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Verman posted:I would suggest craigslist. Though completely loaded with spam and crappy ads, you can usually find something in there as far as photographers go. Are you actually studying photography or I guess what is the reason you want to assist in a photo studio? Obviously, someone wanting to learn the ropes is going to be a better fit candidate than someone who just needs a job. If you have any sort of photo portfolio, bring it. Of course a photographer is going to want to see if his assistant even knows what he or she is doing on a shoot. Yep, I'm hunting for the real deal. I've contacted a number of photographers already. The kicker is that I've actually done a fair amount of work in photography, mostly an assistant, but solo as well. I'm looking at more work this year, but the trouble is that I want to work with lights instead of a bride's flowers. I'd love to do commercial or architectural photography, but everyone in Ottawa seems to either have help or think they don't need it.
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Feb 14, 2008 14:09
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Any current or former students of the Academy of Arts University in San Francisco here? I'm thinking of enrolling in the fall and focusing on illustration, if anyone has any experiences or insights they would be much appreciated.
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Feb 20, 2008 03:57
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CoffeeIsForClosers posted:Any current or former students of the Academy of Arts University in San Francisco here? I'm thinking of enrolling in the fall and focusing on illustration, if anyone has any experiences or insights they would be much appreciated. Just the usual for-profit, rejects nobody art school warning, make sure you're getting your money's worth when state colleges offer similar programs for a fraction of the price.
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Feb 20, 2008 04:36
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Same, please give your thoughts about design email signature etiquette!
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Feb 20, 2008 21:58
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Trustworthy posted:
I'm a copywriter working for a publishing company. I don't know how your firm might differ than mine, but the biggest obstacle for me in my interviews was convincing the interviewer that yes, I do want to be a copywriter, and yes, I understand the job. As far as your portfolio goes, I would play it as straight as you can. If there is any Revenue On Investment (ROI) info associated with the copy (or whatever else you're bringing) then I would have it at the very tippy-top, maybe even handwritten in. A copywriting manager who is worth his salt will want to see 1) that you can string a sentence together a little bit, 2) initiative and maybe 3) how well your work has done in the past. Not necessarily in that order. Initiative might trump the other two. So, I would probably have the stuff scanned and printed onto 8.5 X 11, with any pertinent details handwritten in. I wouldn't go overboard with the flair - the firm has graphic artists to pretty the copy up, they just want to see your work.
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Feb 21, 2008 22:16
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Jabe posted:Same, please give your thoughts about design email signature etiquette! God, I really need to post here with my followups. Been so busy.
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Feb 22, 2008 23:35
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CoffeeIsForClosers posted:Any current or former students of the Academy of Arts University in San Francisco here? I'm thinking of enrolling in the fall and focusing on illustration, if anyone has any experiences or insights they would be much appreciated. I'll avoid the generic warnings. But yes, higher up administration has their heads up their asses, the student to teacher communication is very good in the illustration department though. The illustration department has a fantastic director right now named Chuck Pyle, he is second only to Barbara Bradley. If you are set on going to AAU, make friends with him as quickly as possible, listen to everything the man says and ask him for advice when you're having a problem with the school. Some of the teachers are amazing, some are terrible. Thats just how it goes. Do your very best to get into any class Henry Yan, James Wu, Chuck Pyle, Gordon Silveria or Bill Sanchez are offering. These guys are incredible, and if you pay attention you'll learn a lot. Avoid Chantal Sapperstein, shes a bitch. 
CataraX fucked around with this message at 23:01 on Feb 23, 2008 |
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Feb 23, 2008 22:59
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This is for Same or anyone that can offer their thoughts or advice really. I'm a senior computer technology major in college. There's two branches of the major - tech and design. Tech focuses on networking and whatnot whereas design is more web focused (between database stuff, creating/designing/coding sites, and some programming here and there). I'm in the design option and some of the courses have overlapped with the graphic design major and really got me interested in the whole idea of graphic design. The courses in graphic design that I took (typography, designing for the web, etc) I found that I did very well in because I was very interested in them and put a lot of work into them. That said, come May when I graduate I'm probably going to get into doing some web stuff in terms of a job but the idea is I'm going to back to school and complete the graphic design program (between loans and other circumstance it's not really an option to stay another year or two right now). So here's my question: what advice can you give someone in my position? Anything from where to start, how to build a good portfolio, or what I can do on my own time to brush up and get good experience/practice while I wait to go back to school? What's it like getting into the field, etc? Anything at all would be appreciated.
