Becoming a professional artist: Tips

[darkshark]

I've gotten quite a few private messages from many of you, you know who you are, asking what it takes to start a career in the design field...which obviously has no single path or definite answer, but this is my personal take on my feelings about it, and how I did it.


Degree vs. Non-Degree

Obviously, it makes your life easier having that little piece of paper stating you wasted your life long enough to get it. It will always be easier finding a successful career with a degree, particularly a Bachelors in our design field. However, it is not necessary at all in the design field, for the simple fact that we have something we can attach to resumes, a powerful tool, called a portfolio. I, personally, do not have a degree of any sort, but I DEFINITELY do recommend taking a few college courses related to design.

I've spent countless hours looking at design-related job listings on craigslist, monster, careerbuilder etc, and nearly all of them state that a strong portfolio and keen design skills, are more important than a degree. However you still need to possess the abilities of a college graduate, which is fairly easy to learn given the internet is the largest resource tool ever created. I still recommend taking courses. Here is what I've taken so far, not including high school courses;

Schooling (Los Medanos College)

Introduction to fine arts
Advanced Fine Arts
Cartooning
Advanced Cartooning
Introduction to Game Design
Storyboarding (Game Design II)
Game design III
Sculpting
Graphic Design I
Graphic Design II
Photoshop I
Art History
Marketing, Advertising, and Media Design
Introduction to Animation
Intermediate Animation
Advanced Animation
Web Design I
Visual Basic I


The ones in bold are courses I feel would greatly improve your understanding of what makes a good design(er) as well as boost up your portfolio with pieces that are actually relative to industry-specific design.


Portfolio.


This is the biggest one ever. I can not stress enough how important this is as a graphic artist. Your portfolio represents YOU...it is the deciding factor in this career choice, so if you don't have one, start making one...if you do have one, make it better.
What I had done, was purchase my own domain name (www.darkshark9.com, it's down for reconstruction at the moment, though), and created my own website, which was completely centered around my work, resume, background etc. and I suggest doing the same. Keep it updated, often.

If you can't afford to create your own website for any reason, there are a few free options out there, the cleanest looking one is http://www.carbonmade.com/ ...the only drawback to this one is that you can only list 5 projects (multiple pictures of each project may be listed however), so this one would be for the best of the best of your work. Another free one is www.figdig.com, which allows you up to 8 pieces, but personally, I have aesthetic issues with the site. These two sites are a great tool and all, but still doesn't replace having your own site to display your work how you want to.

http://shayne.carbonmade.com/
http://figdig.com/portfolio/darkshark/

Your last option which is also very acceptable, is creating a PDF of samples of your work. Try to include about 10 of your top notch pieces in this, you don't want it too small, but you also don't want a ridiculously large PDF either, you can also include your resume built in to the PDF which saves both you and the employer a little bit of time.

When seeking a job, obviously a portfolio is the only part that really matters...so make sure all of the work that goes into it, is absolutely your best work, even if that means it's only a few pieces, you don't want to show people your "not quite as good" works of art, because that lowers the bar on yourself. Keep it neat and organized, everything labeled etc. I really.........really can't stress how important a good portfolio is.


Experience

I know this one can be difficult at first, but if you're serious about this field, you'll need to start getting clients. An amazing website I came across (you can actually make decent money here too if you're good enough) is www.99designs.com ...It's a gathering of many of the top logo/web/print designers on the net, competing against eachother for the chance to design a big name company's image, and usually, like I said, quite a bit of money can be made. Money is not what you are after here though, you will learn first hand, and at an extremely accelerated pace, what businesses want. You will learn good design practices, and have a new line-up to add to your portfolio.

That's what I did anyway, and it worked wonders for me.


Skills

You've got them, but they aren't good enough, and never will be. Or I bet that's how you feel, and truth is, you probably will forever, I know I do. However, you have to understand, this isn't about you, this is about your client, and fulfilling what they want, not what you want. Again, as the designer, you still have to give your own insight into what makes a great design, usually a company is open to ideas that will attract business. As of right now we are caught in the era of user-centered design (UCD) where everything we design is to be done for the sake of the user. This is very important and will help not only websites, but everyday products, so keep in mind you aren't just designing for the client but his userbase as well.

Overall, never stop improving, and above all else, you need to stay on top of trends and understand the different focuses that can be achieved through both simple, and complex design.

