Graphic Design / Computer Animation

[elite]

Ok so I'll be getting my "A Level" results back next month and Iv got a place at Uni doing Graphic Design and Computer Animation but when I get my results I need to pick what I want to do. I really don’t know which to pick so I'm wonder which job pays the best and how easy or hard it is to get work in either of the areas.

Iv tried Google for job wages but didn’t find much. If there is any Graphic Designers or Computer Animators how is ** job and what’s it like day to day based?

Cheers – Mark

 

[shifty_uk]

Your making it out as if the pay means everything, and that you wish to pick the easiest road?

Do what you would enjoy best! What are you interested in the most? What are you good at? What have you got the most experience in?

I'd probably say the hardest thing out of the two to get into would be animation. Animators arn't really on the highest demand, compaired to traditional graphic design, so the pay would be slightly higher. Although both are tough industries and to make it, you need to have talent, a good portfolio, or showreel, and lots of experience.

You can't just study animation or design and expect to walk straight into a job with a great salary, it doesn't work like that. You need talent, experience and you need to work your way up, like any job.

Animation and graphic design are two very different things, so sounds to me like you really don't know what your after.

 

[Scam]

It sounds like you're far too concerned with the money involved. Think about which you'd rather do as a living.

Graphic design is very different from 3d animation. Theyre completely different industries. When you say graphic design i think of 2d artwork used in magazines, exhibitions, displays, tshirts, print etc.. where you'd be a very creative person that can sit down and draw ideas for almost anything. When you say 3d animation i think of a 3d artist; using 3d software to animate, composite, paint, texture, light (whatever they specialise in).

 

[elite]

That’s just it, can’t seem to make up my mind, iv student AVCE Art and Design which included:

Graphic Design
Web Animation
Painting and Drawing
Textiles
Ceramics
3D Design
Digital Imaging
Photography

I had my interview at Uni for a Graphic Design course and was accepted, I got a reply back for Computer Animation saying ill be accepted if I get two B's. So really I can do both.


Yes money is importent, why wouldnt it be, Im willing to give a little of something up for better pay which will mean a better lifestyle do I dont see the problem really.

 

[Messiah Khan]

I agree wit bthe other comments so far. Go with what you enjoy and are good at. I warn you though, the animation industry is very hard to get into, and you have to be the best of the best to have a solid chance of getting into the industry. Graphic design isn't easier as such, but I would have thought the skills were more adaptible to various jobs.

Edit; There is proably more money in Animation IMO, but that is also offset by VERY long hours sometimes. Do not make your choice based on money though.

 

[iCraig]

If there is any Graphic Designers or Computer Animators how is your job and what’s it like day to day based?

I love my job, I truly love the design world and affect it as upon what we do and see. Good design pleases the mind and makes this world an exciting place to live, and I utterly love being a part of it.

As for day to day, it very much revolves around the work and priorities. Which task is more important out of your list. It also involves a lot with liasing with clients, talking to them, and building up an efficient working relationship so you can both achieve your goals.

My daily schedule varies a lot, but when I'm at home in my own office, doing my own tasks my day tends to follow this structure.

8:00am - Breakfast and coffee, watch TV or listen to music to wake myself up.

9.00am - Log on to the PC and check emails, RSS feeds and forums.

9.30am - Respond to any emails that require a response, flag up any tasks involved in them and add to the task list.

10.00am - Coffee again and review tasks for the day, ordering them in priority.

Work until task complete, or sometimes, if a creative block occurs (you'll get this from time to time, and it is the most frustrating and debilitating thing a designer can ever go through) stretch my legs and try again with a fresh perspective. Or move on to the next task, but still allowing myself to think about the main task of the day.

Move over from coffee to chilled water to stop fatigue and thirst in the afternoon and keep buried in the work until around 4-5, where I check RSS feeds and send out any important emails.

In the evening I fill out my timesheet and shut down the main programs for work, PsPad, Photoshop etc, but leave Outlook open to monitor emails and RSS.

May not be totally relevant to you, but I think thats how most home workers are. If you're going to be working in a design office you may not have as much freedom when it comes to having a stroll around your garden when your mind feels blank. Hope that helps, and I'll be happy to answer any other design related questions.

 

[iCraig]

Yes money is importent, why wouldnt it be, Im willing to give a little of something up for better pay which will mean a better lifestyle do I dont see the problem really.

Yes money is important, your career will need to fund your life.

However, you're just starting out - like me. Unless you're very very very lucky, you'll be starting from the bottom in either field. So your pay will be quite low, especially if you're taken on as an apprentice like me.

But this isn't important, the main thing here is to get your foot in the door, get your name out there and start on your career.

You can start to worry about money when you're older and have more things to support, such as your own house, a nice car etc etc

 

[RandomTom]

iCraig, at your A levels did you do art? my guess is that you did and although I don't do art, I enjoy and am passionate for graphic design, and my attempts to improve at it, although I wouldn't take it up as anything full time do you think that you can get necessary skills from your own experience or would an art ability change things?

thanks.

 

[shifty_uk]

What would you rather do, wake up every morning to go to a dead-end job, being bored all day, and doing something you really don't enjoy, or would you want to go to work, loving what you do, being great at what you do and going home every night with a smile on your face? That's what should be first. Not money. I suppose money is an issue, as it's your living, but it's not the most important thing.

