I Wanna Get Back In

[frmfollwsfnkshun]

Ok, here's my deal...

Got a degree in graphic design in 95. came home. didn't get a job right away so i freelanced. typical; right? then got married. had babies and decided to be a somewhat stay at home mom. only doing design work for friends and family. and the occassional word-of-mouth reference that i got from friends and family. small stuff. nothing that required me to deal with printers outside of kinkos. nothing real serious. so now it's damn near a decade later and i want to do real design work. (hopefully for real pay) don't have too much experience. and lookin around, i see that my degree means nothing. all the stuff i learned in college is useless. of course i scoff at all the "new designers" out there. the folks with no design background. just the access to photoshop and are workin like crazy. but who am i to talk? i haven't done anything. my portfolio is so old it's not funny. it's been so long since i've used it, i actually lost it. i was embarrassed at my last job interview when i tried to point to my website (that i did by myself with zero web design experience), and they told me the importance of seeing actual work.

well, anyway, i see that i'm rambling. let me get to the point. i want to be a designer again. does anyone have any advice on where to re-start? i see oodles of advice for the kids who are just getting out there. but i've been out there and went away. i almost feel like i'm behind the fresh outta school kids and the do-it-ur-selfers who practice daily. but i have the passion. i have the foundation. but i'm not up-to-date on many of the proceedures and such. i've been reading books galor. and teaching myself (slowly) to learn some new programs. but i feel i'll do better with real world experience.

[Kool]

Hi frmfollwsfnkshun, welcome to the forum. http://home.comcast.net/~rnick9/koolsmiley.gif

Are you looking to get a job or bump your freelance to a higher level?

[vtwin_gary]

welcome aboard. you posted at kinda a off time. most people are here mon-fri 8-5 (wating time while at work, looking for insperation, getting some help anywho you'll get more replys then but feel free to look around maybe even join in the pajama party. my advise is to fill out those applications & get your resume up to speed & just go for it.

[frmfollwsfnkshun]

right now, i have a pretty good job that i don't want to leave yet. so i would like to go back to freelance if that's possible and build up from there.

[frmfollwsfnkshun]

thanx. i'm gonna keep that in mind.

[reuber1]

Dude, I'm going to have a hard time addressing you in posts. That's one long ass user name.

Welcome, frm!!! Or FFF? Or Form Follows Function? I'm thinkin' frm.

[EC]

welcome fnks! :)

[Broacher]

>>all the stuff i learned in college is useless. of course i scoff at all the "new designers" out there. the folks with no design background<<
>>i have the foundation<<

That's a lot of contradiction. Start by a good inventory of your strengths. Your old port's out of date? Are you sure absolutely sure nothing is salvageable? As you infer, it's the foundation of design that builds a designer, and you should concentrate on showing this. Are you looking for print work? Web? Both? Are you going to be focusing on production heavy or concept heavy work? My guess is that you won't be able to compete with the job hungry in the entry (in your case, re-entry) market. So what are your business strengths? Your networking health? Could you use any of that to help you position or locate a possible partner who would be happy to concentrate more on production? Or who's looking for some real design foundation skill exchange for software training? Is teaching at any level at a local school a possibility?

I think if you can get a half-decent port together that shows you understand design concepts, and you're confident about production basics (even if you don't feel so about the digital end, a press is still, for the most part, a press), then you'd have a good shot at getting some pickup work from a printer or small studio who needs someone with a trained eye and is (maybe) willing to work for less in production picking up what you're missing.

If you're serious about a home-based freelance business, an excellent start would be to buy Jeff Fisher's "The Savvy Designer's Guide". I hear it's excellent and if don't agree-- well, we know where to find him!

[frmfollwsfnkshun]

yeah i'm not good with comin up with user names. sorry. doesn't matter. dude works for me just fine. LOL especially since i'm a gyrl. just use whatever works 4 ya. i can follow.

[frmfollwsfnkshun]

so far i'm a print designer. i feel that i have a good eye for layout and such. i'm not confident of the technical side. that's the part that the college education didn't help me with. i remember learning how to prepare print ready material by hand. cutting rubilith and using wax machines and whatnot.i feel so old.

ok. if u guys don't mind. check out my site and give me your honest opinions.

www.journeycreativedesign.com (http://www.journeycreativedesign.com)

[reuber1]

Rock on, I just saw from your post in the 4 Things thread, and saw you're from Iowa!

I'm actually originally from Illinois myself; Freeport to be more specific. Lived in Iowa for the past too goddamn long.

[tZ]

Ok I'm just going to cut straight to the chase.

Your portfolio has alot of padding that actually begins to hurt you more so then help.

For instance, your CD covers are poor and don't really show and logic beyond the computer.

Alot of your logos are the same. They are a bit better, but, many of them just need to be forgotten.

Same is true with your flyers andbusiness cards.

The amount of poor work you have within your padding almost begins to devalue the rest of your work.

Now the good part.

However, much of your work is quite damn strong.

For instance, the brouchures are very nice. Your boruchures and annual report really begin to show knowledge and high level of expertise in execution.

I would have to say that all your brouchures besides for maybe the last one are very well done and strong pieces by which to represent your skill. So keep all them in your portfolio- minus the last one perhaps.

Your annual report is nice. definatly keep that.

Your CD covers show know knowledge beyond the computer so I wouls just get rid of them and forget they exist. Cause your brouchures and annual report are about 100 times more sucessfull then so CD covers- maybe more. The CD covers just look like they were thrown together without much logic. While, the brouchures look very well planned and executed. So just do yourself a favor and get rid of the CD covers- not needed.

As for the logos. Again, alot of padding. Your parrot productions logo is the strongest- by far. The only thing I would considewr doing is displaying it in black in white or one or two colors. The gradient is really killing the ture buetty and ingeniosy behind the design- which is excellent. So either display it in b/w or one color.

As for the rest. I would have to say the alliance JT one could work. Its not as good as the parrot productions one but, it works and is all not that bad.

The one with the wings is cool. However, it has no purpose. Its more like an illustration or something. If you could find a name associated with that design and truly make it a logo that would also be a very strong piece.

As for all the rest of the logos I would say scrap them. Maybe, keep the telca one if you need to but, its not really to sucessfull when you start comparing it to the ladder. maybe if yyou got it to the point it was in b/w and type was easier to read (lagrer) but, as it stands I'm not going to say its one that I would show. Cause the parrot productions logo is quite nice and when I see that telca logo and the rest that I didn't mention they begin to devalue the quality of your sucessfull pieces cause they are really not all that good- in all honesty. However, the ones that are sucessfull show a very high leel of expertise and is enough to communicate you have the skill without the additional sub par and below you have displayed on the site currently.

As for the business cards. I don't think any of them are helping your cause. When I look at your annual reports and brouchures I think wow this perosn knows how to design. Then I see those business cards and think- ick- especially, true with those CD covers- as if the brouchures and CD covers were designed by two different people almost. One an amatuer and one a well establshed and knowledgable pro.

The only business card I would keep is perhaps the Bryon L. Taylor one. That one is interesting. So if you want I would keep that.

As for the flyers. They are all the same. However, the last one with all the typography is really quite nice. That is definatly and by far the strongest. So keep that and forget about the rest. Cause they rest just look very amature and dictated by software. Where as, the one for Charles Reckin Fish looks nicly and intellignetly executed regardless of the software being a factor- with the understanding of typography and all.

So in the end definatly start minimilizing the portfolio. Your work right now shows high contrast in skill level. Some of it is great and some of it is very poor. So rmember a portfolio is to show your best work and you have enough work that is very well done to present it without the use of padding. Which in this case is hurting more so then helping the cause.

The brouchures and annual report are very quite nice though.

As for the site in general.

I would have to say I think your sucessfull work is strong enough to be displayed simplisticly and have a more poswerfull presence then right now. maybe just use a white background with buttons and all. Since, your not going for web design just make a nice clean looking site. rather then resorting to amatuer photoshop tricks. Cause your sucessfull work is much stronger then that and having your site design reflect that of a somwhat amatuer designer only begins to devalue the work within. So minimilize it.

There are some links on here some where to some nicly designed sites that are just basically navagation and maybe a bit more. However, the work is strong enough that a complex site design isn't really needed- with the gradient and images and all.

