What you don’t learn in Art School, Graphic Design &

Going to Art School to pursue a Degree in Graphic Design & Web or Animation is one of the most creatively rewarding things you can do. When you’re not in school learning new theories or tools, you spend your time daydreaming about everything you will accomplish as a Graphic Designer. You think about all the cool websites you’ll build, the logos you’ll make, and all the great companies you’ll work with.

The cherry on top of all of this is all the great friends you’ll meet along the way. Those who will challenge you creatively and genially critique your work for growth.

In short, learning Graphic Design on campus is a great experience worthwhile and if you can afford it, I highly recommend it. (If you’re planning to take it seriously.)

While they do teach you all the cores of Graphic Design they leave you with a great design foundation. Here are four things you don’t learn in Art School.

Getting a job as a Graphic Designer is actually pretty hard.

I don’t by any means want to discourage you, but I do want to set realistic expectations. And in most cases, you’re not the problem they are. Let me explain.

Let’s say that you have a killer portfolio, that covers all the basics of design and shows all of your skills. Then your portfolio is complimented by that badass resume letting them know you’re an expert in Illustrator, Photoshop, HTML5, or CSS+. The chances of anyone actually seeing you are very low.

This is thanks to job hiring apps like Indeed, Monster, and even Linkedin which heavily focus on keywords rather than the whole picture. If you’re sending a heavily formatted PDF resume, the keyword finder might not even look at your resume. Thus, not putting you in front of the hiring manager as a “perfect” candidate. Please never send JPEGs as resumes.

It’s not to say that hiring managers don’t play an important role in this. Let’s just say that their motivation to properly take a look at the candidates can be lacking.

The following are some of the best practices on how to get a job in Graphic Design:

• Have your portfolio be top-notch. If sending a PDF keep it under 16 MB.

• Don’t over-design your resume, and don’t outline your font. Send a PDF preferably. (List your skills and qualifications first.)

• Filter jobs so that they’re not older than 2 weeks and with less than 30 applicants.
It’s no secret that companies or hiring managers just keep the job posting open. Either because they have a high turnover rate or they aren’t planning to fill the position. Avoid job postings that have been up for more than 2 weeks.

Lastly, remember that it’s a numbers game, but when you apply for a job don’t apply carelessly. Give it your all, especially if you’re really interested.

Working with people / Boss’/ Clients is hard.

One of the things they drill into you at school is how easy it will be to explain to someone why they shouldn’t make this or that design decision. The reality is, even though you’re the expert in the field, they will hardly ever listen. Regardless of how many times you tell them, regardless of how you explain to them, they will stick to their wits and that’s it.

At first, this will catch you by surprise and will make you doubt your existence as a Graphic Designer. It will also make you doubt what they taught you at school.

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been asked to “Outline” something to make it “Pop” and had to do it in order to complete the job.

After a while, you just give up and do exactly what they say which takes a good jab at the excitement for the job you once had.

Fear not. There’s light at the end of the tunnel. After a longer while, it becomes a mind game for you and it will actually improve your graphic design work.

How, you ask?

By becoming undeniably good. See you’ll start asking yourself, how can I design this in such a way that they won’t ask me to “outline it” or make it “pop”? Your designs would become so good and so much more visible that they won’t feel the need to ask that from you. That is how you know you’ve entered into senior-level design.

Changes are permanent and infinite.

Get ready to make changes, and changes after that, and more changes after those. It’s just the way things are. I wish I could tell you that you’ll only be making a few changes to anyone’s design but that’s not the case. You’ll at least go through 3 or 6 versions for each design and if you’re lucky the design will get better, but most of the time the design gets worse.

To overcome this, there are two things you can do.

• One. Don’t mind the changes. Be happy making them, after all, they’re paying you to do just that.

• Two. On a separate artboard, make the changes, and at the same time, make changes of your own to overshadow or overrule the last change.

Either one of these things will give you greater control over the outcome of the design. Also, it helps not to take it personally. The thicker your skin and the sooner you realize that the design you’re making is not for you and it’s for them, the happier a Graphic Designer you will be.

Work is not a creative outlet.

This is one of the saddest truths that they don’t tell you in Art School and the one that will have you questioning your life choices.

In school, the variety of projects, and challenges of learning something new keep you going and motivated. This is the total opposite at work. Even when landing a dream Graphic Design job, you’ll find yourself in a monotonous routine. Focused on one thing.

Having someone tell you what you need to create, sucks the life out of graphic design. You’ll find yourself daydreaming of other jobs and other opportunities. Luckily I’m here to relax it’s all part of the process.

You see, the more you start treating your job like an actual job and not a creative outlet, the better off you’ll be. This doesn’t mean you can do shit artwork at work, no, no, what this means is that you’ll separate your work from life and have a work-life balance.

Do good at work, and be the best Graphic Designer you can be. But when the clock strikes 3-4-5 whichever may be the end of your work day, stop thinking about work and start thinking about the things that make you happy.

THE FOLLOWING IS IMPORTANT

It’s ok to grab some free time to work on your port, it’s ok to start a grandiose personal project, and its really ok play video games and stay away from the design. Just because you’re a Graphic Designer, doesn’t mean you have to wear the hat 24/7. Take a break.

A bad or unfulfilling job doesn’t have to equal a bad life. Do more of what makes you happy, always.

For some free and cool Graphic Desing tools tools don’t forget to visit our Free Resources Page.