2 answers
Ella
Student
Elk River, Minnesota
1
Question
Asked
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What are the classes I should take in high school if I wanna do graphic design when I'm older?
Is there any good classes to take in high school if I want to be a graphic designer?
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2 answers
Dexter Arver
Senior Manager, Web Applications
232
Answers
San Jose, California
Updated
Dexter’s Answer
Hi Ella,
I think the best classes to focus on in high school for graphics design are the following:
* Art — I think art classes will teach you the fundamentals of design. I remember in my high school art class, our final project was to make a comic, and the lessons I learned from that about flow and tracking the viewer's eyes are things that I still use when I design things to this day.
* Geometry — In graphics design, you end up working with lots of different shapes and the manipulation of them. Geometry will give you a great start with them.
* Programming — I'm not sure if your school offers this, but it might be worth taking. If you end up becoming a front-end web developer (which is a job that's under the graphics design umbrella), you'll want to know how to code at least CSS/HTML, if not Javascript.
Outside of these courses, I also recommend that you start volunteering to be the graphics designer in your high school. I hope you can get lots of practice designing various posters, yearbooks, school mascot refreshes, school logo design, etc. It'll help you discover what you enjoy most about graphics design, and will help you narrow down to your specialty.
I hope this was helpful and I wish you the best!
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Dexter
I think the best classes to focus on in high school for graphics design are the following:
* Art — I think art classes will teach you the fundamentals of design. I remember in my high school art class, our final project was to make a comic, and the lessons I learned from that about flow and tracking the viewer's eyes are things that I still use when I design things to this day.
* Geometry — In graphics design, you end up working with lots of different shapes and the manipulation of them. Geometry will give you a great start with them.
* Programming — I'm not sure if your school offers this, but it might be worth taking. If you end up becoming a front-end web developer (which is a job that's under the graphics design umbrella), you'll want to know how to code at least CSS/HTML, if not Javascript.
Outside of these courses, I also recommend that you start volunteering to be the graphics designer in your high school. I hope you can get lots of practice designing various posters, yearbooks, school mascot refreshes, school logo design, etc. It'll help you discover what you enjoy most about graphics design, and will help you narrow down to your specialty.
I hope this was helpful and I wish you the best!
--
Dexter
Andrew Soto
1
Answer
Rock Hill, South Carolina
Updated
Andrew’s Answer
Hi Ella,
I see in your profile you live in the Elk River area. I would look to take courses at your school district's Career Center https://www.isd728.org/Page/4883 which has courses in Graphic Design and other Commercial Art. This will get your a head start on figuring out if you want to continue your study of this college after high school.
I am a CTE teacher who teaches in this field and most CTE teachers like myself came from the industry they teach, so you will learn from people who actually do what you're interested.
Try to sign up for classes in Graphic Design at your school district's CTE center https://www.isd728.org/Page/4883
I see in your profile you live in the Elk River area. I would look to take courses at your school district's Career Center https://www.isd728.org/Page/4883 which has courses in Graphic Design and other Commercial Art. This will get your a head start on figuring out if you want to continue your study of this college after high school.
I am a CTE teacher who teaches in this field and most CTE teachers like myself came from the industry they teach, so you will learn from people who actually do what you're interested.
Andrew recommends the following next steps: