- Hello, and welcome to this
beginner's guide series to graphic design.
From what graphic design is,
skills to be a graphic designer, design theory,
education you need, equipment you need,
to the graphic design portfolio and interview advice.
This series is for anyone at any level,
so if you're interested in graphic design
and considering becoming a graphic designer,
then join me as I discuss this series
of graphic design topics.
(upbeat music)
So you're thinking about getting into graphic design,
and you're wondering how to begin.
To start, I would suggest you undertake six key steps,
and I would recommend you do them in the following order.
Step one, learn and research.
Step two, collect.
Step three, be inspired.
Step four, practice.
Step five, seek education.
And step six, apply your skills.
Now these steps can be taken at any stage in your life.
If young, still in school,
and looking to get into graphic design,
you can follow these steps.
If you're older, perhaps you're thinking
about a career change, you can also follow these steps.
In this video, I'm going to talk about step six,
apply your skills.
So after completing all the previous steps,
one through to five,
you should be ready to take the last step.
By step six, you should now be ready to apply your skills
and start looking for jobs in the design industry.
You should not have a portfolio that represents your skills
and a CV to represent your experience
and potential to get your first job.
So at this point, you have a choice
with which direction you want to go in.
Do you want to work full-time, part-time,
or work freelance for yourself or through agents?
Now graduates and newcomers to the industry
typically seek to work full-time.
Full-time offers a more stable position,
where income is regular
and there is a chance to learn from senior designers
and build the experience necessary to progress a career.
At the start of your career, building experience
and gaining industry knowledge is crucial.
So fro this reason, if you're a graduate or newcomer,
I would recommend you seek a full-time role.
Upon graduating, I worked full-time for a number of years.
Not only did I learn a lot from senior designers,
but I learned a lot about how the industry works.
If you can find a design agency
and apply to work there as a designer,
you can get your first step on the ladder.
And at this point, that's what you really want.
From that point on, you will be paid to be a designer
and you will have the opportunity to learn.
If you're graduating,
then you will have a degree and a portfolio of work.
Having that degree and portfolio will help you.
Depending on the job you're applying for
and your level of experience,
you may be looking to apply
for junior to middle-weight roles.
Now if you're not a graduate,
perhaps you're looking for that career change,
you may not have a degree or higher education,
but don't let that stop you.
This may only prevent you from getting more senior roles
in the industry at the start,
but if you have some qualifications
from some evening classes, workshops,
along with some work examples,
this could get you an internship
or into a junior role in the industry.
To get that full-time role,
you may have to attend multiple interviews
and be able to talk confidently about your work.
Sell yourself and compete against others.
Now the other option is to go freelance
for yourself or with agents.
This is a little more risky than full-time,
as work is not as stable.
Working freelance, you will have the challenge
of finding your own clients
and potentially organizing
your own financial administration.
This can be a big burden,
especially when you should be spending
that time learning and being creative.
However, there are benefits to being freelance.
The pay is higher, and if you use agents,
they will find work for you.
Though as a freelancer, you also don't get the time
at an agency to learn from other senior designers.
As a freelancer, you're expected to have senior skills,
with lots of experience to be able
to do a job proficiently and swiftly.
After all, that's why they are paying you
more than a full-time designer.
For this reason, it's common for designers
to become freelance later in their career,
when they become a lot more experienced
and acquire contacts.
I would recommend you spend a few years full-time
to develop your skills, learn about the industry,
make contacts, and become the best you can.
After a few years, you may find yourself ready
to go it alone and go freelance.
To go freelance with agents,
you will have to attend multiple interviews
with various recruitment agencies
to showcase your work and yourself.
They will build a profile of you, of your creative skills,
and your personal qualities and level of experience.
Once they have a profile of you,
they can then offer you to various clients
they have on their books.
To go freelance yourself is a lot harder.
You will have to do all the work yourself.
Find clients, and do all your self-administration.
So whichever path you choose,
from the moment you get your first job,
you will have to apply all the things you have learned.
You will gain vital experience, build a reputation,
and gain contacts which will take you further
into your career as a graphic designer.
In some ways, this is the beginning.
You will be about to embark on a new adventure,
where you will need
to quickly learn a whole new set of skills
that you were probably not taught in school or university.
So that's the sixth and final step
on how to begin as a graphic designer.
Well I hope you enjoyed this video.
If you did, hit the Like button on my Facebook page.
If you'd like to see more videos like this in the future,
hit the Subscribe button.
And you can also find me on Twitter at tastytuts.
So at this point, you're applying your skills
and looking for a job.
Today, there is an abundance of ways
you can find a graphic design job,
both on the internet and offline.
In the next video, I'm going to discuss
and talk about ways you can find a graphic design job,
so see you in the next video.
(upbeat music)