From intel to art...how!
So... Here I am, coming up on the end of my enlistment in the Navy. It's been 7 years of hating my job and wanting to get into a graphic design/advertising/animation/comics/cartooning/anything artsy career. But, how? I have 7+ years as a Cryptologic Technician Collector in the Navy, and the only experience I have in art is personal aside from taking Psychology at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh (I couldn't afford an associates degree...money...money sucks, hehe). So I'm wondering if anyone has any advice? Moving from one career to another with no professional experience in the wanted area. What did you do? What do you recommend for myself? I know have the ability, I just need the chance to prove that. I just don't have that shiny degree that companies love oh so very much to get my foot in the door. I'm going to be very blunt with you. It will not happen. It MIGHT happen if you get a BA degree and all the stars line up properly. Without a BA, you are never going to get any sort of professional job in graphic design/advertising/animation/comics/cartooning/anything artsy. You can of course work freelance, draw/whatever and sell things on your own and on EBay, but if you're looking for a corporate graphics art job or to work as an animator on a video game, or to get into advertising, it will not happen. Here's an article on this topic that just appeared yesterday http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/03/BU37V8IEB.DTL&hw=video+game&sn=002&sc=819 And I'll give you the same caution I've given many before, if you think corporate graphic design is going to feed your creativity, you're probably wrong. Most of these jobs are very rigid and you'll spend your days measuring that the company logo is exactly 2.345 inches from the top of the company letterhead, not letting your creative juices flow. Jobs where companies pay you to create art are incredibly few and far between. So, you really need to do some research on this whole thing and I recommend that you talk to someone in the Navy that does career counseling for people that are leaving. Use all the resources that you've got right now before they go away. Tess
GEE DON'T YOU JUST LOVE ALL OF THE NEGATIVITY THAT TESS ADDS TO ALL OF HER POSTS. I'VE NOTICED THAT 99% OF HER POSTS ARE ALL NEGATIVE.
You can choose to see it as negative, I see it as reality based and practical. He won't be sleeping on MY couch if it goes badly, so he's free to do whatever he wants with my advice and opinion, including, ignore it. Tess
It's okay. I know it can happen, I just have to find the right people and the right place to go. My brother-in-law is an animator at Lockheed, I've talked to him about my situation and he's been talking to his boss about me, recommending that he give me a job. Hopefully it will pan out... From what I've seen [I have many friends in design fields and I used to work with in-house and agency designers as a Marketing Communications Manager] it's less about your degree and more about your portfolio and the programs you know [photoshop, illustrator, flash, html, java etc.... not sure of the most popular animation programs, though] If you know these and your portfolio reflects a high level of skill, you're ready to get the game. also, since corporate designers have to be so collaborative your personality and communication skill will probably be closely monitored in your interview. Are you collaborative? cooperative? diplomatic? friendly? Or are you an artsy guy who always needs to assert his vision or be left alone to "create" and tinker? You definitely don't want to be perceived as that guy. I also agree with Tess here, there's a lot of minutiae in graphics jobs. Often things get created by "committee" ... and you'll have to have a lot of patience with that process. But, you'll just have to pound the pavement, cold calling. Maybe request informational interviews at local agencies as a first step [best if you can use somebody you know as a reference]. There are also placement agencies that place only creative people. You might search your local yellow pages. But, again, If you've got the skill, you can find a job. But noone will want to do on-the-job training. Also worth noting, not too many starting designers are starting out as Art Directors. I wouldn't count on a salary probably as high as what you've been making the last seven years. Best of luck.