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Feb 27, 2008 06:48
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This might be the wrong thread, but I'm wholeheartedly considering giving up three years of college to start all over again as a graphic design major. Apparently switching from the sciences to the arts is very nearly a re-do of college. However, the one thing I dislike is the requirement that all students have Macbook Pros. I literally JUST bought a Macbook two months ago and if I switch, I'll have to buy a Pro? What is the justification for this requirement?
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Feb 28, 2008 01:12
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You can get by with either your current macbook or even a PC laptop. Doesn't really matter as long as you have the programs required (Adobe CS2 or 3 Suite, Quark, etc.).
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Feb 28, 2008 05:45
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Indeed. I'm two and a half years into design with an IBM, and it's been wonderful. I don't know how they could enforce a requirement like that, but I guess it's there because the MacBook Pro would have all the specs needed for getting through the program, so I guess they just tell you what computer to get instead of what specs you need. I dunno. You could check out the Pro specs and see how your computer compares.
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Feb 28, 2008 06:20
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It looks like the Pro is a whole lot more powerful, plus it has a bigger screen, which I imagine would probably be useful. I find myself squinting when I'm playing around in Illustrator sometimes, even when it's zoomed in. After more research though, it looks like I won't actually need the computer for at least a year into the programme since the first year is Foundations and "Pre Art" and only then am I actually admitted into the Graphic Design programme. And I guess the laptops bought through the school come equipped with a lot of the applications I'd need at a super discounted price. That's pretty awesome. I do love me some Mac though. How is Graphic Design in that aspect, by the way? Does it seem like it's going predominantly Apple? I have years of experience doing just general work in XP, though I haven't had the pleasure of using Vista yet, but even when I'm making simple projects at work I prefer to do the work on my laptop and transfer it to their computers via email or over the network...
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Feb 28, 2008 07:12
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Two of the shops I worked in were 99% Apple, but I freelanced on a PC at both, and worked at the first shop on a PC (when I was hired I just worked off an extra PC laying around for the first year or so) and I was actually the only designer that didn't have an Apple, I wasn't obstinate about it or anything I just didn't really care one way or another. The only drawbacks I really encountered is cross-platform font issues and designer snobbery.
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Feb 28, 2008 08:24
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It'd be nice if everything could just be standardised, even if the same OS can't be used across everything. That seems like it could be a tricky part! I haven't experienced that problem yet with going from my Apple to my bosses' Dell but I am doing mostly flyers so I just save those as a PDF which eliminates the problem, but that's not always an option... I'm in Wisconsin, would it be pretty easy to relocate after school? It is pretty easy to get a job as a Graphic Designer? Is there a lot of demand or a lot of competition? How much does one generally make as an entry-level designer? One of the cool bits about this school is that a semester-long internship is part of the curriculum, so I'll be leaving school with real life experience and (hopefully) good references and connections. Thanks you guys! I have an appointment tomorrow to find out more about transferring into the school but I'm sure the advisor can only tell me so much about the actual career so I might be coming back in here every so often to ask more questions. This is a big decision and I want to be sure I'm making the right one this late in the game :\
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Feb 28, 2008 14:48
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Say I have about $50,000 to $60,000 to blow on a college somewhere between New York and North Carolina. Say MICA - the Maryland Institute College of Art - is really loving awesome and you want to go to it really bad but it costs $120,000 for a BFA and your soul is crushed and you want to look elsewhere. What art colleges have put their name on the map in these areas in regards to the Photographic Arts? Am I right to completely give up on MICA or is $120,000 not as absurdly far off as it seems?
