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ScaryJen posted:My plan is to be a bench jeweler as my "day job", possibly work my way up to designing (depending on where I get hired, if it was a chain jeweler I'd design independently), while doing writing and illustration/game art assets on the side. If some of my other projects/work took off, I definitely still see myself doing metal sculpture and jewelry. It seems to me that if you intend your bread and butter to from jewelry, you should focus most of your effort on that, and supplement it with a bunch of evening life-drawing classes as a start. Life drawing is the foundation of all illustrative art, jewelry making is a craft, and a craft requires almost singular focus to excel in.
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May 28, 2014 03:45
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i am harry posted:It seems to me that if you intend your bread and butter to from jewelry, you should focus most of your effort on that, and supplement it with a bunch of evening life-drawing classes as a start. You're not the first person to tell me I really should pick one thing and specialize in it. It's not so much that I'm undecided about what I like art wise, but I would really like to work in more than one medium. I'd like to do some (mostly) small scale sculpting and interesting jewelry pieces as well as illustration. I'm planning on going a couple of extra quarters even if I don't transfer so I can take the full gamut of drawing, painting, and jewelrymaking/metal sculpture classes offered. In addition to game writing/designing with a programmer friend on the side. I just figured learning an actual trade would be kind of a fringe benefit. I am just starting to try all of these things at once, though. Am I really spreading myself too thin? Mostly, I just see stuff in my head and want to make it happen. Juniper Cake posted:
This was the main thing I was wondering. The art faculty at my current two year school are great! The jewelry instructor is head of the art department, and really knows her stuff. I only got to speak to her about this briefly today, but I'm going to try to meet with her again and ask her opinion. The university I'm looking at has a full foundry and glass studio, but so does at least one very reputable fine art center that offers jewelry and blacksmithing classes. There are a TON of places to take live drawing classes around here, too. The prospect of taking natural world and science classes is really appealing to me, though again, I'm unsure if it would be worth the extra 20-30k I'd be sinking in. I definitely plan to visit the university in the near future to check out the facilities, probably this week. What about Atelier schools? We have a few around here that run about what community college costs in tuition, and you can go either part time or full time. I found one in particular that has some illustrators I'm familiar with and whose work I like. Has anyone tried an intensive program like that, under a master? Or is it pretty close to other life drawing and painting classes?
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May 28, 2014 07:07
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Just been given an interview date for a BBC job. I was wondering if anyone had some tips? It's an interview and an assessment.
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May 28, 2014 17:22
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hi I'm about to enter my second year of a stem degree in a specific field this fall. I could not give less of a poo poo about the subject, its pretty boring, but my classes are not very difficult and I could easily get a job if I was to complete the degree (its in an in demand field/the school has good networking potential). What I actually am interested in is film, but from what I understand unless you are talented (I am not) this is not a field that you can get into and the pay is shite. How dumb would it be to switch to the school of communications at my college/another school and pursue a pipe dream of working in film? I don't know how wise "follow your dreams!" is vs a dependable/well paid career in something I don't care about.
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May 30, 2014 03:34
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ScaryJen posted:
If you know what you want, then do it. It is definitely possible to do both illustration and jewelry at the same time. Speaking from personal experience, just understand that you will probably not have any free time while in school if you go for two different disciplines at once though. Not if you want to get sufficiently good at your craft to actually get a job. But if you love the work then imo it's absolutely worth it in the long run. You are setting yourself up for the future you imagine for yourself, and only you can determine what that should be. Hell most of the best artists that I know tend to have their hands in multiple pots, and I wouldn't be surprised if the general art knowledge from developing illustration skills positively impacts your jewelry making. Sculpture at least benefits greatly from a good foundation in 2D skills. As far as Atelier's go, I've heard good things about them but I've never attended classes at one. I guess I would treat that just like any other school, if the teachers are good and the cost is reasonable compared to other options then it might be worth a try. Though it sounds like you are doing everything right and doing plenty of research and networking, so I imagine whatever option you choose, you'll be fine. Profondo Rosso posted:hi. I seriously doubt your only options are, follow your dreams and be poor, or have a soul-crushing job and not be homeless. There has to be some sort of reasonable compromise somewhere. I don't know the film industry but I wonder if there are any niche jobs that might have a higher demand or require additional skill sets that would set you apart from the competition. For instance, to use an art example, some artists can get a pay raise (and usually a higher demand for their services) by learning digital tools and pipelines, code,etc and becoming technical artists which is a specialized field. Mind you, technical artists do things like maintaining art tools and writing plug ins for Maya, etc and don't make art on the job usually, but it would be a way to still make a living related to art if you were afraid to go for a more traditional art job. Does the film industry have anything similar where you can use your STEM background to your advantage but still have a film related career? If not, maybe there is another STEM field (maybe something to do with optics or visual processing?) that would be more interesting to you than the one you are studying. There are a lot of well paying jobs in many kinds of fields, it doesn't seem like you should have to settle for one that bores you.