I also recommend checking out this page: http://fontfeed.com/archives/the-logos-of-web-20/
It really gives you a better understanding of the way today's "Web 2.0" era is working, and might kickstart you in the right direction. On a personal note, when designing logos, stay away from Photoshop, use Illustrator or CorelDraw, if you don't know how to use them, I suggest you learn. If you don't have it, I suggest you learn what a torrent is.

As a designer, you WILL need to learn web design skill sets, including HTML, CSS, FLASH (knowing flash is a hugeeeeeeeeeeeee plus), and understand how java, actionscript, etc work, so you know how to design for specific applications.

Also you will need to know what you are designing for. Is it for print? Is it for web? You need to know the design issues with both, here is a good overview about what is involved in each one, and the future of both print and web design, so you future graphic designers should probably read this http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990124.html


My Story

I actually couldn't draw anything but stick figures up until 10th grade in high school. Took my first art class, and my skill just exploded from there. I took every art class the school had to offer, as well as 3d animation with 3ds max. After high school I went on to the local community college and took nearly all of their art classes as well, then dropped out because of a full time job. Last year I was let go from that job, and was forced to make some sort of income on my own, so I turned to the only thing I really had a background in, which was art. I began selling spacepaintings (seen here http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/inde...lbumId=2412266 ). Those just weren't cutting it, I tried to sell some of my hand drawn artwork online, but had little luck.

This is when I turned to the internet, eBay in particular, and started up my own design studio, making 2d/3d logos for businesses. Over time as clientele began to increase, I started a secondary business doing 3d product replication, which was a cheaper alternative to buying a high quality camera or hiring a photographer to take pictures of your products for online stores. Did that for a while (still do) and then through networking through my business, I struck up a deal in which I came into possession, a 36" vinyl cutting machine, so I started up a 3rd business using this machine to create vehicle decals and business signs for storefront windows.

So with a little determination and work, I now make a decently healthy living, and own 3 of my own businesses.

Sorry this post was so long, but I hope the insight really helps some of you. It's not an easy road, and there is a ton of competition in this field, but if you can learn to separate yourself through quality works of art, and have the perseverance to take things to the next level, then you can make it as well.

[Spenner]

Great post, should really help me out because I'm definitely going into Graphic Design for my career.

Also thanks for that 99designs link, looks like a great site to make some money off of :O

[makdaddy]

thanks DS, I've been trying to find a website like 99designs, and its exactly what I was looking for.

Nice post

[Renevatia]

this reminds me, i really need to broaden my style and maybe read into vectors a bit

[Mollocephalus]

this is exactly what i am doing with the business i'm leading so far, except i opened to other applications as well.

the "get a vector deisgn program" part isn't bolded enough though, as it's usually easily overlooked by most people.

[Mollocephalus]

why isn't this thread announced yet

[darkshark]

Announced to what?

[Mollocephalus]

my bad, i meant stickied. the hints in this are very good for people who are starting to get into this job, such as myself.

[darkshark]

Updated a bunch of stuff in there, added useful links and such.
I'm thinking we should all post up our portfolios, and inter-critique them, it would help all of us get jobs in the future.

[makdaddy]

imacklin.carbonmade.com

The third to last is definitely a WIP, so yeah, I'd love some feedback

Which ones should I take out?

[Mollocephalus]

third and fourth don't look so good

love the carbonfiber logo even though i would've used a less prominent gradient on the left, it gets a bit too dark. the "b" logo is also very, very beautiful. the font on the bottom is a bit hard to read though. the photomanipulations are pretty, except maybe for the girl with sneakers one, which is a bit shabby.

[darkshark]

Yeah take out the graffiti one, and the "Release" one, graffiti is not looked very highly upon by businesses....

I would also try and categorize them, you only used 1 of your project slots for all of your pictures.

ps yeah, carbon fiber logo is sick, aside from having a hard time reading studios.

[Mythix]

My cent:


Never upload any of your PORTFOLIO works on the web.

Of course, out dated portfolios that won't really serve your cause in getting a job, fun projects of your own with no extreme value on design and such, testing out renders and models are just to throw out, but your finished art and work unwatermarked on the web can and will cost you a job at , say, Pixar, Funcom or Squareenix (Did they change name again?)

Why?

