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Vandi
Student
1
Question
Asked
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Which courses should I take for a career in design?
I am a class 12 student interested in a career in creative work, preferably digital. I want a course that opens up good job prospects
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2 answers
Slate Simmonds
Art Director & Brand Designer
2
Answers
Richmond, Virginia
Updated
Slate’s Answer
Hi Vandi,
It sounds like you're looking for courses that you can take prior to starting university correct? As a professional designer of 8 years focused on branding and digital design, I have a few recommendations for you. These are things that helped myself and others I know in the industry quite a bit.
1. Be a self-initiated learner. Any specific interests that you have, begin to dive into them. Through resources like YouTube, you can learn so much about very specific (and very broad) aspects of design. Since you're interested in digital design specifically, learning the different types of digital design (visual, UI/UX, web design, advertising design, etc) will be helpful to help you narrow down what you may want to focus on.
2. Use tools like goodbrief.io, fakeclients.com, brandbrief.io, or even ChatGPT to generate project ideas. This can help you learn what a design brief entails, specifications that clients may ask for, and what to expect in terms of deliverables (final design product). Reddit (r/design_critiques) has a great community of designers that are happy to give constructive feedback on your work. Tools like SkillShare can provide additional knowledge and learning's in more specific areas of design, once you have an idea of where you think you'd like to go with your design career.
3. Create, iterate, repeat, and initiate as many design projects and ideas as you can. If you're really enjoying designing websites, then keep learning to design websites. If you're loving motion design, then keep learning motion design. The more self-initiated projects that you create and explore, the more honed in your personal design direction will become. Remember, that your design style, focus, and preferences will very likely change over time, and that is a good thing! Just a sign of growth as a designer!
4. Websites like itsnicethat.com, eyeondesign.aiga.com, and godly.website (among others) will give you an incredible insight into current design trends and are a fantastic source of inspiration. I frequent these sites nearly everyday and still reap the benefits from them!
5. Please take the time to learn about the history of graphic design and visual communication. This is not too often taught in degree programs but will give you such a great foundation in your design journey. I'll link a video below. This is an essential part of design as it'll teach you where the basic principles of graphic and digital design began, and the journey that the industry has been on since. Your place within the industry will reflect where the design industry is as a whole.
6. Seek mentorship from designers that you admire. Reach out to and email design studios, designers, and agencies that you admire. We love to hear from people that seek our wisdom and knowledge. Do not be afraid to share your practice work with other designers as we all started somewhere. My university work is nowhere near the level of my work nowadays, and that is the way it should be. You should always seek to improve your skillset and work while ensuring that you're still having fun. It's an important balance of the two and you'll know when you find that balance in your own work.
7. Cultivate and create a digital portfolio of work. Use tools like Behance or Dribble to find, follow, and share your work. Avoid stressing too much about sharing work on social media like Instagram. Keep creating, learning, taking advice from others, and exploring what you discover your passions to be. Additionally, a strong portfolio will very much increase your chances of getting into more sought after design/art schools.
8. If university is on your mind, I would highly suggest searching for schools with a strong focus on visual communications, art, and design. I'm not sure where you're located, but there are great universities all over that will provide an excellent education in design. In all honesty, I feel I learned more about design on my own following my university experience than I did in school. University is an incredible experience for learning, social skills, responsibility, fun (yes, fun), and making great connections, but it is by no means a replacement for the motivation, love, and passion to becoming a digital designer. Those things can really only be created by yourself and your experiences.
9. In terms of classes that your primary school may offer, I would suggest as many art classes as possible, color theory, drawing, sketching, digital art, ceramics, etc. These classes will all help guide you and your creative mind into the realm of creativity and visual design.
I know that there is a lot of information here, but do know that all of these things are important and can be explored at your own pace. Throughout my studies, I could have only dreamt of having resources and insight like this. Take your time to dive into these things and do step back if you're feeling overwhelmed.
The most important thing is to have fun with learning to design. Make silly things. Be weird with your work. And take life itself as inspiration for the designs that you create. You can do anything that you want And you will do everything that you want.