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May 31, 2014 09:00
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Don't get a degree in film/"communications." Nobody cares and it does nothing to set you apart - it's an entirely portfolio and networking based field. Get your degree in STEM or something that interests you more, and at the same time meet film people and volunteer to crew for them. Make your own stuff, too. Having experience plus deep expertise in another field trumps a degree in every level. It will take longer to build your portfolio but I've made a significant part of my career as a video producer by having a classical music background and leveraging that. There's probably huge opportunity in producing video in whatever your field is, and they'll hire you over someone who doesn't know their industry.
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Jun 2, 2014 17:39
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I'll second that networking and volunteering are the best ways to work in film. I know several guys with film degrees that could have saved thousands of dollars by just moving to LA (or wherever there's a film/production scene) and making friends. Obviously, there are things that require schooling but, if your goal is to just work on movies, you don't really need a degree.
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Jun 27, 2014 19:55
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So, becoming a fiction writer is something I've toyed with in the past. All of my college advisers told me I should do it and all my test scores pointed to me being better at it than science and math. But I ended up deciding to major in computer science because every time I looked at writing as a career it seemed like an enormous up hill battle if not a dead end. For every Stephen King there's a a million starving writers who no one will ever hear of. Compared to budding writers, actors who move to Hollywood hoping to be the next Brad Pitt have a good chance of success. On top of all that it seems like the key factor to success is how much you're willing to promote yourself all over the place. I remember reading an article recently about JK Rowling writing a new book under a pen name and the book not doing very well, until it was leaked that she was the author at which point the book sales took off. My impression of the industry is that it's a huge popularity contest and more than half the job is marketing yourself. Which is honestly kind of annoying because if an author wanted to work in marketing they would've gotten a job with a marketing company. But I guess self-promotion being an obnoxiously large of part of success is pretty much true for every job in The Arts. This is just my impression though. I guess I'm just wondering if there are any successful authors out there who can talk a bit about how they got there, what it's like, any regrets, etc.
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Jul 4, 2014 01:18
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-Blackadder- posted:So, becoming a fiction writer is something I've toyed with in the past. All of my college advisers told me I should do it and all my test scores pointed to me being better at it than science and math. But I ended up deciding to major in computer science because every time I looked at writing as a career it seemed like an enormous up hill battle if not a dead end. For every Stephen King there's a a million starving writers who no one will ever hear of. Compared to budding writers, actors who move to Hollywood hoping to be the next Brad Pitt have a good chance of success. On top of all that it seems like the key factor to success is how much you're willing to promote yourself all over the place. I remember reading an article recently about JK Rowling writing a new book under a pen name and the book not doing very well, until it was leaked that she was the author at which point the book sales took off. My impression of the industry is that it's a huge popularity contest and more than half the job is marketing yourself. Which is honestly kind of annoying because if an author wanted to work in marketing they would've gotten a job with a marketing company. But I guess self-promotion being an obnoxiously large of part of success is pretty much true for every job in The Arts. This is just my impression though. Basically, just write fiction. Submit novels to agents, short stories to magazines. Repeat for several years, hope your stuff is good, gets seen, and people like it. You probably won't get rich writing, but if you can establish yourself you can make a pretty good living. Please note I am by no means an author, successful or otherwise. I am just an aspiring writer who has done a lot of reading and research. Among the resources in the fiction thread, the youtube channel Write About Dragons has a series of informative lectures from an establish Sci-Fi/Fantasy author.
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Jul 4, 2014 06:21
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ScaryJen posted:Basically, just write fiction. Submit novels to agents, short stories to magazines. Repeat for several years, hope your stuff is good, gets seen, and people like it. You probably won't get rich writing, but if you can establish yourself you can make a pretty good living. Please note I am by no means an author, successful or otherwise. I am just an aspiring writer who has done a lot of reading and research. Thanks. That link is an interesting watch.
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Jul 4, 2014 15:03
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-Blackadder- posted:My impression of the industry is that it's a huge popularity contest and more than half the job is marketing yourself. Which is honestly kind of annoying because if an author wanted to work in marketing they would've gotten a job with a marketing company. But I guess self-promotion being an obnoxiously large of part of success is pretty much true for every job in The Arts. If you want to write, write. "Show up" for writing time, don't make excuses. Finish things. Submit to journals, submit to agents. Worry about the rest later.
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Jul 18, 2014 16:12
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Hey everyone, I posted a few pages back about finding schools for me, I finally found some that have basically what I am looking for but now my question is, I don't know if I should go for an AAS in Film and Video Production Technology, or try to find a BA in something similar. I want to work in the production processes of projects, create my own content and hopefully work freelance when I can. I am questioning if I can find a reliable job with an AAS, because as of right now money is relevant and of course I could go back later when I have something reliable to get a BA. Boxing Snatcher fucked around with this message at 22:32 on Jul 22, 2014 |
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Jul 22, 2014 20:50
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Boxing Snatcher posted:Hey everyone, I posted a few pages back about finding schools for me, I finally found some that have basically what I am looking for but now my question is, I don't know if I should go for an AAS in Film and Video Production Technology, or try to find a BA in something similar. In my experience, you'll get jobs based on three things: your network, your skills and your resume. Nobody cares whether or not you have a degree in film, or what kind, except insofar as it relates to the above. If an associate's is what you can afford right now, go for it - make friends, crew everything that you can, and do excellent work to put in your reel and you'll end up better off than people who put in less effort at a four year school.
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Jul 23, 2014 01:55
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Thanks for the advice, I can do that, thanks for clearing some things up. I'm looking forward to finally getting started.
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Jul 23, 2014 23:12
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Hi, I'm a freelance illustrator who's moved into 3D and am now a student, studying Game Art. I just finished my first year and am moving onto year 2. I really want to be a character artist for games/film. I look at Weta Digital's apes, dragons, goblin kings and wargs with a bit of stars in my eyes I suppose, as that's the dream, haha. I was hoping some of you could take a look at my online portfolio and tell me if I'm on the right track or if I should focus on a particular thing. http://www.labmonkey.co
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Aug 3, 2014 13:44
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Hey guys! Recently got one of those useless RTVF degrees, and I am currently looking for a job in the field, which you can probably guess isn't going well. I followed several pieces of career advices, like working on a website, a resume and business card, but I'm wondering if anyone here knows any way to help me stand out more? For reference, here are my website and resume: Website Resume
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Aug 17, 2014 15:50
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Oh man, got headhunted by an agency couple weeks back, above average salary for the area, doing p much exactly my favourite kind of work. Went for meeting, said they were really impressed with my work and enthusiasm, asked me to complete an example brief. Went hogwild on it, wrote a guide explaining various UX approaches and extended functionality - more than I'd usually do for an actual client. Haven't heard anything back  Be a bit of a life changer, is there such a thing as being too OTT or too enthusiastic? I have zero qualifications in the field too, everything self-taught, could that go against me at this stage regardless of my portfolio?Haha always worry something like that could happen. Locally there's tons of pseudo-freelancers who'll happily steal an idea and undercut when the client brings them another designers proposal. \/\/\/ Creepy Goat fucked around with this message at 20:43 on Aug 28, 2014 |
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Aug 28, 2014 12:57
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Sounds like you got your brief stolen.
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Aug 28, 2014 15:02
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Hi all! At Blizzard we have quite a few job openings, let me know if any of these look like they could be a good fit. Most of them are in Irvine, CA, with a few in Austin, TX and SF. User Experience Designer, Heroes of the Storm Environment Artist, Heroes of the Storm Lead 3D Character Artist VFX Artist, Diablo 3 User Experience Designer (Austin) User Experience Designer, WoW You can use these links for an internal referral or feel free to message me with any questions (though I work in a different department from these, I'll give it my best  ).
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Sep 10, 2014 21:03
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Found out today that I didn't get a job I'd felt pretty confident about. I'm 25 now and starting to think this is never going to happen for me.