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Feb 28, 2008 20:01
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FidgetWidget posted:Say I have about $50,000 to $60,000 to blow on a college somewhere between New York and North Carolina. Say MICA - the Maryland Institute College of Art - is really loving awesome and you want to go to it really bad but it costs $120,000 for a BFA and your soul is crushed and you want to look elsewhere. I am in the same position except my parents won't support the Art Institute of San Diego or any Art Institute in general.. Its also around $120k for a BS degree. I will most likely end up going to a Cal-State school majoring in some art program. (CSU East Bay or CSU Channel Islands)
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Mar 1, 2008 22:42
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mDJ posted:I am in the same position except my parents won't support the Art Institute of San Diego or any Art Institute in general.. Its also around $120k for a BS degree. I will most likely end up going to a Cal-State school majoring in some art program. (CSU East Bay or CSU Channel Islands) I came out of school with 15k in debt going to University of Idaho Art program. I am doing just fine. It is not the college you go to, but how good you are and the natural talent you posses and how good the teachers are that push you. Honestly the people that do well are most of the time are not the ones that go to a fancy university (although there are few that help) but the ones that know how to learn on their own and push themselves. And honestly, natural talent plays a huge part. If you do not have the artistic blood in you somewhat, you probably won't do well no matter how hard you try. The best graphic designers usually are the ones that have had great talent in other fields, like drawing, architecture etc.
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Mar 3, 2008 05:36
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What is the general consensus on the Art Institutes? How good are their schools? I'm looking to go into photography, and there's a campus where i'm looking to move (Philadelphia). I'm a bit biased against chain schools; they just seem really shady and greedy, and i've heard that employers don't look highly upon it. However, they do have the largest number of courses for photography of all the schools i've checked into.
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Mar 5, 2008 00:52
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One thing to think about when you're considering schools is that no matter how good your training is it's just a few months for one class. If you're going to be a designer or photographer for 20 years your college education is a tiny part of your "training". I've been doing design for half my life and I'm still learning all the time. I'm 100% self-taught. I definitely think that not having an art/design degree was a bit of a hindrance earlier in my career but nobody's asked me much about college in an interview in like 5 years. If the school is going to inspire the hell out of you and help you kick a lot of rear end that's awesome and an expensive private school might be an OK idea. Just remember that you can get a BFA from a state school and then spend 2 years interning and honing your skills for the same price. I've seen a lot of uninspired, lazy portfolios from schools like AI or Academy of Art.
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Mar 5, 2008 02:15
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Mansurus posted:What is the general consensus on the Art Institutes? How good are their schools? I'm looking to go into photography, and there's a campus where i'm looking to move (Philadelphia). My buddy is about to finish up his program there doing 3D animation and he's done some pretty crazy poo poo. He's currently doing an internship for some company doing 3D models of trucks for them and it's some really awesome stuff. I can't say from experience but he seems to have liked it there. On the other hand it is a chain school and one of the administrators I work with here has worked at the Philadelphia Art institute and his personal opinion of it is that "Hey, it's a chain school. They get you in, they get you out, they get your money." - his point being that they don't really care to offer the kind of personal attention you might get in a university setting. Like I said, I can't say anything about this from experience either but I just thought I'd offer those points of view.
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Mar 5, 2008 17:34
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same posted:I came out of school with 15k in debt going to University of Idaho Art program. I agree with this. It doesn't matter which school you go to, if you do enough skull studies your skulls will look amazing, if you do enough gesture drawings your gestures will look amazing. If you hands are crap, draw more hands! At the end of the day you can be drawing as good as any artist regardless of your school, just so long as you 1) practice endlessly, 2) practice the right things. I know lots of amazing artists who don't even major in art, but they spend 3 or so hours a day drawing in between their economics lectures/study/parties and because they spend it on the right things ( figure drawings/ anatomy / lightning / composition / etc) they do better than some of the art majors who just draw cartoons all day. The nice thing about art is that you're very much judged on your ability, not your school. If you graduate with a businesss degree from harvard you can get into many places that a graduate with the same degree from some unknown uni can't. If you graduate with an art degree and apply for say, a concept artist job, they'll say "your degree is from that ivy league? yeah ok whatever.. Can I see your portfolio"
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Mar 8, 2008 14:23
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So I am a senior in college and am considering working in a gallery. I really like putting together shows, and enjoy getting other peoples art noticed as well as when I do it for myself. I was wondering if any of you have experience working in art galleries and can tell me some of the different roles that are there and what you do, do you like it? What? I have an interview with a local art gallery sometime in the next 2 weeks where I need to have a clear idea of what I want to get from it and what I want to do. Any advice would be awesome, I am debating whether or not this needs its own little thread or what.
