Thread Recap (last 10 posts from newest to oldest)
Dec 03, 11 at 8:49pm
Fatal Error
Yeah Sphinx, it is a tough position to be in (btw if you wrap a name in the @ symbols it will apply to the whole name for multiple word names like me =P).
The one thing I really have to be grateful for my past interest in G&A and coming here is that I have a very good eye for aesthetics now. Even if I can't create great pieces, I have a good talent to help others design and fine tweak what they do to make works even better.
Of course, I have a similar talent as a writer...great editor, though I lack a bit on the creativity side to make my own works beyond essays.
Dec 03, 11 at 12:18pm
Sphinx
Thanks Ecto, you summed up what I was trying to get at much better than I did. I think for anyone that is considering a career in graphic design that it's really important to understand the distinction between being an artist and being a designer. And as you said, time is money, and basically anything you're gonna do, be it freelance, for an agency, at a magazine etc. will all be time sensitive and governed by deadlines.
I relate to what you mean about having to adjust your strategy/outlook to something as well. Although I have a lot more freedom to be creative at my job as only a sub-editor, as a business publication limits a lot of what we can do, (which usually ends up being a collage or photomanip of some dreadful stock images to make them look decent enough to print.) And also, at the end of the day if the editor doesn't like it, no matter how long you worked on it, its not going in, and obviously with clients its going to be exactly the same.
And Fatal Error, you've basically described the exact position I was in for a good few years. I'd always been interested in it, but never really got anywhere with it. I think that's probably a path a lot of would-be designers fall down, as it's so easy to get to that creative/talent plateau.
Dec 01, 11 at 6:31am
Fatal Error
I had an interest in web design and such but sadly it never really stuck with me. I still have slight interest in G&A, though I really just stick around because all the guys are still here...well some are, at least. I do very little actual work these days and what I do is typically photo editing and such, which isn't quite as fulfilling but whenever I try to do complex stuff I end up getting frustrated and just delete whatever I was working on because I'm never happy with it.
As for the "art" aspect...well, I've certainly never made anything I can really consider "art", though I have tried at times. Again, I'm never really content with what I make though so it rarely even gets finished, much less ends up something good enough I would call it "art".
Nov 30, 11 at 5:28pm
Ecto
I work as a graphic and web designer at a local company and have for the past few years. I've been doing graphic and web design myself for the last decade or so but only professionally for about 2-3 years now. We also do printing which puts me in a nice place of having knowledge in every direction design really acknowledges.
I don't consider myself an artist. An artistic eye is required, however, I don't come up with original content and, therefor, only consider myself a designer. I realize the words are very similar but, truthfully, the verbiage is irrelevant anyway.
Something interesting, though, is the vast majority of graphic design positions aren't really that artistic. Your example of magazine production, for example, is more likely positioning of text and imagery more than anything else. Another example is my average meeting with a client. If we're designing a business card we'll sit down for 30-45 minutes, talk about their branding and what they're currently working with, and design their card together. Now, 45 minutes isn't a tremendous amount of time to be creative. However, people much rather pay for something quick and fast than artistic (bolded for emphasis). It's something that took me a while to get used to and had to mold my business strategy around.
And while all that is said, I get off work, go home, and open up Photoshop there. Truthfully I don't know if graphic and web design is something I'll be doing forever but I certainly do enjoy it.
Nov 30, 11 at 1:40pm
Sphinx
Been thinking about this a little bit recently, and asking myself what exactly is my attitude toward graphic art and why I do it. Having decided that if possible I'd like to direct my career more towards to design side of magazine production - quite a big potentially career changing decision.
While obviously the process of using a programme like photoshop to create or modify an image is artistic, I've never really considered anything that I've made in photoshop to be "art". Whether that's because I'm a crusty old bore who tends to think of paintings and sculptures as art rather than images on a screen I don't know, but I think I'm probably not alone. Or maybe I'm just a pretentious twat who thinks all art has to have some deep obscure meaning rather than just being something aesthetically pleasing and beautiful to look at.
Obviously in a forum like this there is a mix of people who just do it for fun, as a hobby, and that's kinda how I started out. Then there are people who are either studying toward or already working in the industry. So I thought it would be interesting to see what people think, are you doing graphic art purely for fun, because you see it as a prospective career, or because you feel you are making art?
Part of this is because I somehow feel that I should see it more as an artform if it's something I want to do as a job for the next 5, 10 or 20-odd years. But having had a taste of the industry, I'm almost glad I don't, as I'm not here to make art - it's usually just a case of quickly knocking something together to go with an article about some boring business strategy. I think it almost helps to see it more as a means to an end (albeit one that I thoroughly enjoy, as I enjoy the process and I still get to be creative), than to see it as an artistic means of self-expression.
Anyway, yeah, just thought I'd see what other people think.
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