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Sep 10, 2014 21:05
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PriorMarcus posted:Found out today that I didn't get a job I'd felt pretty confident about. I'm 25 now and starting to think this is never going to happen for me. I'm 26, keep on fighting
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Sep 11, 2014 04:57
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After wrestling with my situation internally and flailing around for a while, I think it's time I do the intelligent thing and ask for advice. I'm a 23-year-old visual designer who will complete her BFA in Visual Communication this December, and it's been a rough road. My personal life has been a mess for a few years. I love the profession and want to get out there to work like a normal adult, but I'm still not past the numerous road blocks on my path. It's disheartening to realize that with my current situation I still can't work at a proper on-site job. As it stands, it looks like I'll have little to no ability to commute while also needing flexible hours for at least a few months. While the idea of online freelancing is appealing, I'm aware of the numerous possible issues with the idea; for instance, I value meeting my clients face-to-face to foster better relationships with them. I need to write up a contract (based on advice from Design Is a Job, mostly) as well as determine my work's value as an individual designer from the internet. Does anyone has insight or quality information on online, solo freelancing? I'm ready to go the whole nine yards to make it happen!  ... or, you know, consider other options if it's not reasonable.
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Oct 5, 2014 09:53
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Cross posting from the Career Paths thread. I just turned 27 and have been working at a store selling cds and dvds for the past 2.5 years. My husband and I are looking to get a house, a car and start a family in a few years from now, so I need to look at getting a full time job that won't make me want to kill myself. I have a somewhat worthless certificate in Graphic Communications. I was looking at various graphic design jobs, but it seems like I'm massively underqualified for most of them. They tend to want people who can do more web stuff and/or photography or work in programs that I'm unfamiliar with. I would really like to do something creative. I've had a few small comic book colouring jobs here and there, but its not regular work that I can rely on. I'm sending out a submission to Dark Horse this week anyway, since that's kind of my dream gig. Things I enjoy doing, but probably couldn't make a living out of: I really enjoy doing crafty things, like painting figures or decorative wooden items. I created and painted a number of decorations for my wedding earlier this year and got a lot of compliments on my design. Some relatives asked what book I got the ideas out of and a couple of my bridesmaids said I should seriously look into interior design. I don't really know if I could handle going back to school for something like that though. I also enjoy doing drawings for kids. When I draw stuff at conventions or for free comic book day, I always put more effort into the ones for kids. I've volunteered a few times to teach kids about making comics and that's always been a lot of fun as well. Any ideas? Maybe there's a career path I haven't thought about? Or maybe I should just keep looking for an entry level design thing? Even the entry level positions I've seen want at least a couple years of experience in the field. I did actually have an interview for a graphic design job at a printing place a few months ago. It was 2 and a half hours long and the guy mostly talked about why he had to fire all his other employees and how being an artist and caring about your work is a detriment to the job. He was willing to hire me without even seeing my portfolio, but I turned him down, knowing I would just get fired after 2 days. (I actually know someone who was fired from that place on her second day there. Didn't realize it was the same place until I got there though.)
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Oct 6, 2014 06:27
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broken pixel posted:After wrestling with my situation internally and flailing around for a while, I think it's time I do the intelligent thing and ask for advice. I'm a 23-year-old visual designer who will complete her BFA in Visual Communication this December, and it's been a rough road. My personal life has been a mess for a few years. I love the profession and want to get out there to work like a normal adult, but I'm still not past the numerous road blocks on my path. It's disheartening to realize that with my current situation I still can't work at a proper on-site job. As it stands, it looks like I'll have little to no ability to commute while also needing flexible hours for at least a few months. This depends a lot on what you mean by "online freelancing." If you mean trying to use various freelancer websites like elance or what have you I'm not going to sugar coat things: they suck and you likely won't be able to make a living unless you live in a country with an insanely low cost of living. Those sites are where people with no budget go to buy design work, they're barely a step up from logo competition sites. Be ready to see lots of stuff like: "Need a logo, stationery package, interior and exterior signage and menu design for my restaurant, budget is $150." Seriously, they're terrible places. If you want to freelance normally but want to do the majority of your work remotely, that's not a biggie. But if you want to be successful you'll still need to be able to meet with people or at the very least have phone calls with folks. What you mentioned about being "an individual designer from the internet" is a mark against you when you're trying to win a project. If the person can't see you I've found they have an awfully hard trusting you and an even harder time giving you