Out of the things you listed, what are you actually good at?
Sounds to me like you've just done a little introductory course, that hasn't really taught you much about each thing? If you done it at college, then it probably didn't teach you anything useful.

Traditional graphic design, is mostly design for print, as said by Scam, you'll need to be very creative, and will be designing things like posters, covers, logos and corporate ID's.
Animators will animate scenes for commercials, probably using traditional, and 3D methods, I'm not entirely sure about this field though.

Also, nowadays graphic designers are web designers aswell.

 

[elite]

My last review after I had made the changes from my first review I got:

Graphic Design - A
Web Animation - None (first year and Digi Image covers the same criteria)
Painting and Drawing - A
Textiles - C
Ceramics - C
3D Design - None (only first year and I lost most of my work)
Digital Imaging - A
Photography - B

About the money thing, I must get CC for Graphics and BB for Animation doesnt that mean Animation would get more money or?

 

[shifty_uk]

iCraig, at your A levels did you do art? my guess is that you did and although I don't do art, I enjoy and am passionate for graphic design, and my attempts to improve at it, although I wouldn't take it up as anything full time do you think that you can get necessary skills from your own experience or would an art ability change things?

thanks.

I never done art. Although I have been drawing most of my life, I don't really see it as being any part of what I do now, just the fact that I'm very creative

 

[iCraig]

Nope, I did Graphic Products at GCSE but that's about it.

However I did do AVCE ICT and AVCE Business in sixth form, which made me pretty apt with computers and internet technologies.

I simply have a passion for design, whether it be print or web. I've practiced creating things for years and years. I think I was 11 or 12 when I first starting making my own wallpapers, and I used to sell them for 50p each at school.

Sometimes simply having the passion and the drive for a subject is enough to get into that field. Remember, above all else, companies will take experience over qualification almost every time. Get your face out there, go on work experience trips, even if its for nothing. Spending a week in a design office and completing a range of tasks done wonders for me when hunting around for a job.

However, by sheer chance I was approached by a guy I'd known for a while who run a small business. He was looking for an apprentice website/graphic designer and saw me as an ideal candidate.

I couldn't be happier, and I'm coming up for being an employee for a whole year.

 

[elite]

Sounds to me like you've just done a little introductory course, that hasn't really taught you much about each thing? If you done it at college, then it probably didn't teach you anything useful.

Couldnt be more wrong mate, I did GCSE Art and Design at school and got A*A*, Iv just done a 12Unit AVCE Art and Design course which is 2 A Levels and iv learnt a lot.

Im best at Digital Imaging and Graphic design using Photoshop, im also a perfestionist when it comes to presenting my work, when looking at my class mates its the first thing I look at.

 

[iCraig]

Also, nowadays graphic designers are web designers aswell.

Not really, a lot of graphic designers dabble in the web. They know their way around HTML, but they are by no means web designers.

A web designer is a fully fledged career, it would be hard to be this, and a successful graphic designer at the same time.

Don't forget, print and web are two different worlds.

 

[Scam]

About the money thing, I must get CC for Graphics and BB for Animation doesnt that mean Animation would get more money or?

Acceptance grades have nothing to do with how much money you can potentially earn, lol

Put it this way. In both industries to start with you'll be looking at (i dunno) something between 12k-21k (at a completely unsupported estimate). What you end up earning when you're 50 years old and married is entirely up to you either way. It could still be 12k or it could be 60k

Point is, it really doesnt matter right now and you must take your mind off of the money!!

If i were you i'd go get some careers advice from college. Tell them what you enjoy doing at the moment and they might be able to prod you in the right direction. Beg for some work experience in either/both industries locally and have a go. You'll soon discover what you enjoy.

I'm a graduate looking for work in media/technology. I can't decide exactly what i want to do either, but the only time money has entered my thoughts is wondering whether or not i'd be able to survive on a certain low amount in London

 

[Nimzicki]

Im currently studying Graphic Design at uni...never took art at gcse, screwed up my a-level in art but its something I was naturally good at...and more to the point, enjoyed immensely, so I took it upon myself to get to college, sort out a foundation degree and get to university.

You don't do graphic design because you like the thought of the money (which is a lot, if you're successful) You do it because you have the passion for it, I assume animation is the same. As iCraig has said, you will most likely start off on low pay, or even no pay at all, this shouldn't phase you if you're intent on doing it for the rest of you're life, you need to get your foot in the door and thats when the money comes.

 

[ichabod crane]

when choosing a design career id go for what you have a great interest in rather than where the money lies, because you could end up doing something for loads of money but is boring and has no creativity in it at all. where as id rather work for an average wage and use all my creativity continuously on all the work i was doing . icraig have you done a degree or went straight from a levels cos that must have been hard

 

[iCraig]

icraig have you done a degree or went straight from a levels cos that must have been hard

Nope no degree. Just A-Levels, then a bit of freelance and work experience to get some portfolio and CV fillers. But I never did have to go hunting for a design job, I was extremely lucky that I was approached from somebody I already knew who was offering something I was passionately searching for.

But yes, it was hard getting there.. he didn't approach me just because he knew me, but because of my past history with computers and how I was designing websites, my own and freelance.