Hopefully, I wasn't offensive in anyway, just trying to exaggerate my opinion- that you have some very nice work but, at the same time your showing alot of work that is very poor and it just need to go. Cause your sucessfull work is quite damn good- make your potential emplyer remember that- rather then those CD covers. You definatly have enough good and even great work to do so.

One last thing is I would recommend increasing the size of the images of the portfolio work you do show. The logos are fine at that size however, the broucures and annual report designs should prombanly be a bit larger.

Other then that good luck.

Edit:

In regards to the brouchurs I meant the third one in is prombably your least sucessfull. The last one is great.

[Broacher]

i don't find a lot of confidence, technical or otherwise on your site. and the 'artist's statement' -- a dead giveaway on priorities.

Sorry to be blunt, but if I was a potential client, would I really care at all about your 'creative journey'? No. To the client, the creative journey is the trip you take to get to their office to present your proposal drafts. Graphic design is principally a business between a creative person's skills, and a business person's communication objectives.

Honestly, your site actually makes me squirm with the degree to which it seems to call up every one of the stereotypic 'BFA' attitudes: the priority of personal artistic expression over design objective; the 'tone' of discussing your artistic goals (in the third person yet!) and why this makes me you superior to those who merely "master the graphic tools". [sigh] It's all so art school prima donna.

"That’s why I love art; that instant gratification of having your work visualized right in front of you. But you mustn’t forget what it took to get there.”

I think in your case, maybe you should reconsider a little more forgetting about why you love art, and remember why clients come to creatives in the first place. So yes, forget what it took to get where you are. Start to learn about what it takes to get there, not as an artist, but as a designer. A lot of that journey, most of it, to tell the truth-- is less about art and more about craft. That's what we sell.

Crassly commercial? You bet. Devoid of personal creative expression opportunity? Most of the time. Disrespectful of the creative's power of imagination and superior visual skills and experience? Cash heals all wounds. Or most of 'em.

Graphic design is much more part of the real world. It's the professional gutter as far as pro creative technical jobs go. You win some, you lose some. But you always learn some too. There's no 'certification' or degree that will guarantee great results, or happy customers. It's full of all sorts of nasty imitators, thiefs, undercutters, and so-called clients hiding behind exploitative minefields.

I think if you're serious about joining the 'gutter ranks' of the working graphic designer, you'd do a lot better to invest your worry in updating your attitude towards that world than worrying about your lack of current production skills.

As cruel as it may sound, you asked for an honest opinion and I think it comes down to this: it's time to get real, or get left behind.

[frmfollwsfnkshun]

not from iowa. from illinois. just went to iowa for school and stayed there for a bit after i graduated.

[frmfollwsfnkshun]

thank u so much for your input. i'm in the process of tearing the site down altogether and putting up something new. to be honest with u, i don't even look at my site. so i guess that tells u how i feel about it. LOL sad. i'm not offended. u'r being honest. i need that. folks not being honest has led me to keep the stuff that i have. and truthfully, i have most of that stuff up cuz it's all i've done and i just wanted some "stuff". bad, i know. pure acts of desperation. thanx. i'll have to go over what u wrote a couple more times to process it all. ...

[frmfollwsfnkshun]

i actually hear your message behind the cruelness. however, any comments about the work itself?

[reuber1]

not from iowa. from illinois. just went to iowa for school and stayed there for a bit after i graduated.OK, got it.

[Broacher]

Cruel to be kind here.

The work? You know, I like a lot of sub-components of what I'm seeing. I mean that sincerely-- there's some definite character to a lot of your stuff. It's just that in too many instances, it really looks like you're force injectng that character into the pieces at the expense of the whole design itself. It's like you're struggling so hard to be different, that you're missing asking the other questions, like: does it still work? Is it still readable? Balanced?

Typographically, there's some relatively bold experimenting -- something that's become almost extinct these days! Kudos for that. But I'd have to agree with almost everything else tZ said (I would probably by meaner when it came to the brochures and annuals though). Weed out the cliche mediocrity, tighten and refine the most effective pieces. Not that I don't appreciate the fine art approach, but too often I see it applied as a cure to mediocre photography resouces and/or lack of production skills.

