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 and any level.
So if you're interested in graphic design
and considering becoming a graphic designer,
then join me as I discuss a series of graphic design topics.
(upbeat music)
So you're thinking about getting into graphic design,
and you're wondering what qualifications
will you need to enter into the industry.
Now if you're young,
between the age of 11 and 20, still at school,
and thinking of becoming a graphic designer,
you may be wondering what do I need
to get into the industry?
What qualifications do I need?
And what grades do I need?
Now if you're a little older
and you're thinking of a career change,
you may also be wondering what experience do I need?
Do I need a college degree?
So all these are good and important questions.
Now in most cases, when seeking a graphic design job,
it does not matter where you have been,
where you have studied, what subjects you undertook,
or what grades you have or how old you are.
Most of the time, the one thing that will get you a job
in graphic design is your portfolio.
Your job as a graphic designer is to be creative,
and you are looking to get paid to creatively problem solve.
Someone is going to pay you to do work for them,
and the only way they can be assured
you're the person for the job
is by looking at what you have already done
and what you can do for them.
I have been in the industry for over 10 years now,
and I have never been asked where I studied
and what grades I have had.
So if you are looking to get into the design industry,
your first priority is to build yourself a portfolio
to showcase your ability.
If you can demonstrate you have done a variety of work
along with some examples of your design process,
this will be attractive to an employer
especially if an employer has
a particular creative job in mind you have done before.
If you can demonstrate you have done work
with successful and high-quality results,
that will be very impressive.
Now one typically starts to generate a portfolio
at college and university which upon graduated,
one can use at interviews to get a job.
Now if you're older and have not
attended any creative course,
you can develop your portfolio personally.
So the first main qualification you will need
is your portfolio.
I will be talking more about the portfolio
in a future episode of this series in episode 33.
Now the portfolio, in my opinion,
is the most important qualification,
but some may argue that experience is more significant.
I have been to so many interviews
only to be told that I have not been given the job
because the other applicant had more experience than I did.
Experience is something that becomes more and more relevant
as you begin to apply yourself
to more senior positions in the industry.
Experience is what will be looked for
and scrutinized as you apply for jobs
such as where you studied.
Some art schools may have a good reputation
for having good courses and producing good designers.
If you find yourself competing
with other graduate designers,
then this and your degree can give you the edge.
You will find that this is only relevant
when you're fresh out of school.
You don't have any prior experience,
and you're applying for a graduate job.
As you become more and more senior
and gain experience in the industry,
this will become irrelevant.
Who you have worked for.
As you apply yourself to senior roles,
you will find who you have worked for
will become more relevant.
If you can say you have worked
for some well-known agencies and clients,
this can be impressive and install confidence.
References.
If you can provide positive references
from people you have worked with or for,
this will highly improve your chances of getting work.
The more, the better.
What jobs you have done.
Now employers will be looking for you
to do a specific creative job
or perhaps a range of creative jobs.
If you can demonstrate you have done a variety of work,
this will be attractive to an employer.
Awards you have won.
This is really a bonus.
If you can claim to have won any particular awards,
this will add to your credibility.
Your skills and talents.
This can be anything from your communication skills,
your software skills, to your design process.
If you can talk about your work and your design process,
show that you're methodical, efficient, and swift
at bringing your work to life, this can be very attractive.
This is where you can stand out from others.
So those are some experience points
that will be looked for by potential employers.
Graphic design can be a very competitive industry.
Sometimes it can come down to experience
on who gets the job.
So your experience comes in the form of a CV.
What you will find is when you apply for a job,
you will send over your portfolio,
your CV, and any references.
The CV is a representation
of your professional persona and experience.
If the portfolio is a showcase of your work and talent,
then the CV is a showcase of your experience,
personality, and personal qualities.
The CV will predominantly be an introduction
to yourself, your key skills,
and a list of who you have worked for and what you did.
I'll be talking more about the CV
in a future episode of this series in episode 35.
So the main qualifications you will need
to enter into the graphic design industry
is a portfolio of work and experience in the form of a CV.
Now these two qualifications remain crucial
throughout your entire graphic design career.
As you gain more experience and create more work,
you will find yourself having to constantly update them
to get better jobs in future.
So what do you think?
Do you agree that the portfolio is more important?
Or do you think experience is key?
Let me know what you think in the comments below.
If you would like to take a closer look
at the list I have discussed in this video,
you can find out more in the PDF document
that accompanies this video series.
Link is in the description.
Well I hope you enjoyed this video.
If you did, hit the like button on my Facebook page.
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hit the subscribe button,
and you can also follow me on Twitter and TastyTuts.
So that concludes section two of this series,
considering a career in graphic design.
Now we are going to move on to section three
where you can learn how to become a graphic designer.
In the first video of that section,
I'm going to discuss the typical equipment
you will need to become a graphic designer.
So see you in the next video.