a deposit check or signing a contract. Showing up, smiling and being able to engage in intelligent conversation about a person's project is often what sells you far more than your portfolio when you're dealing with non-designer clients. An on-site job in a studio or in house somewhere will be incredibly helpful for your career and will allow you to continue growing as a designer, that should be your immediate ultimate goal. Until you can swing it, I might recommend getting in touch with friends or professors from school and seeing if they can send any work your way. Get in touch with design firms in town and let them know you're available for freelance work and what your skill set is. You might have a hard time landing non-designer clients if you can't meet folks in person, but designers almost always need someone in their back pocket to act as an overflow valve when they have too much work. And TOTALLY get a contract. PM me if you like and I'll send you a copy of mine. You don't need some 20 page behemoth. Also make sure you have a bomber portfolio site that isn't full of school work. I can't think of any other advice at this point, but good luck! e: Source for all this – I am a freelancer who does the majority of his work remotely. Early in my freelancing career, but I've been working in the industry for 8 years. kedo fucked around with this message at 19:02 on Oct 6, 2014 |
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Oct 6, 2014 18:55
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kedo posted:This depends a lot on what you mean by "online freelancing." If you mean trying to use various freelancer websites like elance or what have you I'm not going to sugar coat things: they suck and you likely won't be able to make a living unless you live in a country with an insanely low cost of living. Those sites are where people with no budget go to buy design work, they're barely a step up from logo competition sites. Be ready to see lots of stuff like: "Need a logo, stationery package, interior and exterior signage and menu design for my restaurant, budget is $150." Seriously, they're terrible places. You forgot that there will be thirty competing bids for this job, many of them significantly under that figure. Your competition is high school students with no overhead or cost of living, and people in countries where the average wage is fifty cents an hour. You can pick up a portfolio builder or two there but the amount of time you'll spend seeking the work makes the whole thing not worth it.
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Oct 6, 2014 20:09
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kedo posted:This depends a lot on what you mean by "online freelancing." If you mean trying to use various freelancer websites like elance or what have you I'm not going to sugar coat things: they suck and you likely won't be able to make a living unless you live in a country with an insanely low cost of living. Those sites are where people with no budget go to buy design work, they're barely a step up from logo competition sites. Be ready to see lots of stuff like: "Need a logo, stationery package, interior and exterior signage and menu design for my restaurant, budget is $150." Seriously, they're terrible places. Chitin posted:You forgot that there will be thirty competing bids for this job, many of them significantly under that figure. Your competition is high school students with no overhead or cost of living, and people in countries where the average wage is fifty cents an hour. You can pick up a portfolio builder or two there but the amount of time you'll spend seeking the work makes the whole thing not worth it. Yeah, I'm definitely not interested in that type of work. I don't necessarily need a high income, since my cost of living is pretty low right now, but I value my work enough to not compete for low bids by creating work that may simply be blown off. Can't say it's not tempting at times, since it appears so easy to swoop in, throw together a logo, and bail... but that's hardly enough to justify it. I definitely agree with meeting people. My minimum is meeting potential clients face-to-face so they feel like they can trust me, so I'll definitely be trying to do that. I understand how difficult it can be to just -trust- someone on the internet to do what you want; I want them to feel comfortable with me as designer and a person. Also, it would be immensely beneficial to see a copy of your contract, so I'll be sending a PM your way! As it stands, I need to get my portfolio and a proper website up and running. My portfolio is dated, so I'd like to develop and clean up my work as soon as possible. Thanks for the tips, guys. I really appreciate the insight. Life has been stressful, so facing down freelancing alone is intimidating.
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Oct 6, 2014 20:27
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Nessa posted:Cross posting from the Career Paths thread.... What was just previously posted might be helpful for you as well. With the designy decor stuff, depending on what it is, maybe etsy? Also thanks for posting all that useful info on freelancing! I've been trying to get my freelance illustration work going so it's nice to hear about this type of stuff and get some perspective.
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Oct 6, 2014 21:53
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le capitan posted:What was just previously posted might be helpful for you as well. Etsy would not really work for me. That kind of thing just wouldn't pay the bills and wouldn't give me maternity leave or anything. I need some kind of stable day job.
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Oct 8, 2014 19:45
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Nessa posted:Etsy would not really work for me. That kind of thing just wouldn't pay the bills and wouldn't give me maternity leave or anything. I need some kind of stable day job. Going off the children's illustrations, maybe try to find a design firm that mostly works on kids toys, books, etc?