Cheers,
Slate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WONZVnlam6U&list=PLYfCBK8IplO4E2sXtdKMVpKJZRBEoMvpn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQS7wPujL2k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiKebTS_dy0&list=PLrBYXQxOMe9sFxeN_n2ao1hRFVpC9puU9
https://www.youtube.com/@FluxAcademy
https://www.youtube.com/@SatoriGraphics
It sounds like you're looking for courses that you can take prior to starting university correct? As a professional designer of 8 years focused on branding and digital design, I have a few recommendations for you. These are things that helped myself and others I know in the industry quite a bit.
1. Be a self-initiated learner. Any specific interests that you have, begin to dive into them. Through resources like YouTube, you can learn so much about very specific (and very broad) aspects of design. Since you're interested in digital design specifically, learning the different types of digital design (visual, UI/UX, web design, advertising design, etc) will be helpful to help you narrow down what you may want to focus on.
2. Use tools like goodbrief.io, fakeclients.com, brandbrief.io, or even ChatGPT to generate project ideas. This can help you learn what a design brief entails, specifications that clients may ask for, and what to expect in terms of deliverables (final design product). Reddit (r/design_critiques) has a great community of designers that are happy to give constructive feedback on your work. Tools like SkillShare can provide additional knowledge and learning's in more specific areas of design, once you have an idea of where you think you'd like to go with your design career.
3. Create, iterate, repeat, and initiate as many design projects and ideas as you can. If you're really enjoying designing websites, then keep learning to design websites. If you're loving motion design, then keep learning motion design. The more self-initiated projects that you create and explore, the more honed in your personal design direction will become. Remember, that your design style, focus, and preferences will very likely change over time, and that is a good thing! Just a sign of growth as a designer!
4. Websites like itsnicethat.com, eyeondesign.aiga.com, and godly.website (among others) will give you an incredible insight into current design trends and are a fantastic source of inspiration. I frequent these sites nearly everyday and still reap the benefits from them!
5. Please take the time to learn about the history of graphic design and visual communication. This is not too often taught in degree programs but will give you such a great foundation in your design journey. I'll link a video below. This is an essential part of design as it'll teach you where the basic principles of graphic and digital design began, and the journey that the industry has been on since. Your place within the industry will reflect where the design industry is as a whole.
6. Seek mentorship from designers that you admire. Reach out to and email design studios, designers, and agencies that you admire. We love to hear from people that seek our wisdom and knowledge. Do not be afraid to share your practice work with other designers as we all started somewhere. My university work is nowhere near the level of my work nowadays, and that is the way it should be. You should always seek to improve your skillset and work while ensuring that you're still having fun. It's an important balance of the two and you'll know when you find that balance in your own work.
7. Cultivate and create a digital portfolio of work. Use tools like Behance or Dribble to find, follow, and share your work. Avoid stressing too much about sharing work on social media like Instagram. Keep creating, learning, taking advice from others, and exploring what you discover your passions to be. Additionally, a strong portfolio will very much increase your chances of getting into more sought after design/art schools.
8. If university is on your mind, I would highly suggest searching for schools with a strong focus on visual communications, art, and design. I'm not sure where you're located, but there are great universities all over that will provide an excellent education in design. In all honesty, I feel I learned more about design on my own following my university experience than I did in school. University is an incredible experience for learning, social skills, responsibility, fun (yes, fun), and making great connections, but it is by no means a replacement for the motivation, love, and passion to becoming a digital designer. Those things can really only be created by yourself and your experiences.
9. In terms of classes that your primary school may offer, I would suggest as many art classes as possible, color theory, drawing, sketching, digital art, ceramics, etc. These classes will all help guide you and your creative mind into the realm of creativity and visual design.
I know that there is a lot of information here, but do know that all of these things are important and can be explored at your own pace. Throughout my studies, I could have only dreamt of having resources and insight like this. Take your time to dive into these things and do step back if you're feeling overwhelmed.
The most important thing is to have fun with learning to design. Make silly things. Be weird with your work. And take life itself as inspiration for the designs that you create. You can do anything that you want And you will do everything that you want.