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Mar 11, 2008 20:07
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Nihiliste posted:The kicker is that I've actually done a fair amount of work in photography, mostly an assistant, but solo as well. I'm looking at more work this year, but the trouble is that I want to work with lights instead of a bride's flowers. I'd love to do commercial or architectural photography, but everyone in Ottawa seems to either have help or think they don't need it. Hey, saw your posts a bit late. I'm in the same boat as you for now. I've worked as an assistant for a couple people but it's not regular enough. I was going to advise you to join ASMP and APA, but you're a dirty Canuck and I don't know if those apply up there. Maybe there's a CSMP or APC? Either way, find the local chapter of a photographer's society and join up. Go to any and all meet-n-greets, portfolio reviews, workshops and rear end kissing sessions. Getting more gigs as an assistant is all about talking to everyone and handing out as many business cards as you possibly can. Also make up a resume with a full skill list of what kind of cameras/lighting/gear/etc you know how to work with.
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Mar 12, 2008 06:14
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ShutteredIn posted:Hey, saw your posts a bit late. I'm in the same boat as you for now. I've worked as an assistant for a couple people but it's not regular enough. I was going to advise you to join ASMP and APA, but you're a dirty Canuck and I don't know if those apply up there. Maybe there's a CSMP or APC? Either way, find the local chapter of a photographer's society and join up. Go to any and all meet-n-greets, portfolio reviews, workshops and rear end kissing sessions. Getting more gigs as an assistant is all about talking to everyone and handing out as many business cards as you possibly can. Also make up a resume with a full skill list of what kind of cameras/lighting/gear/etc you know how to work with. Thanks, that's the sort of advice I was looking for.
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Mar 12, 2008 12:54
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Nihiliste posted:Thanks, that's the sort of advice I was looking for. No problem. Also I've been trying to go through the local pro list and look at photography work I actually like and emailing them telling them why I like their work and seeing if they need any assistants. Just like most other businesses though, it's all about the follow through. I'm gonna wait a few days for a response and then try to go to their studios.
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Mar 12, 2008 19:09
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Okay, so my life has just undergone a major upheaval and I need some advice. I'm 24, living in New York City, making the most of my English Literature degree. Unfortunately, my consultancy just let me know that my assignment with my insurance firm has ended on account of market pressures (i.e. good references). After two years of working as a corporate cog, I'm starting to realize how badly I've always wanted to work in design and film and am considering going back to school for relevant coursework. I'm originally from Charlotte, NC and I'm trying to figure out where to study Visual Effects, Graphic Design, or Web Design. From a cost-to-quality perspective, should I look at Parsons, SVA, or Pratt in New York, or should I leave and attend SCAD or someplace even further out? I'm very talented and hard-working and I know no matter where I go, I will work as hard as I can to make the most of my degree and learn as much as I can. One other question: I've never had any debt before. How do you folks living with student debt manage to cope with it in your respective creative careers after school? Any feedback would be really appreciated!
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Mar 14, 2008 22:47
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Anyone with any experience at Pacific Northwest College of Arts, or the Portland State art department? I am toying with the idea of relocating. I'm guessing Portland/the Pacific Northwest's probably competitive as hell with graphic design though as it is very up-and-coming.