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Oct 9, 2014 17:14
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le capitan posted:Going off the children's illustrations, maybe try to find a design firm that mostly works on kids toys, books, etc? Perhaps my Google-Fu is not strong, but I did not find any such thing in my city. My searches only ended me up at stores that sell children's items.
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Oct 10, 2014 15:36
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Nessa posted:Perhaps my Google-Fu is not strong, but I did not find any such thing in my city. My searches only ended me up at stores that sell children's items. I know very little about you and your situation, but I read it like this: You are looking for extremely specific, specialized work that requires no experience, pays well, is stable, has benefits, doesn't require you to get more education/certification (even though you admit that your current credentials are useless), and doesn't require you to leave the city you currently live in.
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Oct 10, 2014 16:32
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mutata posted:I know very little about you and your situation, but I read it like this: You are looking for extremely specific, specialized work that requires no experience, pays well, is stable, has benefits, doesn't require you to get more education/certification (even though you admit that your current credentials are useless), and doesn't require you to leave the city you currently live in. Unfortunately, it does seem like I'm asking for something like that. I don't need something that pays well and I probably don't need much in the way of benefits. My credentials are a graphic communications certificate from a one year program. I would just like a job where I can do some things that I enjoy and that utilize the skills that I have. I was curious if there was a career avenue that i just hadn't thought about that might be worthwhile to pursue. If you're saying that i'm poo poo out of luck unless I go back to school for a couple more years, then I guess that I'll have to take that as my answer.
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Oct 10, 2014 16:52
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Nessa posted:Unfortunately, it does seem like I'm asking for something like that. I don't need something that pays well and I probably don't need much in the way of benefits. My credentials are a graphic communications certificate from a one year program. Well that's already more of a compromise than it seemed! I was just giving my observations based entirely on the posts on this page. Personally, I can't think of a "9-to-5-style" job that would fit your criteria, but I know very little about other creative industries (I work in games). What I do know is that starting out, you need to cast a wide net. Every requirement you are concrete on means another requirement that you have to let go of completely. As you get some of that all-important, omnipresent EXPERIENCE, then you work your way towards being able to have more requirements. The other way to gain leverage on the barrier of entry is to increase your attractiveness: Get really amazingly good at your skill (have a portfolio that is better than all the others and makes employers want you), acquire a wider range of more useful skills (learn to program in addition to making art, etc). You can also choose to play by your own rules and go it independent, but the same rules of leverage still apply: The better you are, the more demands you can make. Just some observations that I'm sure aren't foreign to you, but perhaps add perspective to you and the thread in general.
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Oct 10, 2014 17:17
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It looks like I may need to take some wed design courses, since pretty much every job posting I've seen is looking for someone to do web stuff. My program had very minimal web design because they wanted to focus solely on print media, with only just enough web classes to make a pretty barebones portfolio site. I did send off a colouring submission to Dark Horse comics the other day. I've been told by some industry professionals that my stuff is solid enough to get work, but I don't really expect to hear back from Dark Horse. It's essentially my dream job to colour professionally, but I really need to stop hanging my hopes on it at this point and work on something more practical and reliable.
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Oct 11, 2014 05:42
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You might try looking into your local chapter of SCBWI for kids stuff. They have some great workshops and conferences, and you can network pretty easily.
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Oct 12, 2014 18:59
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uglynoodles posted:Hi, Not sure why this got overlooked, but your work looks quality to me. I'm not a 3D guy, so I can't say to much about your technique there, but it looks like your 2D work uses the "hue" painting method, where you paint all your values in gray scale, then use adjustment layers to add color later. If this is the case, I would recommend adjusting the gray scale under layer of your finished piece to minimize the "muddy" look of the gray showing through. This is particularly noticeable on the portrait of the blond boy.
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Oct 13, 2014 00:44
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Puppy Time posted:You might try looking into your local chapter of SCBWI for kids stuff. They have some great workshops and conferences, and you can network pretty easily. Ah, too bad. It looks like the "local" chapter only does events that are at least several hours away, if not in another province completely. I'm wondering... Would it be a better idea for me to take a complete web design and development course, or just take the night classes for web stuff on their own?