Cheers,
Slate
Slate recommends the following next steps:
Michelle M.
Entertainment Industry
1913
Answers
Updated
Michelle’s Answer
Hello, Vandi !
You are not alone - we all want good job prospects no matter which field of work we go into. But with some advice, you may want to take an important path towards your goal.
My advice is that you start out by going to college and obtaining your Bachelors Degree in Graphic Design. I have left a link below to some schools that you can consider for this. Also look into your local colleges and see if they offer this degree and decide where you'd like to attend by reading their course offerings, tuition and requirements.
I advise in person on campus study for this as opposed to on line remote because you will need to have the experience of interacting with the professors, classmates and campus staff and organizations which will better prepare you for a good opportunity. Through being on campus, you may even find out about some good projects to work on before you even get your degree. You want to build your resume and portfolio as much as you can and the in-person experience will help move you toward this better than an online experience.
The on line part of this could be if you wanted some tutorial in a specific technique or style or if you would like to become certified in a specific aspect, that would be fine to do on line.
Start doing projects now if you haven't been doing so already. Create both a website and a hard copy book portfolio of your work. Start thinking about a resume, too. If you know how to build websites already, offer to make one for friends and family and count any design or graphic work you do on your resume, whether it is a paid project or not.
When you apply for financial aid for college, be sure to check Work Study on the application so that you can work in the graphic design department of your school. Additional advice and details about this can be obtained at the financial aid office and graphic design office at the school you go to. Take advantage of every opportunity.
As a graphic design major, the courses you will have to take for your degree will be available at the colleges websites. You'll have to take general ed required courses in order to graduate and than there will be your major courses and schools vary a bit, so it's good to read and compare and choose the college program you like best. Some of the courses you may see being needed as a graphic arts major would be 3D Graphics, Animation, Art, Computer Aided Design, Drawing, Photography, Web Design and more.
I hope that this was helpful and I wish you all the best in your plans to become a Graphic Designer !
GRAPHIC DESIGN DEGREES IN AMERICA https://www.niche.com/colleges/search/best-colleges-with-graphic-design/
CERTIFICATIONS ON LINE FOR GRAPHICS https://www.sessions.edu/certificate-programs/graphic-design/
You are not alone - we all want good job prospects no matter which field of work we go into. But with some advice, you may want to take an important path towards your goal.
My advice is that you start out by going to college and obtaining your Bachelors Degree in Graphic Design. I have left a link below to some schools that you can consider for this. Also look into your local colleges and see if they offer this degree and decide where you'd like to attend by reading their course offerings, tuition and requirements.
I advise in person on campus study for this as opposed to on line remote because you will need to have the experience of interacting with the professors, classmates and campus staff and organizations which will better prepare you for a good opportunity. Through being on campus, you may even find out about some good projects to work on before you even get your degree. You want to build your resume and portfolio as much as you can and the in-person experience will help move you toward this better than an online experience.
The on line part of this could be if you wanted some tutorial in a specific technique or style or if you would like to become certified in a specific aspect, that would be fine to do on line.
Start doing projects now if you haven't been doing so already. Create both a website and a hard copy book portfolio of your work. Start thinking about a resume, too. If you know how to build websites already, offer to make one for friends and family and count any design or graphic work you do on your resume, whether it is a paid project or not.
When you apply for financial aid for college, be sure to check Work Study on the application so that you can work in the graphic design department of your school. Additional advice and details about this can be obtained at the financial aid office and graphic design office at the school you go to. Take advantage of every opportunity.
As a graphic design major, the courses you will have to take for your degree will be available at the colleges websites. You'll have to take general ed required courses in order to graduate and than there will be your major courses and schools vary a bit, so it's good to read and compare and choose the college program you like best. Some of the courses you may see being needed as a graphic arts major would be 3D Graphics, Animation, Art, Computer Aided Design, Drawing, Photography, Web Design and more.
I hope that this was helpful and I wish you all the best in your plans to become a Graphic Designer !
Michelle recommends the following next steps: