Graphic Design Strut
SalamiFingaz
21 Posts
Being that theres on occasional design related post on here every once in a while i wanted to seek experienced designers on here and ask for 
In June Itll be a year that I graduated from the all might Art Institute with my Bachelors ''receipt'' in Graphic design/fine arts. I graduated hoping to get a position where id be doing creative/ inspiring work full time, aren't we all? But i keep getting these jobs that im being utilized as a production tool, Dont get me wrong at my current position( Marketing Firm) I do get the occasional creative freedom for some projects and the people are great but its not projects id envision myself ever involved in. The day to day work is very boring and not challenging at all.Mocking up promotional products,airbrushing,placing logos. 
PM me and I can explain.I always wanted to build my professional portfolio at an agency where Id work under an Art Director where I would learn things to push myself but the positions I keep having to get to make ends meet are not heading me in that direction. Adrian Shaughnessy states that there is no wrong first job in ''How to Be a Graphic Designer: Without Losing Your Soul '' (great read) as a designer but im anxious to get my hands on some real projects. Branding, Ads, Posters, Album covers. Yunno the things that inspired us all in the first place.Im basically looking for some guidance, im becoming a bit discouraged about it all. But not at all thinking of quitting, I cant expect to get the dream job after year or even 5. Talk about your experiences and struggles to where you are now. I have alot to learn from you guys. How many designers are actually on here? is this a 
or 
cricket:
In June Itll be a year that I graduated from the all might Art Institute with my Bachelors ''receipt'' in Graphic design/fine arts. I graduated hoping to get a position where id be doing creative/ inspiring work full time, aren't we all? But i keep getting these jobs that im being utilized as a production tool, Dont get me wrong at my current position( Marketing Firm) I do get the occasional creative freedom for some projects and the people are great but its not projects id envision myself ever involved in. The day to day work is very boring and not challenging at all.Mocking up promotional products,airbrushing,placing logos. PM me and I can explain.I always wanted to build my professional portfolio at an agency where Id work under an Art Director where I would learn things to push myself but the positions I keep having to get to make ends meet are not heading me in that direction. Adrian Shaughnessy states that there is no wrong first job in ''How to Be a Graphic Designer: Without Losing Your Soul '' (great read) as a designer but im anxious to get my hands on some real projects. Branding, Ads, Posters, Album covers. Yunno the things that inspired us all in the first place.Im basically looking for some guidance, im becoming a bit discouraged about it all. But not at all thinking of quitting, I cant expect to get the dream job after year or even 5. Talk about your experiences and struggles to where you are now. I have alot to learn from you guys. How many designers are actually on here? is this a or cricket:
Comments
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Fields where freelancing is especially common include journalism and other forms of writing, copywriting, computer programming and graphic design, consulting, and many other professional and creative services.
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lol
welcome to the real world. you gotta start somewhere, and to "them" you're just right out of college. sorry to say it, but i don't know too many people that got "killer" jobs right out of college. everyone i know that has a good gig has been 10 years deep in the game, and my younger friends just freelance their ass off on illustrations for the new york times.
it's one of those careers that YOU must build on. my dad worked his ass off to get where he got, and he was still going until his stroke a few years ago.
i never developed my talents into a career, but i freelance here and there. and currently i've been working on a website for the past 6 or so hours and finally went to get something to eat.
bleh, okay...everyone else complain/rave...
Everybody else get ya 2 cents in
i decided to not go to art school and save $$,$$$ and figure it out on my own. getting fired from my liquor store gig was my starting point. after two years, i have a pretty solid workflow coming at me and i only see it growing,
my suggestion is to ask everybody you know if they know anyone that needs some work done -- my first projects were things for a friends, a friends mom, a former coworker of a friend, etc.
I've worked as a designer ever since, but the companies I've found myself at haven't utilised my skillsets or inspired me in the slightest...
I've done a fair amount of freelance design work over the years, but it's always been at mates-rates, so it was never a viable option for me to quit my 9-5... In those cases I saw the jobs (mostly design work in the music scene - where I really wanted to work) as a way of making links and hook-ups, but an unexpected relocation deaded most of those links...
Right now, more than ever I need to be in a regular job, plus I need to have been there for a while as I'm sorting out a mortgage and the wife and I are trying for kids... This is stopping me from persuing any other career options...
I am, however doing my best to step into the illustration scene as an extracuricular thing...
Currently I'm jaded with my career...
Sorry for the wrist-slittingly depressing response to your thread... I feel your pain and I'm 10 years deep...
My advice is to constantly be looking, constantly be building your portfolio, and do your own projects to fulfill what your work isn't feeding you. Send me a portfolio site, I'd love to see it.
making candles man
Now can we please turn this into a JPG-fest? I wanna see some damn design work!
Here are some thangs I've been doing lately...
CD cover for shitty rapper:
Here's a couple of my recent dayjob projects:
And some personal DJ-oriented stuff:
been trying to do more projects rather than my own..
i've also been making shirts lately
Wow, did they ever put this out with your cover, or on vinyl?
nice, where can I cop all four?
also if you want to stay up to date with shit i might do that is not related to the label check out: blizzanthra.blogspot.com
I have been doing web site design for almost 10 years and just recently have been doing print design... mostly book covers for the company I work for and cover art for software. It's not the indie hip hop glamor job... but work pays for all kinds of toys (Macbook Pro, G5, 30" Apple Cinema Display). I have fun.
Here's some of the work I have done:
thx, copped 3!
I don't think doing indie hip hop is that glamourous.
Cosign... it's the indie hip hop design job that FYBS and I are collaborating on right now that's making me want to
my
out.
Oh and Dollarbin, the LP jackets are printed and are being die-cut right now. We'll have them back this week and they should be ready for sale soon! Check http://standuprecords.com to find out the details!
M
It was a joke.
It's all good though. I gave it all up to sell records and now I have a big house, money, chicks, my own jet, never-ending hip hop pool parties, etc, etc.