I’ve watched the design industry evolve over a lifetime. You’ve clearly developed a visual style and have technical confidence. However, I want to give you a serious reality check about the professional design landscape you’re considering.
Right now, the market is flooded with design graduates, and there are far fewer open positions than there are applicants. Furthermore, generative AI tools are rapidly changing the industry. The entry-level production jobs that used to serve as stepping stones for recent grads are shrinking fast.
Because of this, banking your entire future on a highly specialized, experimental niche like the one in your portfolio is incredibly risky. If that specific internet subculture loses relevance — or if an AI can automate that aesthetic filter in ten years — you could be left without a marketable skill set.
If you are absolutely dead set on pursuing design despite these hurdles, I would avoid hyper-niche, purely experimental programs. Schools like UCLA are moving toward highly siloed design tracks (separating design from games and computational art). This will force you to specialize before you even understand the market.
Instead, I would look for broad, disciplined programs at universities that offer a comprehensive curriculum covering the fundamentals of the entire discipline. You need a program that will ruthlessly drill you in typography, grid structures, information hierarchy, and user systems across both print and digital platforms. This will give you a broad understanding of design, making it easier to switch design career paths in a field that is changing at breakneck speed. Make absolutely sure UCLA has a program that does this because I have my doubts that it does.
Diversify your portfolio. There’s nothing wrong with what you’ve shown us, but few employers will have a use for it and may worry you’ll be stuck in a single digital-grunge style. To survive in this market, you must prove you can be flexible and meet their requirements. Put this style away for a bit and show that you can design a clean, functional corporate identity, a multi-page editorial layout, or a complex piece of information architecture. Graphic design isn’t about exploring avant-garde art; it’s about solving problems with clear, compelling visual communication. There’s room in the world for what you’ve shown us, but it’s a tiny sliver of a small part of the business.
A trendy style will keep you trapped in a niche that might not exist in a decade. A deep, versatile understanding of how visual communication functions is the only thing that will protect your post-university career from massive industry shifts and automation.
The choice of where to go is yours, but make sure you choose a school that prepares you for the reality of the day after graduation, not just four years of experimental fun.