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Mar 15, 2008 01:25
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Mansurus posted:What is the general consensus on the Art Institutes? How good are their schools? I'm looking to go into photography, and there's a campus where i'm looking to move (Philadelphia). The one bit of warning I would have to say about Art Institutes is that they are a non-accredited school. What that means that if you were to want to continue your education for an advanced degree, that many if not all might not transfer. The Army will not recognize a degree from a non-accredited school is another example. I graduated in the early 90s from Kutztown University of PA, which had a Communication Design program which gave the basics of design and production techniques. Unfortunately they were not on the forefront of how the industry was changing with the addition of computers, so pretty much I had to learn everything on my own at the various jobs I had over the years. Currently, I am trying gain more experience with on-line and multimedia, but it is a very hard field to break into if you are pretty much self-taught. Pretty much I have to go back to school to get caught up to an intermediate level in Flash and Dreamweaver (absolutely LOVE Flash). But in all honesty, I have resigned myself to concentrating on print design, branding and some packaging, since that is my first love. I was working for an in-house agency at a print house for about 9 years (which was 5 years too long, looking back at it now) and have been doing freelance design for the past 14 months. Self promotion is key to get your foot in the door at various gigs, word of mouth is even better. Unfortunately the Philadelphia area kinda SUCKS for design right now, since a majority of the work is taken up to upper New Jersey and NYC. Nothing against those areas, but I could never live in those areas, not my cup of tea. Another option that i was playing around with was moving to the mid-west, mainly Chicago. Just doing job searches on https://www.indeed.com I would see 10 times the amount of available jobs in that market compared to Philly. But I am caught in the catch-22, they dont want to hire people from outside the area, but I cant afford to move there without a job. =D I don't mind freelance work, but it is too feast or famine. Like last week I was working at an agency in New Jersey, made a few grand, have a couple projects next week, but beyond that my schedule is open til end of April. Frankly, I just want to get into a place where I can just sit and do my thing with a regular paycheck and bennies. Saveron_01 fucked around with this message at 00:39 on Mar 16, 2008 |
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Mar 16, 2008 00:35
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Mansurus posted:I would love to attend school for photography. Right now i'm in a community college, just coasting through for my two year degree. I apologize in advance for not responding to all of your questions, but I will answer what I can. I've applied to art schools/ universities with great art programs for Fall 2008 and one of the schools on my list is Carnegie Mellon University. It has an internationally renowned College of Fine Arts and is located in Pittsburgh. I suggest you check it out.
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Mar 17, 2008 08:10
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I've applied to some art schools and universities with good art programs for Fall 2008 as a first-year undergraduate. I'd like to know anything people have to say about the following schools (specifically their art programs). Rumors are okay, but first-hand experience is better. Art Center College of Design Carnegie Mellon University Rhode Island School of Design & Brown University BA/BFA 5 year dual-degree program UCLA College of Arts and Architecture Bard College California College of the Arts (CCA) Pratt Institute Parsons The New School for Design & Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts BA/BFA 5 year dual-degree program Thank you to anyone who spends time helping me. I'm just so lost. :/
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Mar 17, 2008 08:39
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^I can talk about Carnegie Mellon and Pratt. I go to CMU and almost went to Pratt. I really don't have any complaints about being at CMU. I'm in the design school, not art, but they both are in the College of Fine Arts, along with architecture, music, and theater. I don't know too much about the art program specifically, but I hear good things, and I've wondered around the art studios before, and everything up there is pretty awesome. Also, the school in general plays a huge role in the whole mindset behind all the CFA programs. Out of all the schools I applied to and visited, CMU was the most grounded in the real world, and applying itself to the real world, being practical and using your skills and your thinking skills to make something of yourself, instead of just learning the skills period. Another excellent feature is that it is an entire university, and not just an art school. So you have the opportunity to take classes in any field you want, business, engineering, computer science, other science, and all those programs are top of the line in their fields. This is one of the main reasons I chose CMU over Pratt, even though Pratt gave me a huge scholarship. Also, while Pratt is highly recognized in the arts fields, as is CMU, CMU is recognized in all sorts of fields, so it looks pretty awesome on a resume. Other strong points include excellent and efficient administration that makes your life (and your parents') really easy. Also, it's a big open pretty campus and in a really vibrant and safe area of Pittsburgh, and right next door to University of Pittsburgh, which is massive, so there are tons and tons of college kids, and plenty of fun restaurants and such. About Pratt, since it's just an art school, it's way smaller, around 3,000 students instead of like 9,000. It's very distinctly an art school, so if you just want to be with other artists and not have to worry about other academia, it would be great. While CMU trades some of its creative and expressive angle for technical skills and practicality, Pratt doesn't so much. Again, just speaking for design and architecture, so CMU's art program could be as artsy and expressive as Pratt's for all I know. I'm just going from the differing tones of the schools and the programs that I do know. When touring, my parents and I walked around the studios and asked students about the school and the programs, and the general consensus was that everyone loved the program, projects, and teachers, but that the administration loving sucked, was terribly disorganized, full of people who didn't know what they were doing, etc etc, rising tuition that just seemed to be squandered, and a good amount of bitterness towards it from a few students. I also found Brooklyn pretty bleak. The campus was a bit claustrophobic, even though it's the only art school in the city with an actual campus with lawns and trees. It's a gated campus, and the gates are locked at night because it's in a dangerous area. It was a bit off-putting for me. Well that's about it. I could answer any more specific questions about CMU if you're interested. Also, if you come visit the campus, drop me a PM.
