Struggling to get a non art job and considering graphic design
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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!
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@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…
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@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.
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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.
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@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
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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.
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@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.
vanessastoilova.com
instagram.com/vanessa.stoilova/Check out my Youtube channel for tips on how to start your career in illustration! www.youtube.com/c/ArtBusinesswithNess
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@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!
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@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.