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Oct 13, 2014 06:58
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Nessa posted:Ah, too bad. It looks like the "local" chapter only does events that are at least several hours away, if not in another province completely. Sounds to me like you really just need to pin down exactly what kind of career you want (though I realize that's exactly what you're asking advice on). Taking a single course on web design isn't going to qualify you for a real web design job, though it might make you look a little more appealing to potential employers. However dabbling in different fields isn't always the best approach. Specializing into one niche may serve you better. If you want to go into print design, devote yourself to that and try to find a print design gig. If you want to do illustration, devote yourself to that and try to find an illustration gig. There are very few positions out there for a catch all "I'm a creative person," and those that will generally require a lot of experience. If you don't have that experience, you'll need to put in the time to get it. My recommendation would be to pick something suited towards whatever you feel is your current greatest strength (maybe illustration by the sounds of it?), find a paying job even if it's not the best in the world, and work on your other interests in your free time. Once you have at least one full time gig on your resume and a more fleshed out portfolio you can start trying to diversify. And don't only look at dream jobs. Lots of people hire illustrators besides comic book shops. If you're into crafts, try hitting up some craft fairs in your area and talking to people there about how they got into what they're doing and if they're hiring.
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Oct 13, 2014 22:19
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kedo posted:Sounds to me like you really just need to pin down exactly what kind of career you want (though I realize that's exactly what you're asking advice on). Taking a single course on web design isn't going to qualify you for a real web design job, though it might make you look a little more appealing to potential employers. However dabbling in different fields isn't always the best approach. Thanks for this. I do feel as though I may be spreading myself too thin. My husband was just saying something similar as far as specialization goes. I need to pick one thing that I want to do and stick to it. As far as greatest strengths go, it's pretty difficult for me to judge that sort of thing, as I'm my own biggest critic. It's certainly not illustration, as much as I enjoy doing it, I still have a long ways to go when it comes to drawing. I'm probably best at coloring, which is already crazy niche and difficult to find work for. I really consider coloring to be the only thing in the world that I'm good at, and even then I'm not pro enough for the big leagues. My rendering really needs a lot of work, which is why I've been working more on my drawimg skills. I just take a look at some of my colouring idols and see how far I am from reaching that skill level. I think I can confidently say that I have a solid eye for colour that I've developed over the years. I really don't know what I can do with that information. How can I apply that to other kinds of jobs? What other skills do I need to make a career? "Liking pretty colours" is not a career and doesn't really require any skill. I need to learn how to be good at things besides pretty colours. I know the creative industry is full of very skilled and talented people, which makes it much harder for someone like myself to find a spot in it. I need to have something to offer. Something that no one but me can provide. And when I think about things like that, I wonder if it might be best to drop out of the idea of having any sort of creative career. Maybe I'm just not meant to be good at that sort of thing. Maybe I'll just never be good enough to compete for jobs like that. Maybe I'm meant to be a secretary who secretly doodles when no one is watching. How many years of dedication would it take for me to become competent at art? I only have a couple of years left before it's time for me to start a family. Anyway, I'm rambling. I'm going to talk to a college registrar tomorrow and maybe see about getting some career counselling. Thank you for the advice, as it's helped me think about what I really need to do to solve my problem.
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Oct 14, 2014 06:51
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Nessa posted:
If color is your greatest strength and illustration and comics are a no go for right now, then yeah you should definitely at least look into either graphics design or web dev as a possible option. I think if you can learn to script in something like HTML 5 or Jscript and pair that with a good color sense you should be pretty good at web dev and there is a fair amount of money to be had in the field if you are good. You can still work on illustration and comic stuff on the side until you are good enough to make a living at that if you so choose. Hell you might be able to animate some stuff for websites and get animation practice if that's your cup of tea. Since it's clearly important to you I wouldn't give that up for something you clearly dislike. Just be open-minded about all the jobs out there, and find the one that is the closest to what you want to do that you are able to get in a reasonable time frame. That is where talking to an adviser (or several advisers) is helpful. They might know of a job that fits a lot of your criteria that you never even thought of. Also for design work in particular you don't necessarily need a class for these things (unless you thrive in a structured environment, then go for it). There are a lot of resources on the web that are very good. The important thing is if you do graphic design, do some mock ups every day, if you do web stuff, build a web site every day, etc. That's how you get good at it. And yeah it can be difficult to get into creative work and art in general is loving hard too. But if you know that's what you love then don't give up on it. Age and a family life do not mean you have to stop doing art. It's the frustration from the struggle that might get you if anything. I'm not sure your self imposed deadline to get good at your dream job is helping you out in that respect if it's causing you so much stress that you just want to quit outright.
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Oct 14, 2014 11:06
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