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Mar 17, 2008 15:18
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Authentic You posted:^I can talk about Carnegie Mellon and Pratt. I go to CMU and almost went to Pratt. Oh my god. Thank you so much for all the information. I do consider my education in humanities and social sciences to be (probably) more important than my art education, so I am leaning towards universities as opposed to strictly art schools. I'm a little irked by CMU at the moment because they've lost my transcripts 3 times now and my school report form once, but I doubt that's representative of their administration. I'm still awaiting my acceptance (or non-acceptance) letter from CMU, but I'll definitely contact you if I get in, because I will be visiting. I really appreciate the offer. :]
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Mar 19, 2008 21:41
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hello_mannequin posted:Oh my god. Thank you so much for all the information. I do consider my education in humanities and social sciences to be (probably) more important than my art education, so I am leaning towards universities as opposed to strictly art schools. I'm a little irked by CMU at the moment because they've lost my transcripts 3 times now and my school report form once, but I doubt that's representative of their administration. I'm still awaiting my acceptance (or non-acceptance) letter from CMU, but I'll definitely contact you if I get in, because I will be visiting. I really appreciate the offer. :] Glad I could help. Yeah, the losing transcripts deal would be an admissions issue, and definitely not representative of the whole administration. My sister goes to a UC, and it's a bureaucratic nightmare ompared to CMU. And they lose and misplace way more poo poo than just a transcript (like housing payments, they say they never got it, even though the post office told us it had been received - and we later found out that they went and processed the check anyway without bothering to verify who it was from, aka 'never got it' - poo poo like that). Anyhow, definitely get in contact if you come visiting. That would be awesome.
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Mar 20, 2008 10:10
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Does anyone have any advice on how to make a PHYSICAL graphic design portfolio? I have an online one but recently decided that it would make sense to put together a physical version. Unfortunately, I don't know what size is appropriate or normal. Is there any special way it should be printed or presented? What about bindings or covers? Furthermore, is there supposed to be an introduction page or something or just straight up pages of work? Finally, how many pieces or pages should you have? Can you put more than one piece on one page? Sorry about all the questions but I feel like this is going to cost me a shitload of money and I only get one chance. Here is my online version if you have any tips: https://www.razmiggetzoyan.com thanks.
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Mar 26, 2008 00:03
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The job is no longer available.
Rygar fucked around with this message at 00:40 on May 25, 2009 |
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Mar 27, 2008 18:43
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What kind of a job market is there in creative CG industry for very technical people with some artistic talent? I'm graduating with Masters in computer science at some point and I'm considering specializing in some rendering/shading algorithm stuff etc. (this kind of thing) because I find it quite fascinating compared to the usual code monkey database maintenance web2.0 stuff. I've been doing 3D and other graphics stuff for ages but mostly as a hobby (e.g. here's something I put together last week). I haven't really considered it as a career option for a while because obviously I'm not in art school, but lately I've been thinking that combining my CG hobby with my technical background might be very interesting and (perhaps?) appealing to employers too. So anyway, I don't really know much about the field. What kind of jobs are there for this kind of people and what kind of companies should I be looking at? Is there reasonable demand for this kind of work and how competitive is it? What kind of things would they be looking for in a candidate? Any useful links or other resources?
