The Design Thread

[JonMack]

Nice concept man.

[omgnoseat]

Nice concept man.

Hehe thanks

some people didn't understand it and thought I was being racist.

They tought that I was trying to make clear that black people are just in the shadow of white people, how do they come up with the stuff.

Anyway, the picture is trying to tell that the figure is looking all happy on the outside, but he actually is feeling very sad and suffers from a broken heart =[

The figure there is basicly me

Think I'll make some more stuff today, quite enjoy doing it, even though it isn't that great.

[GlynnP]

Yeah nice idea mate

Not bad for some of your first stuff in illustrator i know mine was no were near as good.

Keep it up.

[Tom_]

Took some more practise into Illustrator

shodow pic

Yea I've been feeling a bit down lately

Really like that actually nice idea, like alter ego which is what im doing at the moment for my photography project on portraiture.

I have a few questions about graphic design (that is what this is right?) Im quite interested in it, Im going to do a specific college course next year rather than the a levels im doing this year and have nooo idea what I want to do, so this might be worth me considering.

First off is there a basic program I could d/l that would give me an idea and preferably cost me nothing

second if you are averagly sucsesfull in it is there much money in it?

thirdly does any one have any experience with the college level courses?

[SamHolmes]

I have a few questions about graphic design (that is what this is right?) Im quite interested in it, Im going to do a specific college course next year rather than the a levels im doing this year and have nooo idea what I want to do, so this might be worth me considering.

First off is there a basic program I could d/l that would give me an idea and preferably cost me nothing

second if you are averagly sucsesfull in it is there much money in it?

thirdly does any one have any experience with the college level courses?

The industry standard software is Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, In-Design, esc

Try and get hold of a copy of Photoshop and have a play around in that..

I've heard there can be quite abit of money in design work but personally I think it's gonna be very hard for me to find a job at the end of College which is why i'm considering staying on for three years to do a degree course, I think this will give me more chances at finding a decent job

I've been on a 2 year course at College doing Graphic Design and I finish in August, to be honest I havnt learnt a thing about design that I didnt already know or couldnt have taught myself in time. It's basically project after project without much guidance and the majority of work I've done has actually been done at home in my own time as I find it hard to work properly at College..I dont regret going to College though as I think the qualifications are important in pursuing a proper career in graphic design

If your not sure about it, go into a local college and speak to the tutors and ask to look at work done by the students and other things you'd like to know about

[JonMack]

Really like that actually nice idea, like alter ego which is what im doing at the moment for my photography project on portraiture.

I have a few questions about graphic design (that is what this is right?) Im quite interested in it, Im going to do a specific college course next year rather than the a levels im doing this year and have nooo idea what I want to do, so this might be worth me considering.

First off is there a basic program I could d/l that would give me an idea and preferably cost me nothing

second if you are averagly sucsesfull in it is there much money in it?

thirdly does any one have any experience with the college level courses?

Yeah.

Err... GIMP, Inkskape, etc.

http://www.gimp.org/

http://www.inkscape.org/

You're not gonna become a millionaire but if you're good you can make a living.

I went to college and did a BTEC and it was awesome, well fun. I learnt a lot

The industry standard software is Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, In-Design, esc

Try and get hold of a copy of Photoshop and have a play around in that..

I've heard there can be quite abit of money in design work but personally I think it's gonna be very hard for me to find a job at the end of College which is why i'm considering staying on for three years to do a degree course, I think this will give me more chances at finding a decent job

I've been on a 2 year course at College doing Graphic Design and I finish in August, to be honest I havnt learnt a thing about design that I didnt already know or couldnt have taught myself in time. It's basically project after project without much guidance and the majority of work I've done has actually been done at home in my own time as I find it hard to work properly at College..I dont regret going to College though as I think the qualifications are important in pursuing a proper career in graphic design

If your not sure about it, go into a local college and speak to the tutors and ask to look at work done by the students and other things you'd like to know about

Yep.

Boo piracy is bad.

There can be, but... it's very hard to make lots of money, but I would definitely advise doing a degree.

Even if you don't learn lots having the qualification will help a lot.

[Simon]

Portfolio > Qualifications.

Personally.

From what i've seen and heard in the industry in my brief time in it, a decent portfolio and good character will get you a lot further then some college course ever will.

