I’m Rob, retired from the Army August 2023 and have been searching for a true purpose in life since then. After 2 years of working in training and development, I realized design was where I felt most energized and inspired. I enjoyed building the content more than delivering it.
I’ll be starting the Visual Design Certificate program at Full Sail University on April 7 as I feel I need a little more structure with my learning path than bouncing from Skillshare, LinkedIn, etc.
I’m drawn to gritty, vintage aesthetics (Think Chantry, Carson, Draplin). However, I enjoy colorful designs as well. Essentially I am still finding my niche. (I’d love to find my way into Album Covers and Concert Posters for the Red Dirt Music scene around Oklahoma and Texas)
This whole thing is still new to me, and I’m always looking for mentorship and honest feedback. That’s what brought me here. If anyone knows of any design related mentorship programs or good ways to connect with other designers for feedback (outside of this forum or LinkedIn), I’d like to hear about it. Still exploring Dribble and Behance but feel I need that portfolio before interacting and connecting.
Looking forward to learning and growing alongside you all.
I hate to say it, but I am not too bullish on the future of design. See more thoughts here. If you were my kid, and you might be young enough to be depending on how long you served in the Army, I’d probably tell you to pursue a career field that can withstand AI and channel your appreciation for design and music into a hobby, creative outlet or side hustle.
Those guys all do great work. You’ve done some homework, so good for you.
Steve, appreciate the thought out post. For the record I am 42. Did 23 years in the Army. Honestly, the VA paying for this cert is helpful. It started as a hobby and wanted to expand on it. That said, I have been doing my best to follow through on the AI situation currently. Yes it makes me nervous. However, at this age, if all this path does is allow me to create fun stuff to hang in the garage or sell at art shows so be it.
Plot twist, I actually quit my current training specialist job to go all in on this.
Again, I understand the future and really want to focus on creativity. Whatever that looks like.
Thanks for the links as well. I will dive into those here shortly. Spent some time this morning lurking around so I’ll be sure to dive into those.
Being that you’ll be starting a certificate program, you’ll definitely get mentorship and honest feedback from your teachers and fellow students. That being said, you can check out this mentorship program called Luca. Also, Briefbox offers a community as well as mentorship options alongside its course. A third resource you can look at for mentorship and feedback is ADPList.
