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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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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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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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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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What makes a good graphic design program in a school? Internships? Foundations courses? What should I look for? I have applied to two schools I want to attend, one costs more, the other seems to not offer internships as part of the curriculum. I realise that the portfolio is what matters most when one graduates and is looking for a job, and students in both schools churn out some really good looking stuff, but I don't know how to decide exactly. Any advice, please?
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Jun 4, 2008 16:53
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Zurich posted:Inspiring teachers that you can relate to as a friend rather than an authority figure or a talking book. You can't judge that from an open day, though. So if I prefer the overall aesthetic of what one school's students are producing, would it be safe to say that I'd probably like that school better? I definitely would not rely on my school to get me contacts but I was thinking that it may be easier to get an internship if the school has good connections with design firms and businesses. Knowing the school has good students that do good work would give me an advantage, maybe? Or am I wrong in thinking that? Both schools are relatively small (though one is an actual "art school" and the other is an art college within a larger university) and I don't imagine personal attention to be a problem. Right now I have been working very hard to get into the more costly art school while ignoring the less costly one, but now that I have seen what students at the latter have produced I am intrigued.
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Jun 5, 2008 02:17
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Zurich posted:Not necessarily, because the teachers could be dickheads Well! Congratulations on all that. I spoke with advisors from both schools; one advisor cc'd the head of the graphic design department to my email and she ended up contacting me directly. She answered all my questions and more, so it cemented my decision to attend the cheaper school. Apparently cheaper does not mean lesser! She mentioned that their typography program is excellent which is what really interested me; I love typography and all it entails. Are you still in school currently? I'm getting ahead of myself here but... How difficult would it be for an international student to get an internship in London? Ultimately that's one of my academic goals while in school. Study abroad while [possibly] making money? Awesome! London's my dream city as well; I visited a while ago and have been "homesick" ever since. So it really is an important objective for me. Is there a lot of exchange for that, or does it seem like agencies tend to go for the more local folk?
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Jun 7, 2008 04:56
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Zurich posted:Awesome. Do you have a chance to visit any of the schools? I guess its different in America with it being so massive, but here we tend to visit a load of places before applying. They're both in the city I'm currently living in and grew up in so I'm very familiar with both campuses. It's cheaper as in 3.5 years at $6000/yr vs. 4 years at $20000/yr. Very significant difference, but if the program for the more expensive school was better, then I'd swallow that debt. I'll look into the ERASMUS thing. I did look into study abroad programs through the school but they only one they really advertise is a semester in Peru which really isn't all that interesting to me. I much prefer Europe and I'd much prefer [south] England. The advisor told me that there is a $2500 travel grant that I can compete for (and many GD students have already won) so I guess we'll see about that. I don't necessarily need to study abroad, I'd much rather get work in. Thanks so much for your responses! You've been very helpful, I really appreciate it.
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Jun 8, 2008 02:47
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I am torn. I keep getting restless and wanting to move back to Chicago and go to Columbia to get a BFA in Graphic Design and Photography there, but it's a lot more expensive than where I am currently and with the economy as it is, finaid is getting harder to come by. I'm going into my second semester as a Pre-Art student at UW-Milwaukee after three years of dicking around in college trying to figure out what I want to do. I should've taken a year off or so, I know, but I was afraid of being uninsured (I get sick a lot and broke my elbow so thank god I didn't). But since I'm running out of patience and time and money, I am under a lot of self-imposed pressure to get done with school ASAP. I guess what I'm asking is, would it be worth it to move back to Chicago? Is living in Chicago going to give me an advantage, since I ultimately want to work there? Is being local an advantage when it comes to internships? I know I'll be much happier in Chicago, but Columbia is expensive (though not as bad as SAIC) and I think that would weigh me down a little. Are there any other BFA programs I could look into that are cheaper? I ultimately want to do packaging design, especially in a cycling company setting (like SRAM, which is why I want to live in Chicago). Additionally, there is something called the Chicago Portfolio School which is a one-year crash course program for $12k that helps you develop a portfolio. According to the website, a lot of their "graduates" have gotten jobs at big firms for Ad Direction. I've been doing graphic design work since I was in high school so I know how to work things like Photoshop, I just don't know all the terminology and techniques behind why design is design. They have a Graphic Design program, and although I wouldn't get a BFA, I'd supposedly have a good portfolio. I can't find much about it on the internet that wasn't put out by the school itself, though. So I'm wondering if I should just give up on getting a degree and do this instead so I can start my career? Or is this a bad move?
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Jan 15, 2009 18:40
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Liebe posted:Hopefully this question hasn't already been asked. Any chance you could email me at standby at gmail ? I have a couple questions regarding the graphic design program at SAIC.
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Jan 21, 2009 07:47
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Ol'DirtyBehrmann posted:I've heard a lot of bad things about Columbia College lately. I have a friend who graduated a couple years ago from the photography program and has a killer job with Playboy now because of it who has told me that they have recently made some serious faculty changes in the photo department and replaced some experienced professional photographers with graduate students. It was one of the factors in my own decision to not transfer there, so I figure you might be interested as well. In addition, the cost of tuition there has risen almost 6 grand in as many years, so expect it to become just as expensive as anywhere else soon enough. I have heard some other less than flattering things about the school from another friend who is also a graduate and actually employed by the school itself. Yikes :\ Well, that helps. But the cost of SAIC is absurd and financial aid seems to be mostly nonexistent. Worth a shot at least! I'm going to visit the campus again on Thursday and I'm going to make sure to write down all my questions so I don't forget  I have been taught at my current school by graduate students and I don't find it to be a disadvantage, but I am in the first year right now so it's mostly just the basics rather than working towards a professional career, so I suppose that has something to do with it. Thanks for the tip!
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Feb 1, 2009 17:05
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How important are academics when applying to RISD and Pratt? I hear they're up there on the importance list and that makes me nervous.
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Sep 6, 2009 01:39
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Authentic You posted:I got into Pratt with a massive unsolicited merit scholarship, and my unweighted GPA was a 2.9. My SAT (old version) was 1380, which was higher than their average. Though another factor could be that my high school was an academically rigorous private school. Thanks, that is pretty reassuring haha.
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Sep 9, 2009 17:34
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I apologize if this has been discussed before. I am a copywriter with experience in digital marketing, social media, and eCommerce within the fashion industry. This is what I love to do and in addition to my full-time position I have multiple freelance connections with somewhat steady work coming in, so I imagine I'm pretty good at it. I'm interested in moving into an ad agency maybe, but I really do enjoy fashion writing. My worry is that I'm now in my late 20s and I do not have a degree. There are conflicting reports: some say that experience and quality of work is the top priority, some say that a degree is the best way to get your foot in the door. I attended college previously before dropping out to work, turning that time off into an internship and subsequent full-time position, which led to my current position at a large fashion corporation. So I guess to make a long story short. Although I'm sure it varies from company to company, is a degree truly necessary with my experience? Would I get anything from an advertising program that would bolster my resume that is worth the thousands of dollars?
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Dec 20, 2014 21:26
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