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Mar 30, 2008 13:15
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I have some general questions about art education, for lack of a better term. Lately I have been wanting to get involved in some structured education for photography. I am in several art groups in the metro area that I live in (Phoenix) but I would really like to get into some classes or something with structure because I feel like it would be really beneficial for me. However I run into a few roadblocks. I have a full-time career in finance which I don't want to give up, my boss is really flexible and encourages going to classes (even if they're unrelated.. one of the people in my dept is actually studying nursing full time), but I still gotta be there most of the regular business day or at least for part of it and I have to make up the time I miss if I have stuff to do...anyway I like my job and keeping photo as something I do on the side. I have taken classes at a community college in the past (for other stuff) and graduated from a really good university and having experienced the two I would honestly prefer to not go to a CC just based on the majority of people that go to CC. That leaves me with going to the local state university and so I guess my question is am I either stuck at their ground level undergrad photo class or applying to their MFA program or something? I have no real desire for another degree but on the other hand I also have no real desire to flush more money down the toilet on higher education if theres some alternative out there. Are there any other options than CC or college/universities that offer structure? There are a few photographers locally that offer seminars here and there, but mostly they are filled with grandpa's with their canon rebel learning how to use the different camera functions.
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Apr 5, 2008 03:49
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hello_mannequin posted:I've applied to some art schools and universities with good art programs for Fall 2008 as a first-year undergraduate. I'd like to know anything people have to say about the following schools (specifically their art programs). Rumors are okay, but first-hand experience is better. Just graduated from there last fall as illustration when I started as transportation design, so here's the info I have for the school (broken into sections, sorry for the length): GENERAL - Overall, it's a great school if you're willing to let it shape you. If you have your own ideas about how things should be, prepare for a long and painful fight. - It's currently at 15k a term (minimum of eight terms to graduate) and rising. School runs all year round with three terms of year (three to four weeks of break in between each term), so if you can go all the way through without taking any terms off you can technically graduate with a full BS (transportation/product) or BFA (all others) in 2yrs 8months. If you don't qualify for cal grant or other government funding you will be paying out the rear end with private loans and/or your parents' retirement funds. Remember, you are paying more for the connections and the network than you are the actual education - most of what they will teach you is refined versions of what you can find at most art schools. The primary difference is the student population as your peers' skill levels is what will drive nearly all of your improvement. - 14 weeks per term, studio classes typically run 5 hours on weekdays, 6-7 on weekends. There's free figure drawing workshops every day from Mon-Thurs 2-7pm, Fri has 2-7 and 4-10 sessions, Sat has 10-3 or something. They post the room numbers and times outside the prop room (ground floor of the building with the cafeteria, just walk around in a circle until you see an orange envelope taped to the wall) and they do not check ID. Highly, highly recommend taking advantage of this if you're local to socal and can go; this can save you a bundle of cash if you're just looking to practice your figure drawing. Please note that this is only at the hillside campus up on Lida. - Some computer labs are open 24/7 and there's public wireless all over the school that doesn't require login; this is valid for both campuses. - Student life is barely there; there's some sort of student government but maybe a handful of people actually attend their socials and such. Most of us were too busy trying to finish our homework and projects to actually participate. End of the term/graduation parties are out of control though, and you should try to hit a couple up if you know people involved. - There is no parking during peak hours. The school is intentionally inflating the student population by allowing people who should not be there into the school and this is reflected in the parking situation. - The school has two campuses: the hillside campus which is the primary one, and the south campus which was supposed to be for night classes and such but it happens to contain the printmaking lab and the archetype press lab. Both of which are awesome and highly recommended if you can fit the classes into your schedule. - Student population is made up of a lot of koreans, taiwanese and whites. They are letting in a lot more high school grads than before, so the overall age range is getting younger. Get a real education elsewhere first if you haven't been to a proper college because a lot of these kids are socially gimped as a result of going to this school first. In fact, most people at this school are socially backward. - Academics are a joke here. They allow a max of 45 credits to be transferred in so do it beforehand; once you're in they don't allow you to transfer credits in. It used to be allowable until they figured out we were all doing it at CCs to save money. - Teachers range from top notch professionals with great connections to downright mediocre because they were hired by friends in administration. Ask around about classes and teachers if you meet anyone who's really good or really jaded. - It's very standard to first go to Pasadena City College to prep your entry port so you can actually get a scholarship going in; ideally, you'll try for this because it gets a lot harder to get a scholarship while you're already attending. Easiest term to get scholarship is summer, then spring. Fall you'll be competing with a lot more people. - Do not go to this school if you are only interested in doing comics/cartooning or 3D. I unfortunately do not know how much graphic design gets into website design, but they have a motion graphics concentration for that major. - We typically have graduating portfolios that are 11x17, either portrait or landscape; 13x19 if we're feeling ambitious. 