Obviously if you graduated top of your class after a 5 year stint you'll breeze in, but sometimes real work experience is valued a lot more then class room experience. Warn you know, college/uni doesn't prepare you for the real thing, but if you get in the right company its often a very fun and good job to be in.

[future orange 660]

lol.

carry on justifying not going to uni...

[Charlie Jennings]

My most famous creation. (Not that im famous for it )

Illustrator F.T.W! (without dots it changes to "***" )

you probably dont believe me but meh.

Edited December 10, 2007 by iCharlie

[SamHolmes]

My most famous creation. (Not that im famous for it )

Illustrator F.T.W! (without dots it changes to "***" )

you probably dont believe me but meh.

Surely that would be a good thing to show on your portoflio website?

(I dont believe you though )

[GlynnP]

My most famous creation. (Not that im famous for it )

Illustrator F.T.W! (without dots it changes to "***" )

you probably dont believe me but meh.

I dont understand what exactly did you do?

[MadManMike]

He typed out Cheddar in a font, which Sainsburys now use...

I very much doubt they paid him to download a font and type the product name in it.

Hardly a "design" is it?

[JonMack]

Put the PDF up

[Tom Booth]

Obviously if you graduated top of your class after a 5 year stint you'll breeze in, but sometimes real work experience is valued a lot more then class room experience. Warn you know, college/uni doesn't prepare you for the real thing, but if you get in the right company its often a very fun and good job to be in.

Thats not reaaaly true thou is it? I don't know about other uni's, but my next projects, and certainly the rest of them for my time there, are workign with companies, live briefs etc, speakign with the people you would be it in a real design situation. Like our next project, is for design company Jaccuzzi, I'm not sure on the brief yet, but still. We have to speak with the lead designer, with the directors of the comapany and take on there input. If we don't produce the goods in the allowed time, we get a rollocking.

And 4 year uni courses, the year IN INDUSTRY, how is that not going to prepare you for what the real world is all about? I'll admit, college teaches you nothing in the sence of design in the real world, just the basics/mild high level, but it dosent scratch the surface of proffessional design. It's a more watered down version.

[Simon]

Meh, maybe design is more different then i though, but from what i've seen and experienced from our design department it almost mimics the way development operates.

Maybe it's cause we do the whole IA and strategy too but the pressure is immense, if you f**k up this design, nothing will make that site perform, the best CMS in the world can't make up for the fact that the designer ball's up'ed, and didn't follow the IA, or miss-understood, i can develop a site as much as i want but a design is the deal sealer.

I can't really explain it but you have pressure from various different people, budget restraints, time restraints, guidelines to follow, and with the amount people are paying, if you do make a mistake they will come at you hard, i've been at the wrong end of it and it isn't pretty. It's also the innovation and common sense that educated people surprisingly seem to lack. We've just hired such a person and don't get me wrong, he has potentiol but he's a robot, used to the education system of being told what to do and just does it.

College in no way shape or form prepared me for the new media industry, maybe university is different but i honestly can't see it being much different.

future orange 660, was that sarcasm or? I'm not justifying not going to university, i'm just putting another perspective in. People always preach to teenagers that university is the be all and end all, and that missing it will end your life and you'll be put lids on pill bottles for the remainder of your days, but sometimes that isn't the case.

In some ways i regret not going to university, not experiencing the lifestyle, not seeing where it might take me but there we go.

The other pitch people put in is the money, and that you may start of more when leaving university, which may well be 100% true, however, i started off on a lower wage, yes, but i'm not up to a respectable wage and if i had gone to university i would currently be in my 2nd year with one left, and when i would of eventually left i may of started on the same as i am now but i, not having been to university have been earning for those 3 years, have 3 more years experience and will be on the same wage as a graduate where as the graduate is 15k in debt and has less experience.

Also, about the placement stuff, having watched the interviewee picking process, a one year 'placement' is not weighted as much as one year real experience. Responsibilities are different, motives are different etc. Not to take anything away from placements, there a damn good deal for students in such positions.

Meh, just putting in the other side of the university discussion.

[Tom Booth]

College in no way shape or form prepared me for the new media industry, maybe university is different but i honestly can't see it being much different.

I dunno about others, But i found uni to be a hell of a lot harder then college, it's more of a free learning curve, your not as guided and left to your own devices abit more, whereas college, your sort of nurtured constantly by the tutors etc.

