Hey everyone, this is Anne with Graphic Design How To, and today we're going to go over seven
things they don't teach you in graphic design school, or at least they didn't teach me these
things.
So maybe things have changed, and that is great.
But for me, these were the seven things that really surprised
me once I got out into the industry.
So let's get started.
Number 1: The absolutes, the rules that they give you about graphic design, don't always
hold true once you get out there in industry.
And a good example of this is stretching text.
I remember in college they would always say don't stretch the text.
Don't ever do it.
But if you work as a T- shirt designer or something like that, you'll be stretching
text all the time.
I worked as a T-shirt artist for about seven years, and I stretched the text every day.
So when you first get out there and get a job, try not to be too much of a design snob,
and...and just see what everyone else is doing.
And you might have to do those things that you really don't want to do because they seem
so against everything you've been taught.
Number 2: Sometimes the hardest clients aren't actually clients at all.
Sometimes they are internal co-workers, might be the accounts team, or the content team
for giving you lots of feedback on your designs, and that is just fine.
You just need to keep in mind that they are working towards the same end result that you
are, and everybody has a different way of doing that.
So they do have the client's best interest in mind, but I really didn't see that coming
as a new designer that the actual clients were not the only clients when I was designing
things.
Number 3: The amount of changes.
You probably have had to make a lot of changes for your teachers in your design studies.
But just wait till you actually get out there and get real clients.
The amount of changes that I've had to go through with some clients, not all clients
are like this, but some clients really just do not know what they want, and they keep
having you make change after change after change.
And I think at that point, if you're getting frustrated, you need to sit down with a client
and kind of educate them as to why you made the choices you made, and try to convince
them that maybe this isn't something they should be changing over and over again.
Number 4: Graphic designers are pretty competitive.
You probably already noticed this in school.
Everybody sort of tries to, you know, show everyone else up.
Well, it's also like that out in the industry.
I think what you just have to do is learn as much as possible from every designer you
come across, and really try not to compete, and try not to engage in these kind of one
upmanship wars with the egos around you.
Some designers don't have that kind of ego at all, and you'll get along great with them.
Other designers just always want to try to show you up.
I think the best thing to do is just let them do their thing, and you continue to do your
thing and work as hard as you can.
Number 5: Communication and presentation skills are way more important than you will have
ever believed as a student.
I had to take a few public speaking courses in college, and they were super helpful when
I got out there and had to start making presentations, but get as many as you possibly can.
Because you will have to at least sell your ideas to your boss, and maybe a roomful of
your co-workers.
And then also eventually, you'll also start pitching to clients.
And those presentation and speaking skills are so so important.
So get them now while you can.
Number 6: You should be freelancing now as a student way before you ever actually graduate.
This is something I didn't do because I was too afraid.
I thought that nobody would be interested in the skills of a student, and I was afraid
to take people's money, too.
So this is something I wish I had done differently in my journey as a graphic designer is to
just start freelancing as soon as possible.
Keep in mind that these people know you're a student.
They're not going to expect the world from you.
And they're going to pay you as if they are not expecting the world.
So they keep the money low, and they don't expect the best results.
They can't.
You are still a student, you're still learning.
So get out there and freelance as much as possible.
It looks great on a resume to actually have a bunch of real life experience, and not just
your internship, if you're going to get an internship.
And during that whole time, you'll be learning, you'll be growing as a designer, and of course,
that's what we all want to do.
Right?
Number 7: You should always be open to continual learning.
If you ever stop learning, that is a very bad thing for a graphic designer.
We always have to be catching up on trends, learning the new software, and learning to
do different parts of our jobs.
Every single graphic design job I've ever had, and there have been quite a few, are
completely different from each other.
They all have completely different skill sets.
And if I decided to stop learning one day, that would be the death knell.
So keep learning, stay hungry, and just continue to grow as a designer.
Alright, that's my video for this week.
If you liked this video, please click the 'Like' button, and I will see you on Thursday.