talking about the Book "Psycho Cybernetics".

It's not just about establishing habits but really change your self-image from inside. To become that person you want to be.
I think its actually really worth it to give it a read.

[ArtMelC]

@Griffin-McPherson I took on a UI/UX assignment from a small business client for their app and website to tide me over the first couple of months. It depends on the expectation, I personally think the standard level of small business flyers, email newsletters, programme booklets, social media posts, those are doable once you look at enough samples and pick out patterns of good design because they only need to look good on whatever format they are designed on.

However, I find the level of fiddling with technicalities required in the field to get good results (typography, kerning, spacing, padding, containers, where should this and that button be, especially when it comes to Digital design where you have to make sure things look ok on different browsers and devices) to be extremely soul-sucking that usually I don't have enough creative energy to work on illustration afterwards. I ended up having to limit the days where I can touch the UX project so I don't end up just doing that all the time.

That is just my personality. I have an artist friend who loves geeking out on graphic design minutiae so everyone is different.

[Griffin McPherson]

@ArtMelC did you have graphic design and UI/UX experience before taking on those jobs? I think I could actually really enjoy that kind of work because I like the kind of problem solving that comes with it but I figured I don’t really have the skills and familiarity with software necessary to handle those jobs.

[Mimi Simon]

A friend of a friend that went to my art school and studied fine art painting (he was pretty good but i guess didn't have the crazy drive you need to make a living at fine art) he went back to school part time just took a bunch of graphic design classes (no degree or anything) now he's doing well. he even designed the website for our art school (but then ended up firing them as a client because the were such a pain XD) anyway it can be done if thats what you decide you want. personally i hate messing with type and making everything all micro perfect and smooth.

[Jean Watson]

Hi Griffin. I was in non art jobs for years and finding them a bit soul destroying. About a decade ago I went and did a full-time intensive industry focused graphic design course at a private design college here in Australia (campus contact hours were 8am-5pm, 5 days a week). Shillington College - they have offices around the world. Brilliant course. When I did it there were only campus courses but I think there are now online courses - out of my group of students most are now successful full-time designers, some heading up great studios. There is absolutely no need to study for 4 years! So I took 3 months off work. Could also have done it over 1 year. Best decision I've ever made. I've been working as a freelance graphic designer ever since.

I'm now in a position where I'm returning to an earlier love - illustration - with a much more solid career behind me so I'm not in a state of panic about illustration needing to work immediately. I think graphic design and illustration can work hand in hand. Each one helps strengthen the other. Depending on the sort of design and illustration you do. Best of luck with it if you go down that path.

[ArtMelC]

@Griffin-McPherson I didn't have formal design qualifications but I did work in the industry for a while as a studio manager in a web design agency, so was familiar with the processes and industry terms as I often helped with Quality Control though I wasn't hands on with the software. I enjoyed the initial design process more when you are breaking down the user's requirements into task flows and logic than the actual red button vs green button, outline or no outline, rounded corner vs not. Hahaha.

If you want to try your hand on UI/UX design, you can learn Figma. Its free tier is good enough for most and is quickly becoming an industry standard. There are also tons of comprehensive tutorials on skillshare and youtube.