8x11 is only acceptable if you've made it into a blurb printed book and you're planning on doing children's book illustration. Nothing bigger though, it has to be portable enough to haul everywhere and printable on your home printer. If all of your work is fine art paintings and such you have digital versions for your book. - When you graduate they offer a type of "speed dating" interview process. You meet with 10-15 companies in the span of a couple of hours, usually talking with them for about 5 minutes at the most. It's a very, very good way of getting feedback on your work and getting business cards for future contacts. - The job boards are top notch. You can consistently pick up freelance work or a fulltime gig if you keep up with the postings. TRANSPORTATION DESIGN - Transportation design and product design get nearly 80% of the attention and corporate/private funding that goes to that school - I heard photography has their own separate 1 million set aside for scholarships and the rest of the available majors have to cope with what's left. - As for the trans program itself, it's still very solid and you'll get your money's worth; just realize that the field's seriously overpopulated and you'll be drawing headlights for five years if you get a job. A car takes roughly five years to go from concept to production if it ever gets there, and no one artist ever works on the entire design of the vehicle unless you're insanely talented - and they never let fresh grads do that anyway. - Be prepared to pull one all-nighter every week, if not more just to keep up with the work. Even if you have the world's best time management they literally pile on the work to make or break you within the first three semesters there. Also, modeling is required so chemical inhalation is standard. Outsourcing is becoming more and more encouraged but this means you spend thousands per project if you want the better grade, or hundreds of hours making the drat thing. - They do reviews 3rd and 6th term to check your progress. I believe they still hold you back if they think you suck too much to continue in the program. ILLUSTRATION - Illustration has been broken down into areas of concentration so you'll graduate with illustration as your primary major with some sort of related subset. It determines what happens with your classes in your 4th-8th terms, basically. Last I checked it was illustration design (editorial), fine arts painting (gallery), entertainment design (2d that translates to 3d for games, movies), entertainment arts (2d that's for vis dev, not intended to be translated to 3d) and -I think- motion graphics. You have to make the decision around your 3rd term - the entertainment related concentrations require a separate portfolio review to see if you qualify for the programs. - It is the biggest major of the school, so that means there will be times when you simply cannot get the classes you need because it's too full and there aren't enough others to make up a full second class. - Foundation is now nonexistent. When I started there were four mandatory figure drawing classes, and I took at least eight more outside of school at private ateliers; now they only require one or two and most kids here are encouraged to develop a "naive" style aka stuck with it because they can't draw any better. - If you are looking to get into concept art there are tons of private little schools popping up around the area to fill this need, so if your figure drawing skills are already decent you should just go to those instead. Especially if you already have a degree and don't need another one. Gnomon, concept art academy, los angeles academy of figurative art and entertainment arts academy just to name a few. - Still decent for editorial art if that's your interest, they've hired a bunch of teachers that're actually working so their feedback's up to date with what industry standards are currently at. Gallery art's a bit of a strange creature here, it has a mix of fine art and traditional figurative painting depending on who you take for classes, but they tend to be in touch with the gallery world as well. - They also do 3rd and 6th term review, but they don't hold you back if you suck. Wusses. - Standard to have custom bound portfolios as books for certain portfolio prep classes; concept kids don't worry about this stuff since everything we do is digital and needs to be printed out. Very standard to have business cards and leave behinds for grad show. Gods, that's a lot. Hope it helps.
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Apr 5, 2008 13:39
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akanekun posted:Just graduated from there last fall as illustration when I started as transportation design, so here's the info I have for the school (broken into sections, sorry for the length) Do you have a portfolio or website. I'd like to see some of your work. Also thanks for the power post. I was thinking of going to art center, but the expense and the distance (i'm from WI) kinda killed that idea.
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Apr 7, 2008 19:41
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From a recruiter's perspective, are there any significant advantages for a potential hiree to have both a BFA from a technical art school like AI and a BFA from a 4-year public university in a similar field? I realize that it's going to mean nil if you don't have anything to show for it, but is there any immediate interest-piquing effect seeing someone's resume indicating that they graduated from two separate schools at the same time? Also, is it fairly common?
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Apr 8, 2008 06:13
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