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Graphic Design
    #16179779 -

Any graphic designers in here? 

I've been considering getting a degree in Graphic design at the community college, or at least taking some courses in the fundamentals.

I have some concerns about this step, should I take it in life.

I've been an artist for quite a long time but essentially my medium has been pencil on sketch book, or water color/acrylic on canvas.
(not to mention other mediums I wont get into on here :wink:)
Graphic design is a whole new ball game from what I'm used to doing.

I basically wanted to get an idea from other people if Graphic Design is one of those things that can be self-taught at a reasonably effective degree (basically could you self-educate yourself to a professional level in under 2 years?) or is it something that you should get formal education on?

I taught myself how to paint and draw, even as young as elementary school I was creating some pretty elaborate art work... I saw images in my mind and I didn't stop working at creating it on paper until I figured it out on my own, i've never taken a formal art class and actually declined a scholarship to an art school in New York back in 2001....  I wonder if I could do the same with graphic design, or if it would be easier to just take a course and learn the techniques?


Really just trying to learn graphic design whatever it takes, if anyone has any tips or suggestions, please share 'em with me.

School or no School?  What do you think?

Thanks!


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Re: Graphic Design [Re: EpicDelusion]
    #16179887 -

No school man, definitely no school. I mean, take some courses here and there, but don't pursue a degree or anything. A degree in graphic art isn't going to look as good on a resume as say, actual graphic art.

The internet is a WEALTH of knowledge on graphic art. You can watch tutorial videos for many hours per day and they will teach you anything you have your mind set on. If you turned on a tutorial video right now, and had a continuous stream of graphic art tutorials for the rest of your life, you would die before the video stream stopped playing. It can definitely be self taught.

Have you played with Photoshop or other graphic art studios before? The best way to learn them is to just look up some tutorials and follow the steps until they become second nature.

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Re: Graphic Design [Re: EpicDelusion]
    #16179935 -

I'm graduating with my Associate's degree in Graphic Design this spring.

you have to take all the fundamentals before you take the computer classes like drawing, painting, 2D design, 3D design, etc.

Would I have actually sat and learned all of this on my own? No.

Designing on the other hand.. Heck, I don't even really consider myself to have an art style. :lol: I'm slowly discovering my own.

Now they say you can't do anything unless you go for at least a Bachelor's, which I could see why. Honestly, I know NOTHING about print. Now this is just from my community college experience, yours very well could be different.

I'm sitting here trying to get even an apprenticeship and most people are asking for a Bachelor's off the start.

If anything this helped me realize my future a little bit more. I actually want to continue my education now, but I know it's a bit of a process to transfer to a University so I'm waiting a semester or two. Also to build up my portfolio as well.

If I think of anything else to add I will.

Everyone says it's a paperweight degree and they are probably right. I enjoyed myself, however. :kingtard:


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Re: Graphic Design [Re: Everlong]
    #16179968 -

Did you make any of those graphics in that thread you made yesterday? If so, they were fucking awesome.

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Re: Graphic Design [Re: PatrickKn]
    #16180031 -

I would really like to pursue a career in graphic design but I just dont see myself making money. I have done a fair amount of small jobs here and there (cd covers and logos for restaurants) but I mainly just do random shit in photoshop. Have never taken any classes for it but was in yearbook for two years in high school. Being self taught gives me a bunch of disadvantages but since im not considered professional it doesnt bother me too much.

Edited by thissongis (05/04/12 03:37 PM)

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Re: Graphic Design [Re: thissongis]
    #16180445 -

I didn't post a thread yesterday.. :confused: I actually don't share any of my work on here in case it somehow gets connected to me in real life :tinfoil: You might be thinking of someone else?

And Munster shows up with his amazing work.. :lol:

Seriously man, I remember your work from another community, you do a really fantastic job.

Also CosmicFool, to my knowledge, makes his own awesome sigs and if I remember correctly he's self-taught too.


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Re: Graphic Design [Re: Everlong]
    #16180485 -

In visual communications (what graphic design is called in the Mid-East), it's more about your quantity and quality of work - rather than where you went to school. Diversify your work, don't just design the same shit over and over. Also, it helps to begin offering free work so you can reference other companies and businesses you've contributed to in your resume. Be aware that for work you'll often time be designing marketing for dumb shit, or graphics for websites. If you freelance, you'll be competing with digital designers from around the world who will work cheaper than you (being a Westerner), so working with a company is best.