From my experience people working in a creative/graphic design jobs on a 8am-4pm basis tend to be very unhappy because of the climate in that industry and because the way the employees are treated by their companies. The few folks who have succeeded in the field have pretty much built their own companies from scratch...even hired helpers. As others have mentioned in this thread, if you get an "art job" or "design job" working for some company most likely your day will consist of doing something incredibly repetitive and borning. I have recently visited a graphic desing company where the designers spend a lifetime retouching graduation photos of college seniors. I don't know how many photos each designer retouches every day but it must be dozens if not hundreds-picture after picture after picture. Those folks looked like they were ready to puke. I could never do something like that for a living. Also, you'll have to deal with all kinds of unqualified peple, accountants., managers, secretaries and such, trying to be designers and telling you what colors to use and such. The problem is in the initial planning stage of the project (this is the "boring" part of the project) nobody is available to help you. When your prototype is finished and looks good you get mobbed by all those people who suddenly want to be designers too. It's frustrating. I recommend doing something on a freelance basis if possible. Chad, I have a degree in Art and have been a designer for 20 years. My sister does graphic design and my brother did landscape design. I can give you observations based on "designer life" experience, if you like. I read all of the responses--there are a lot of misconceptions out there; and a few truths. Design is a great field! I encourage you to find your niche. Design applies to many types of work---each specialized and each very different: ie.) photgraphy, graphic, product design, store design, interior design, etc. One of the respodants was correct: you can not get into most design unless you have advanced technical knowledge in the appropriate software; and, more importantly a portfolio. Any "visual" field requires physical proof of your talent. The easiest and best way to get these technical skills is at a school. You do not need to go to a college for 4 years, you can go to a technical school which will help you build a portfolio and find a job. However, you do not absolutely need a technical portfolio for some fields like animation. I live in Florida and Orlando/Disney is a hub for animation talent. Many companies hire "raw" talent and train from there. But you will still need strong drawings in your portfolio. Photography is another field people are self-taught. As far as the comments on the lack of creativity in any given job--this is relative. Every job(even a non-creative job) has good and bad; the lower levels can be more elementary. Most artists (not all and not at all stages of your career) consider the creative job they have as employing some of their talents in a profitable manner. Your abilities are used but your "true" artistic expression is something apart from your job(do not tie your artistic ego in with your job- this will kill you and your future.) Most artists produce uncensored work at home. I have a friend who started designing tiles for herself and now has a multi- million dollar company producing these tiles for interior designers. I have found that agencies/companies where the primary owner is an artist are much easier to work at. This would be opposed to companies where the art department has to work with clients or executives in the same company. I have worked in both situations and working with the corporate execs and clients is not as bad as you think (it varies.) Most know they are paying you to do the work--but they are paying. I have been known literally as "a visual" person in many companies. I would encourage you to go for it!!! I can not tell you how much I regret not becoming a sculptor after discovering this as my strongest affinity in college. Many people, including my parents thought it was "nice" that I was singled out for my abilities but the attitude was "What are you going to do with that?" Ignore these people-even the world of Fine Art is attainable if you want it. Get magazines, go to opening exhibits, read art history (the lives of artists are very inspiring) live a creative life. Be an Artist--you can make a living at it if you dedicate yourself to your craft ! Hi, I thought I might tell you of my experience as I did move from one career to another,which I think is your question really. I had a background in Nursing and Horticulture I am qualified in both areas. I decided I wanted to move into different work and Art always felt close to my heart. I had no qualifications or portfolio and so I wondered how I could work in what you might call an Artsy environment. The job I applied for was as an Art technician over all of my working life I can honestly say that it is what I have enjoyed the most. I loved all aspects of it ,preparing all the different materials and liasing with the Galleries ( Tate Saatchi etc)in London I know I didn't get paid as much as in other jobs but I just ran to work .I did something different everyday and felt appreciated. I learnt many things whilst I was there such as chemical mixes for Glazes and kiln work and came into everyday contact with people who were like minded and had similar interests. Also my employer paid for training. So maybe what you need to do is think laterally and do something as a stepping stone ,convince someone that all your experience can be transferred to their area. Make them believe in you. Have confidence and look at everything when you go for jobs think about reworking your resume so it has skill sets which are applicable. I wish you all the best and know there is something out there for you.Good Luck Chad. P.s. Some Artists are very badly organised , they would love you to be there to help them out and take the pressure off them, you have amazing skills and qualities which could be put to use anywhere.
From my experience people who are least successful in an art or design job are people who have no back up skill to give them a means of supporting themselves if the income from art is slow. The worst case scenario is a very young person who has never worked anywhere other than McDonald's (minimum wage) then earned an art degree and entered the market with an all or nothing attitude ("I either find a full-time art job paying at least $40K or I'm screwed"). These types of people have the worst art career outcomes. On the other hand you have people like this car mechanic guy I know, excellent freehand artist. He makes 20+ dollars an hour fixing cars while producing artwork as a freelancer. He complains about being a lowly car mechanic but his finances are in good shape. If his art clients told him business is slow and they have no assignments for him it wouldn't be a life-changing event. My literature professor in college in 1999 had to work in a grocery store at a register because his literature teaching position, like most art positions, was only part time and probably without benefits. With so many layoffs and so many jobs disappearing permanently and moving overseas you begin to see increasing numbers of people developing two somewhat related or even completely unrelated careers in parallel to have a higher margin of safey if one of the fields slows down. | |
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