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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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That is my one concern, I am pretty much a self-taught designer (been doing so for 15+ years now, mainly print, I did graduate with a BFA in Communication Design) but I just feel that I do not have a total grasp on HTML & CSS to market my services for web design. As my friend told me "You know enough to get yourself into trouble". Honestly, I would ditch my current full-time job to try to find something that would allow me to gain more real world experience with web (even in another city). Even considered taking an intern level position, just so that I can get more practical experience beyond just tutorials and even classes (which I have done both). I learn best by doing. As time goes by, I feel more and more left behind. Saveron_01 fucked around with this message at 20:11 on Nov 16, 2010 |
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Nov 16, 2010 18:19
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At the end of last year, I was working on some pretty good design work for some large non-profit organizations. Some of the larger projects would count for nearly a quarter of my annual income. The rest came from ad agencies that I had deals with to take on their overflow and some local freelance work. In the past year, I have seen my work load go from 40-50 hrs a week down to 10, mainly due to the fact that no one is spending money on print design. I would have retained a some of my clients and probably got some more if I had more experience with web/multimedia design. Finally, I had to take a job to cover my losses and actually have fun stuff like health insurance. I have been thinking of going back to get an Interactive Multimedia degree just so that I can remarket myself to those clients and hopefully gain some more. I did take a couple courses at a local community college, but in the end, I found them lacking of any substance and failed to challenge me. Since I have no debt, some cash in the bank, I was considering going back to school full-time and get another degree. Take it from me, do not get caught in the print production world, it is unglamourous and you really feel like your career is going nowhere.
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Nov 23, 2010 20:45
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qirex posted:Do you have a lead on a good school? A lot of "multimedia" programs are pretty sad and you'll probably end up having to teach yourself a ton of stuff. That is my one concern. Awhile ago I went to check out the Art Institute of Phila., but in all honesty it seemed like they were more concerned with cash flow than their students. I originally went to Kutztown University for Communication Design (BFA), so I might take a trip up and check that out. Being in my 30s now, I kinda do not want to rack up $100k in debt, and the tuition for full-time at a Pennsylvania school is roughly $4k a semester, something that I can easily handle. Plus the side benefit of having most if not all of my elective credits transferring, so I would really only have to take 4 semesters. When I first graduated, I literally knew no one in the industry and scraped to get my own clients and contacts. Taking advantage of the community that the University offered is one thing that I missed out on, which looking back I totally regretted not exploiting for my own benefit. So one thing to take out of this is NETWORK.
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Nov 24, 2010 04:12
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drat, I completely forgot about lynda.com. I had a subscription a few years back, but due to my work schedule never really got too deep into the programs. Thanks for reminding me!
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Nov 24, 2010 13:16
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Boogaloo Shrimp posted:Do your research. Beware of 2-year schools. Also, if you are planning to transfer or go for masters down the road, many schools that with a 2 year program, it's unlikely that credits you earn in our schools will be transferable to other schools.
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Nov 25, 2010 01:08
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Nagget posted:At 24, with an exorbitant amount of debt from my college loans an internship that will most likely be unpaid is out of the question for me. I feel extremely discouraged after having wasted 2 years at this company. Typically, 10-12 pieces should be good. Start out with a strong piece, then the next few are the average/weaker ones, then end with another strong piece. The one greatest thing you can do is to be able to detail exactly how you created something, or what parts that you were in charge. Go over each piece that you want to include and write down everything you can recall about the project, since you never know what skills that are being stressed until they start commenting on your book.
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Dec 2, 2010 18:18
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A5H posted:Aw goddammit this is going to take forever Nope, because Photoshop is a pixel based application (with support for vector). The best you could hope for is that you copy/paste the text out of Photoshop and relayout in InDesign. Since you have the pages already placed in InDesign, all you need to do is copy/paste on top of the existing layout (quick way I do this is to colorize the text I am coping, so that I can see any differences quickly). An alternative way is to Acrobat Professional (Advanced tab > PDF Optimize) and lower the settings and save that way. The problem with this, is that all of the text is rasterized, so you will lose clarity and readability. Saveron_01 fucked around with this message at 16:10 on Feb 9, 2011 |
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Feb 9, 2011 16:08
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Recently, I was laid off from a print house that has a full design department. They have no interest in doing anything with web/interactive content (apart from generating image files), which is one of the reasons that I found that when I was laid off, I was kinda happy (plus the place was really miserable). I already had some basic knowledge of web/interactive before all of this went down, but since that time I have been eating up all of the instructional videos from lynda.com on CSS, HTML, javascript, etc. so at least I can have a good working knowledge if something comes my way. Luckily, I have maintained great relationship with the people I worked with in my freelancing days, so as soon as I was 'free', I was back to doing freelance print design. My main client REALLY wants me to take over all her web projects that she is currently farming to people out of state, since she feels more comfortable working with someone that could meet with her to work out any details. So I have been going through the videos as much as I can, plus taking time to deconstruct other sites to see how other people are putting them together. One idea I had to get some 'real world' experience, was to request from my clients was if they had ANY web/interactive projects that they were getting someone else to work on, send them to me as well. I would work on the projects and see how I would compare. Mainly to get more experience and to show my clients that I can handle those projects and then would be able to offer those services on a freelance basis.
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Aug 15, 2011 19:21
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surgical scar posted:Any suggested resources for me to brush up on my HTML and learn more about CSS, PHP, & some Javascript? Like, is html.net good enough, or is w3schools worth the cost? I have, for the past couple months been using https://www.lynda.com for training.
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Aug 24, 2011 12:31
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One month of lynda.com is $37.50 which includes the source files. I find it an excellent deal, although I found some of the teachers from the older videos not as good as the newer titles.
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Aug 24, 2011 21:16
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Ideally both an online resume and a downloadable PDF would be a good addition to your site. Recruiters and non-creatives who do the hiring want something concrete to look at/download. You should list all awards that you receive, perhaps even getting quotes/testimonials from former employers or teachers to help fill out the page a bit more. List your skills somewhere as well, since you are starting out you should let potentials see what apps you know, as well as other skillsets.
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Sep 11, 2011 15:24
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readingatwork posted:Speaking of freelanceing, how exactly does billing typically work for this type of work anyway? Typically for newer clients (or what I perceive as unreliable), I take 30-50% upfront, depending on the project. For clients that have a proven track record I waive that deposit. Freelancing you will learn that it is feast or famine, where you will get paid for a few projects all at once, then nothing for a couple weeks. Utilizing my invoices, I have a disclaimer at the bottom that all bills will come due 30 days after the invoice is generated. If no arrangements have been made before hand, a 10% surcharge will be added to tardy payments. Usually, I do not bill out on projects until they are completed, but if there is no contact from the client within a certain amount of time, I typically send them a reminder email, then if I get no response, I invoice for the time I put into the project. Each of my clients are a little different. Some like to have a running total bi-weekly, another wants to pay me when she gets paid (I freelance for a design firm). Discussing the terms of how they want to pay is ideal, since it gives them the sense that they have a say on how they are going to get billed from me.
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Dec 21, 2011 02:57
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Disreputable Dog posted:This is a great setup, but also consider in terms of "clients disappearing" -- I've had a few wander off for 6, 8 weeks at a time and then expect work to have magically happened (sans feedback, naturally). It's wise to put a kill fee ("okay you get me sketching and then cancel the project") price in the contract, as well as a clause about "expression of non interest" or something where the client fucks off for months and you don't hear from them and the project is in limbo. You should have a clause about that and how you will invoice in that scenario. Well, I generally keep in constant contact with the client to let them know what stage the project is in, or submit to them partial *LOCKED* PDF proofs for them to review if it is a large project. If at any stage I fail to hear from them, works stops until such time they respond (unless they are a trusted client). Lately, most of my work has only been from my trusted clients, so the non-interest clause is not really needed. I do have to stress the need to protect your work, locked PDF proofs, proof stamps and watermarks protect not only you, but your client.
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Dec 21, 2011 18:29
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kedo posted:real edit: If you send us a resume in a .doc I will laugh at you. Why do people apply for design positions with terribly designed resumes... You will be surprised what I have seen as a resume in the past, such as someone scanning their handwritten resume (with doodles in the margins) and sending a JPG or sending a Publisher file. If it was not an entry level position I would jump at the chance in a heartbeat, good luck with the search!
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Feb 21, 2012 21:24
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On the flip-side, I think even web designers should have a basic understanding of print design as well. As I have told my clients, it is always better to do your print work first then downsample the graphics for the web, then trying to make web graphics work for print. At my last full-time gig I was working at a place that would receive files from a client that a web designer created. Things as resolution, graphics and the like are a basic element which I have seen time and time again people do incorrectly. Trying to explain to certain web designers that although their logo that was designed in Photoshop appears two-color on screen, does not make it actually two-color for printing. I am kicking myself for not learning web and getting into that much much sooner. My first website I designed was back in 1996 w/ FrontPage, just because I was the Art Director at a newspaper and no one had a clue how to get things on the web. After that I did not touch anything remotely with the web until a few years after, mainly converting stuff I did for print for web. Only recently I learned HTML, CSS and just being knowledgeable of what are the current best practices, the trends and overall capabilities that are offered. There will be always a place for print designers, since you have packaging and other informational material that will always need to be done (until they develop replicators from Star Trek).
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Feb 29, 2012 04:56
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I never thought about it that way, but it does make sense. As the tablet market ages, more people will want crisper, cleaner visuals also to take advantage of the increase of bandwidth available as well as the evolution of the raw processing power. Actually, I do all of my web design using InDesign/Illustrator/Photoshop currently (not a lot, but some), since back in the day, I was an avid QuarkXpress user, but the way those three work together so nicely, I find the only point I use Quark is when I freelance for some older designers who never want to learn the new apps available.
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Feb 29, 2012 06:18
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cheese eats mouse posted:Have you checked out lynda.com and just the internet for HTML/CSS stuff? I learned all my coding online from Google's Youtube videos. My Web class was a joke and horribly outdated. That is one thing I found out after taking courses at a couple different schools, that things can change so quickly, by the time they are incorporated into the classroom discussion that they are a few months old and there are better ways out there to accomplish a given task. Lynda.com has been pretty good on keeping up with the fast-paced evolution of the web, but also other sites like css-tricks.com and anything by James Williamson (he has done a bunch of lynda.com lessons), that at least you can be aware of what is current and what is coming down the road.
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Mar 2, 2012 04:45
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For interviewing and working with new clients, I have been using my old trust portfolio with print samples to showcase my work. Recently, however, I was thinking that perhaps just getting a laptop and forgo physical print to just show them my portfolio digitally. Either from the hiring or searching people, what have you found has worked better for you?
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Mar 6, 2012 22:22
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Hrm, wonder if I can use an iPad purchase as a business expense to write it off on next year's taxes?
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Mar 7, 2012 01:09
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"Hope you do not mind, but I am building my portfolio of design pieces and one of my assignments is to reconstruct the look of a business in the area and would like to get your impression of this "reimagining" of your look." Worst situation, they hate it or don't respond at all. Best, they like it so much that they want to buy it from you.
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Mar 16, 2012 18:06
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Moist von Lipwig posted:Yeah I kind of thought so, I'll have to see how this plays out, I might be able to leverage it into some freelance or something later. Thanks pipes. To be honest, that is one way print brokers get started in the business. I know a few of them and are horrible or do not know a single thing about print/web design, but are connected enough to know people who can do the work at a quality level that they can sell.
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Oct 31, 2012 19:30
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Perhaps someone can point me in the right direction. Background: For many years I have worked mainly as a print designer (logos, branding, some packaging, flyers, posters and a multitude of projects that lead to being printed either digitally or offset printing), but have little experience with HTML/CSS/Javascript, but I try to keep up with the latest trends and what is happening with that field. I even had projects where someone would sketch out a design for a website that would be coded in Drupal, taking their sketch and fleshing it out in Photoshop. Most of my freelance clients are still utilizing me for those skills that I have, but been outsourcing web design and other social media work, so I was looking at moving toward getting into UI design, mainly because I think it would be the best allocation of my experience in a digital format. A couple of years ago I was taking some classes at a local community college that had Interactive Multimedia, but all they were teaching was Macromedia Director, but it did go into the fundamentals of Interaction Design. Of course, being rather new to the field is tough, since not many people want to risk their projects on someone who is pretty much untested, so that is what I am looking for, some direction on how best to learn and grow in that field.
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Jan 31, 2013 16:23
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qirex posted:I would avoid any "multimedia" program. There was an ask/tell thread for UI designers a while back and I and some other folks posted some good stuff in it, if you have archives look for it. I only took a few courses before I really realized that I knew pretty much all they were teaching. No point in getting an A in everything if I already know/knew the stuff they were trying to teach to me. Another thing was that a bunch of the material they were teaching was a year or more out of date, which one of the professors confided in me at the end of the semester. Thanks for the heads up on that thread, I will have to upgrade to get it.
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Feb 1, 2013 23:08
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