Some of your CD cover work reminded me of that. Interesting concept/colour/layout perhaps, but if the photo was crappy to start-- fix it, or find another.

As to the site itself -- again, a lot of good remarks from tZ. And a complete rewrite to severely reduce the copy-- which itself, needs to reflect and support just the business facst, and nix the art theory. Find and polish your pearls, and design a better setting to display them. Thanks for not being too offended by my frankness. Epidermal density being such a prereq to design survival and all, it's a very good sign.

[frmfollwsfnkshun]

well i will admit i didn't like what was said. but i do keep a level head and am able to think clearly and analyze what's really there. i also know that crap is crap. i'm no dummy. i did what i could when i could. i shouldn't have put it up in the site tho'. LOL but hey, sometimes a chick is just geeked to have something. i tried hard not to post explanations for why some of the shit that i have in there is there. cuz that's really irrelevant. but i know what's there. so i'm not gonna get mad cuz someone spots it too. unfortunately (or fortunately) the people that i've dealt with haven't cared. they think the stuff is great. i give them more of it and they pay me for it. and i've been fine. i came to GDF because i've gotten stuck in that stuff. the things on my site span from some of my first projects to my most recent (this year) and it's clear that there's a serious drop off in quality. due to laziness and desire to just do something. anything. so i'm here to elevate myself. hopefully. i've literally had zero interaction with people in the design world. so it's all about to change.

[Broacher]

>>i came to GDF because i've gotten stuck in that stuff. the things on my site span from some of my first projects to my most recent (this year) and it's clear that there's a serious drop off in quality. due to laziness and desire to just do something. anything. so i'm here to elevate myself. hopefully. i've literally had zero interaction with people in the design world. so it's all about to change.<<

I really like your attitude. But frankly, in my opinion, critical frankness is not just undervalued here, it's socially taboo. And from my years as a graphic design forum hopping gadfly, I know that there are good reasons for this. It can get very volatile, very quickly. But that's true of anything worthy of risk. Sometimes I wonder what kind of world we would now be living in if all the people who put social conformity in front of critical discussion were in charge of all things innovative. Marketing is a battle. If the sight of creative blood makes you faint, stay away.

That said, there are not a lot of healthy on-line alternatives. I used to be a big regular over on the HOW magazine forum. The crit section there has some real gems worth reading in the archives-- though, since I'm a recovering HOWaholic, I don't get there that much, anymore-- so I don't know what shape the actual crits are in there anymore. Overall though, the level of usable, detailed, frankness there was one of the best (in my opinion). The toughest thing about achieving a healthy, helpful crit section has never been attracting well-qualified designers or creative directors--it's been keeping them there. Too many people are so easily offended and misread criticism of the work as criticism of the worker. And of course, there's always the idiots. Any serious discussion heat seems to attract these like starving roaches to the kitchen garbage. Why don't the more experienced people take more time to explain their opinions? And that's another problem-- everyone seems to demand more time to explain all the details of a critical comment than actually trying to work it out for themselves.

>>unfortunately (or fortunately) the people that i've dealt with haven't cared<<

It's almost always 'unfortunately', in my opinion. As an in-houser, I find that it's dangerously easy to fall into the trap of mistaking client contentment with design success. It's great that you recognize this for what it is. To grow beyond the client's expectation requires more than bravado-- it requires teaching/selling them the idea that a better solution is worth striving for, and that they're part of that striving process.

Good luck!

[frmfollwsfnkshun]

criticism is hard to swallow. but no one can get better without it. i'm always eager to improve. hell, i'd love to have a mentor for a while. and no, i don't want anyone to just tell me that my stuff sucks and i'll suck it up and walk away like it's cool. i do need explanations or else it's just being mean for no damn reason. that's counterproductive.

right now, i'm meeting people who are starting out just like me. and i benefit from their "just do it" attitude and no critique. but at the same time, i question "what exactly are we doing?". they don't think about it. just get work and get the check is all i see. and i know, u'v said it b4, that that's the real world. but i do have a hard time letting go of the desire to have something to be proud of.