Graphic Design

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What's the graphic design industry like now? What is the demand for jobs in this field?

I'm asking because I took a career test a couple of weeks ago, and the results suggested I do something like interior design, or visual or graphic arts.

Tim

In a word? Tough. Everybody's a graphic designer. Lot of competition. My problem is that it's such a subjective field, yet everyone's an expert, and everyone will tell you you're not good enough but fail to explain why. (If you're bad, you're bad, fine. But beyond that, it's a lot of bull.)

Without bragging, I can honestly say I'm good. My problem is that I don't have a degree; I studied art in grade school and taught myself the computer software and typography. Though it varies by region and degree of work. In Philadelphia, every ad for designers wants you to have a bachelor's degree (to push pixels, no less) and experience in every piece of software. When I read Craigslist NY, they just want to see your portfolio. A lot of people use the degree as a substitute for making their own judgements. And it's hard to find an entry level position, due to the small business nature of many companies, to work your way up: you're either a seasoned pro or your an unpaid intern.

I lucked into my first design job, didn't even show a portfolio! But the place was so bad, because the theater director played everyone against another, and would say something was great only to hate it three hours later. (Course, she turned down work of external design companies and wound up designing it herself or gave it to her 13 year old son to do.)That's the subjective part. You please your boss or the client, you will never please everyone all at once. It's full of politics, backstabbing, lies...in other words, it's typical NT business.

Designers are very secondhanded as well. It's very FOUNTAINHEAD. Look at every design on tv and print nowadays, and notice the similarities: the sunbursts, the half-tone patterns, the tribal logos. They all copy this year's thing. The irony is that they present this as cutting edge and self-expression.

That's just my rant, though I can substantiate the degree part; the perception is that if you didn't get a degree, you're not truly committed since you don't have the debt and can walk away any time. Besides, if they paid the tuition, shouldn't you? is the reasoning. Just ask. If you don't have a degree, your best bet is to do it freelance for people you know, or small scale. If you try to do it for another company, start small, think outside the box in places where there is less competition (i.e., I worked at a theater, not at a design company.) And good luck.

It is a very good job provided you are in the top end.

When I first started College I thought I would be good at Programming and such. But I was very very wrong.......

It is a highly competitive business in general as space said.

Do you know of any career fields that aren't as competitive, but are still in very high demand?

Tim

Aye, I have a Bachelor of Arts degree, major in multimedia and minor in graphic design. Can't find a related job worth a lick. There's like nothing media related in the classifieds. There's a few graphic design jobs every week, but most of the time when I apply I never get back any sort of acknowledgment of my application so I never even get as far as showing them samples or a portfolio.

Which is why I work at the help-desk now.

I'd also like to add that it's a very underappreciated service as well. I've worked over 3 years as a graphic designer in the newspaper business working mostly with advertising. It doesn't pay all that great and people (especially the customers and clients) always seems to have a "talk down to you" attitude. They really only seem to love you when you can clear up the shadows and blemishes on their faces in the badly lit photos they took themselves. And I don't care who they are, almost evertime you deal with a woman they think they have design sense because they watch a lot of home design stuff on tv.

"And I don't care who they are, almost evertime you deal with a woman they think they have design sense because they watch a lot of home design stuff on tv. "

HA! That's too funny.

I have an interview today for a design position. I'm trying to keep a positive outlook, but I'm not sure what to expect anymore. Fortunately, I think the AS helps me keep a good poker face. Keep your fingers crossed...

I've found you can do well in an interview when you can talk about all the techical problems you can fix. I've used my time working at newspapers to learn about printing in general. Knowing how the process works can help you head off problems in the future. I can't count how many times I've had PDFs of ads sent to me from high-end advertising agencies, and they don't even separate properly in pre-press. A lot of agencies also don't understand the concept of when the ink hits newsprint, it spreads. All the time they spent on putting their script fonts on fancy gradient backgrounds looks terrible in the finished product.

Go for it Tim!
Once you finish school, you can determine what cities are in need of graphic designers.

Please say Seattle, please say Seattle!

Tim

Tim,

I have a college diploma in that trade and tried to make a go of it for some time, but not with the results I hoped. I had to find full time work in an unrelated field.

You'll have your best chances firstly if you have any knack in you as a salesperson and secondly if you are prepared to live in a larger population centre (300,000+). It is a tough nugget to crack and the wages are piddly for the most part. Actually, it was a good-paying line of work before it went high tech.

As it stands, I do it small-time on the side for beer money

I got a degree in you sister city down south. Worked at a tee shirt shop designing tees for a year. Took a job as a tech writer...hoping something in illistration would open up. Tech writing paid better and never looked back. In logistics...database stuff now.

You'd have to move to a larger town to make a go of it and it can be quite competitive and political. I was never quite so connected to get a good foot in the door, myself.

Not real current info but had something saved on my PC:

SOC 27-1024 Graphic Designers

Design or create graphics to meet a client's specific commercial or promotional needs, such as packaging, displays, or logos. May use a variety of mediums to achieve artistic or decorative effects.
Texas Labor Market Information

Texas Employment 2004: 14,984
Projected Texas Employment 2014: 17,556
Absolute Change 2004 - 2014: 2,572
Percent Change 2004 - 2014: 17.20%
Average Hourly Wage 2006: $20.04
Average Openings per year due to Replacement: 193
Average Openings per year due to Growth: 257

graphic design is just like any other medium. you can find a niche and if people like your work you'll be in demand. i get offers all the time that i usually turn down for no other reason than because ... i don't why i turn them down. could be good money.