Seeking some Advice?!

[Chelsea]

Hello

i have just finished my BND graphic design course.
And i dont want to go to university for many different reasons.

has anyone got any ideas on how i can get my foot in the door
of the graphic design industry.?

advice and tips would be most appreciated.

[stevieh59]

As bad as this sounds, it really is about experience.

College teaches you creativity and "going nuts" with ideas. But there are so many restrictions regarding real world jobs. Money, print, branding and cost etc.

At a Uni they'll hopefully get you some work experience and get you into a place to work for a few weeks. Loads of my old ex Uni mates did this and this was there foot in the door, being offered jobs after they finished college.

Also end of year shows run through Uni's are often visited by people looking for talent etc.

[squid]

hi chelsea

personally, looking back, my degree did little for me within the industry. great for ideas and a portfolio, very little to do with real deadlines! i had to start at the bottom and learn as i went along. changed jobs often just to get higher on the ladder and like i said to learn as much stuff as i could by doing so. to go from a mac operator (artworker) to senior designer, to having my own company has been more to do with my willing to work (sometimes for nothing!) than a university degree.

have you seen about doing some work experience for companies? even if its just setting the odd advert, every bit helps.

keep at it, good luck

lu

[Sabzz]

Hello Chelsea,

Try contacting local studios to see if they're prepared to let you call in for a day or so. You probably won't be paid for this but you will gain valuable experience. Ask as many questions as possible (even to the point of being slightly annoying!) as enthusiasm goes a long way.

Be prepared to start at the very bottom rung and work your way up, but you will get there with hard work and it will all be worth it.

I didn't go to university either and I think in a way it has been a blessing in disguise. I had creativity anyway and you can't teach that. If you are creative you just need to learn the technicalities of using that creativeness to be effective if that makes sense! This is where the hard work comes in. You get that by gaining experience not from a classroom.

Good luck

[Trevor Collins]

You have got to be pro active and start knocking on doors. Hell offer to work for free on a trial basis to get some experiance.

[cre8tivelive]

Hi Chelsea

i run a web design and business solutions company called Cre8tive Solutions and when i started i was in your position, now i am turning over in excess of £850,000 per annum so all is not lost.

I am launching a new website soon called Cre8tive Academy of Design which is aimed at helping people like yourself get advice, projects and the experience they need.

feel free to email me at jamie@cre8tive-solutions.com and we can have a chat prior to launch.

thanks

[glebe digital]

£850k turnover and no live webpage?

[SurreyWeb]

Hi Glebe Digital

Very good point, there is a related forum post trawling for work:

" hiya

i can give you some advice on how to get your product out there,

feel free to email me:jamie@cre8tive-solutions.com "

A1 for effort, not too many owners of companies turning over that much would bother


I did find Cre8tive-webdesign.com, although their main menu options just specialise in 404s.

[glebe digital]

hmm.........maybe it's not just me being sceptical then.