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Re: Graphic Design [Re: Symbols]
    #16180627 -

Here's the biggest tip in the world:

Don't base your graphic design off of filter effects.
aka Don't be a signature artist.

But that goes without saying....

EDIT: And by that I mean actually learn how to create custom vector objects.


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Edited by Everlong (05/04/12 09:24 AM)

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Re: Graphic Design [Re: Everlong]
    #16180761 -

sorry to double post but I was bored

don't do this :lol:



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Re: Graphic Design [Re: Everlong]
    #16180763 -

Being self-taught is a viable option. :thumbup:

I am self-taught in the realms of graphic and web design/development.  I've spent less time over the years on graphic design than I have web development but with them coupled I make a decent amount of money freelancing my services.  I've now worked with/for a couple of Universities in the state.

I would see no issue freelancing even if I was solely producing graphics, though I would probably have to work harder to find clients.  My guess is that you'll get more print work than you do anything else so you may want to spend a good amount of time learning proper preparation techniques for print.

Learning to produce, edit, manipulate, etc. vectors is very important.

With the others here, I'd shy away from a degree in graphic design or anything art-related, honestly.  Many people with these types of degrees are finding themselves to be jobless with no prospects of every getting a job related to that degree.


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"You can peel it [language] off the ceiling and make it dance in front of you" - McKenna

<3 .

Edited by Cynosure (05/04/12 01:17 PM)

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Re: Graphic Design [Re: Cynosure]
    #16180961 -

No offense man, but a degree in graphic design means just about nothing. I'm about to graduate and get my 3-D animation degree, and the graphic design kids at our school have always been this clueless gaggle of people who don't really make anything, just stupid shapes and shit and then talk about how it makes them "feel" for hours afterwards.

If you are a talented artist, draw. Employment will find it's way to you, but an insanely vivid and eye capturing portfolio is going to get you alot further than some talentless fuck with a bachelors degree in graphic design on their resume.


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Re: Graphic Design [Re: PatrickKn]
    #16181390 -

Thanks for the information guys, very helpful, I appreciate it.

I do have photoshop CS5.1 and I've been learning some basics,
but as someone else mentioned, I don't want to just import some artwork and filter the hell out of it,
I want to make unique and cool shit from scratch that reflects my style of art, just in a different medium.

I don't need a degree really, I just want the skill, I wouldn't be putting it on a resume`, it would be for my own venture.
So given the information I've received, I think my best bet would
to just park it in my free time (what little I have) and go through video after video and 'hands on' it until I hone my skill.


Thanks all, oh, and if you have some graphic art you've created on photoshop, I would very much like to see what you can come up with on there.

Cheers!


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Re: Graphic Design [Re: EpicDelusion]
    #16181540 -

You need a vector program, like Adobe Illustrator, to truly do what you want. Unfortunately Photoshop does not have the same capabilities but for good reasons.

-Learn the difference between Vector and Raster images.

- CMYK is for print, RGB is for Web.

- Also learn how to figure out your image resolution. A good rule of thumb is 72 for web, 300 for print.

- In photoshop, learn how to use MASKS!

- Learn the pen tool.

Here's some random all seeing eye design I was making the other day in Illustrator out of boredom:



too lazy to figure out why it's coming out so pixelated for the shroomery. And I said I'm about to have an associate's degree? :facepalm: :lol:


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Re: Graphic Design [Re: Everlong]
    #16181801 -

Also, look into investing into a drawing tablet. It will speed your work up significantly and put you ahead of the curb in many different aspects once you get used to using it.

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Re: Graphic Design [Re: thissongis]
    #16182111 -

I'm getting my bachelors of fine art degree right now with emphasis in Graphic design and just added a minor of advertising (to fill in some empty spaces). I took a graphic communications class at the career center during high school for 2 years and I didn't know anything about it before I took the class. I hadn't even used a Mac before then. I picked it up pretty quickly and honestly I can't imagine trying to pursue any other career. As for art careers I would say that graphic and web design are the most profitable. But depending on where you get a job you can lose a lot of your creativity working for non-creative clients.