Glad I've gone to uni, I personally think it'll be invaluable to me, but I can see why others don't go. My girlfriend wanted to go and do theatre and set deisgn, but the past few months, she has found a full time job and has setled down really well and I don't think she has any intention of going to uni anymore. I personally can't blame her! I've sometimes been tempted to drop out and get a full time job, alot less stress, pressure, once your done for the day thats it, no more work to do. But then I realise, theres no way I could get to where I want to be without the guidence of older, more experienced people in the field. So I need this time honing my skills, and getting my style dialed ready for when I do leave, to ensure I can get into a good position, where I'm either where I want to be, or I'm in line ready for a progression into that.

Eitherway, Design > God.

[future orange 660]

any design company knows that a design grad does have experience.

real projects. real clients.

and the 15k debt you said.. more like 40k.

40k is minute in comparison to the potential earnings of a decent grad.

design after uni is not just making pretty cad images btw...

[boon racoon]

I can see both sides of the coin, University isn't for everyone. But it's definitely the best times of your life (from my experience!)

Very often, companies come looking for graduates in respected Uni's and thats definitely a plus point. We get like 2 or 3 a week here at Leeds, all posted on a central board/forum for people to go for if they want.

Saying that, on a night out I met this guy and we got chatting..said he was into web/php/mysql and that and worked from home/freelance. Talked to him about it and I asumed he was a student and did a bit on the side.

BUT he said he totally didn't get on with school so quit when he was 15. Got no GCSEs but instead self-taught himself php/mysql. When he was 16 got empolyed by a design company on £20k a year - who didn't even ask his age! So after a bit when they found out he was only 17 (at the time) he had to leave haha.

Now he's 19 and seems to be doing alright for himself..with not even a GCSE to his name.

So yeah, you can do it two ways..

Edited December 11, 2007 by boon

[GlynnP]

He typed out Cheddar in a font, which Sainsburys now use...

I very much doubt they paid him to download a font and type the product name in it.

Hardly a "design" is it?

Exactly I want to see the PDF!

[Simon]

any design company knows that a design grad does have experience.

real projects. real clients.

and the 15k debt you said.. more like 40k.

40k is minute in comparison to the potential earnings of a decent grad.

design after uni is not just making pretty cad images btw...

I do realise what they can earn and what companies think of graduates, and it isn't that. You don't earn as much as you think for design, certainly not anywhere near 40k.

Really? I thought that's all they do...

[future orange 660]

hell, cut the shit.

[br3n]

Portfolio > Qualifications.

Personally.

From what i've seen and heard in the industry in my brief time in it, a decent portfolio and good character will get you a lot further then some college course ever will.

Obviously if you graduated top of your class after a 5 year stint you'll breeze in, but sometimes real work experience is valued a lot more then class room experience. Warn you know, college/uni doesn't prepare you for the real thing, but if you get in the right company its often a very fun and good job to be in.

So true and an unfortunate truth is that there are a stupid amount of "graphic designers" out there and again, unfortunatly university/college dont teach you 1% of the things you actually need to know.

Still, a qualification is a step closer to getting your foot through the door.

If you can build a personal portfolio you'll be miles ahead of any graduate, if you cant get paid work do some work for free and you'll soon find yourself with paid contracts.

I have no training for graphic/web/print design other than a self taught passion, as said earlier i've twice been offered fulltime very well paid jobs. I've also activly freelanced for 3 or more big companies and a few private jobs. None of which have been chased by myself, Always approached.

[Max Quinn]

Haha im waiting to see how long it takes Charlie to make a pdf to mimic that cheese packet and how he f**ks it up

That CD on body print i posted earlier along with the booklet and inlay designs etc were sent to the duplicators today for our young enterprise company (www.myspace.com/amplocal). If all goes to plan those CDs should be in Watford HMV soon

Does anyone in this thread read design magazines or similair stuff? What do you read? I love reading magazines and wanna expand my range. At the minute i mainly read bmx, photography, art and lifestyle stuff.

[Simon]

hell, cut the shit.

Do you actually have anything constructive to add or is it just your mission to be a dick in all your posts on TF?

[SamHolmes]

Does anyone in this thread read design magazines or similair stuff? What do you read? I love reading magazines and wanna expand my range. At the minute i mainly read bmx, photography, art and lifestyle stuff.

Occsionaly read 'Grafik' and 'Design Week' at College