I wouldn't say that it is hard to learn the Adobe Suite software you just need to dedicate a lot of time and effort to figuring out the best ways to achieve what you want. I wasn't really taught much of anything except for the foundations of design principles and the gestalt theory and some shortcuts. I think it is really helpful being around other graphic designers in classes and getting critiqued.

As for getting a job..a lot of employers that I have seen or been interested in are looking for people with a degree in graphic design and possibly want someone with knowledge of the printing process such printing press or screen printing. I learned how to do some of that stuff in my high school class so unless you have a lot of money and space for the equipment a class would be far easier.

I would say school..maybe not a 4 year Bachelors degree but if you're serious about it being a career than at least an Associates. It just give you a leg up on getting hired. You may be a good designer but if someone is just as good as you and went to school they are going to hire the one with the degree. It's just a
Good Luck! :psychsplit:


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Re: Graphic Design [Re: Michi Mi]
    #16182180 -

Michi Mi said:
I wouldn't say that it is hard to learn the Adobe Suite software you just need to dedicate a lot of time and effort to figuring out the best ways to achieve what you want. I wasn't really taught much of anything except for the foundations of design principles and the gestalt theory and some shortcuts. I think it is really helpful being around other graphic designers in classes and getting critiqued.



Agreed. They make their programs practically the same across the board. If you know how to use Photoshop, Illustrator will be cake for you.

However I can say my teachers taught me a lot about the programs that I didn't know. My last computer graphics class the teacher made us do some sort of tutorial each class.. I've learn clipping masks, blending, smart objects,  document bleeding.. other things I can't think of right now lol.


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Re: Graphic Design [Re: Everlong]
    #16182297 -

Yeah, my graphic design teacher has taught me some stuff about the programs that were easier to explain to her than to Google for help. That's another good thing about taking classes. Plus it's soooo much better working on a huge iMac than a tiny 15" Macbook.


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Re: Graphic Design [Re: Michi Mi]
    #16182494 -

I find it easier to use the adobe suite on pcs personally. I had to use imacs in intro to graphic arts in highschool and for yearbook, it was really annoying being self taught on pc then having to relearn all of the short cuts for school. Then when I would go home and use my pc for photoshop I would get the alt/ctrl mixed up with command, ect. Plus my computer runs Photoshop and after effects was smoother.

If you ever want to learn after effects this website is amazing
http://www.videocopilot.net/tutorials/

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Re: Graphic Design [Re: Everlong]
    #16188140 -

alright, so I decided to go ahead and sit down for a couple hours today to do a little research on some photoshop basics, and I came across a site that was interesting, basically showing you ways to turn sketches into graphic art on photoshop.... which is awesome because essentially that's what I'll be doing.


I'm new to all this style of art (graphic), so this isn't a reflection of my actual artistic ability :wink:  but yeah, started out with a quick and crude sketch of a forklift...

Sketched it, penned over on paper with sharpie, scanned, modified slightly, e.g. the tires... did a desaturation and what not.

Started out with this, first attempt with this kind of modification:



used smudge tool to go over entire image to take out the bitmap appearance of the image and to start adding a little depth.

Adjusted levels a few times, decided to re-construct the forklift blades to make them extended.

smudged art work and used dodge and burn tool to try to create a little more depth... (which I just learned about today)

I worked in 6 different layers of color, on multiply mode... worked in darker colors and did careful erasing to create highlights and reveal lighter colors.

Tweaked some stuff, played around with some things, came up with this:



I'm not sure where to go from here.... I'm not using this art work for anything, just as a practice method... but I'd like to figure out how to create more depth, and perhaps some better lighting on it, maybe make the headlights look like they're on, and you know, just make it look better cause it still looks really cheaply done.


If you have any tips you don't mind sharing, I'd be happy to hear them... or perhaps some links to a some more tutorial videos and such.

Thanks guys!!!


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Re: Graphic Design [Re: EpicDelusion]
    #16192529 -

lol I saw this last night, clicked on it, and completely forgot to respond. Sorry. (I'm sure there are people with better advice anyhow :kingtard:)

give me a night to properly respond.


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