I am currently on my first month on 3DSM, 3d movies~, Noroff in Norway who associates with Deakin University in Aus, Glamorgan in Wales and Teesside in England for batchellor grades, and we have had representatives from all the schools visiting us regulary to explain the ropes.
We've also had visits from Funcom checking up on promising students, and Funcom, as all the schools, can't stress enough that you must not upload any work representing your quality as an artist on the web.
There are many reasons:

1: People will thieve your work if it's good.
2: If the schools find the work online, you're disqualified since there's too high a chance you didn't make it; and they don't want students/artists thieving works ruining their rep.
3: You're automaticly discovered from artist awards as ASIFA if -any- of your work might be from the web.

However, watermarked public 3D on sites promoting agents are not as bad, but 3/4 sites are phishing sites, also if you ever go for a movie/still picture award, you have to sign that the things you bring to the show has never before been seen and stuff like that.

Then again, if you're not planning on going for the ASIFA or get hired by Pixar, you're your own boss of course.


EDIT: As for why taking a course/degree, the main reason is that big UNIs and firms use their own engines and shaders, vrays and so on. Age of Conan spent a billion NOK (around 200,000,000$) developing their shaders and engines for the game, and Pixar the same for "The curious case of Benjamin Button" (YES, he is 3d, it's not makeup), allthough that engine has a long term development plan... All schools offer a grand chance, meeting with alot of the big agencies.

None of this is necesarry for working as a 3D artist on a private note, though. Just about what you want to, even though one of Squareenix main artists had no degree other than talent when he started on the final fantasy series, I don't remember his name but the E3 had an article about him.

[Macmaxi]

It is a bit different over here in germany, but basicly you also need a very good portfolio if you want to applicate somewhere. In germany an Degree how you call it, is very important, you can't go somewhere without one, but they only want to see if you are having experience at all. Having a good portfolio dosen't always mean he would make a good designer in a company.

I'm on private school doing an apperentienceship as an "Gestaltungtechnischer Assistent" should mean something like "Technical Design Assistent". Well it sound weird, but makes sense since we are learning everything from media design over to creating movies with the audio, base knowledge about almost everything there is in "Design" and even a schoolish part for "Fachhochschulreife" which is something like finishing college (correct me if i'm wrong, i'm not really into american school).

All in all, i guess everything that you need is motivation determination and skill.

Greetings

Macmaxi

[makdaddy]

I put my portfolio together in preparation to apply to graphic design school here at N.C. State. So yeah

Originally Posted by Mollocephalus

third and fourth don't look so good

I've been told by design students and design faculty that the third one (blue planets) was one of the best ones due to positioning and lighting. I'm still working on the two photomanipulations...

Originally Posted by darkshark

Yeah take out the graffiti one, and the "Release" one, graffiti is not looked very highly upon by businesses....

I would also try and categorize them, you only used 1 of your project slots for all of your pictures.

Now that you mention it, graffiti probably wouldn't be the best thing to put in a portfolio hahahahahah. And I need to put them all in the same project slot to apply to design school.

As for posting it online...

1) It's easier to share and keep everything all in one place
2) I need it to be online so I can link it in my application

EDIT:

Thanks for the feedback guys, let's see some other people's portfolios!

[darkshark]

If you feel unsafe about your work being stolen, you can always just watermark it.

Those are a few good points Mythix, however, none of us are on the sort of level yet, and an entry level graphic designer should have absolutely nothing to worry about when it comes to thievery, as long as you aren't the one doing the theft.
Online portfolios are the main way to show them to a business these days.

Once you're an established artist, I would assume you could just bring your laptop or something to the interview, seeing as you will have the experience and credit to be able to get to an interview for a higher company in the first place.

[Mythix]

Originally Posted by darkshark

If you feel unsafe about your work being stolen, you can always just watermark it.

Those are a few good points Mythix, however, none of us are on the sort of level yet, and an entry level graphic designer should have absolutely nothing to worry about when it comes to thievery, as long as you aren't the one doing the theft.
Online portfolios are the main way to show them to a business these days.

Once you're an established artist, I would assume you could just bring your laptop or something to the interview, seeing as you will have the experience and credit to be able to get to an interview for a higher company in the first place.

I were actually aiming mostly on the .3ds~ file, or whatever extension you use, not the render picture, unless the render picture is to be submitted to something, but there are render pictures people take too.

I found an entire Bugatti Veyron and Mercedes SLK with a modelled garage with cracked vRay, downloadable, for free, and they were completely photorealistic. I'm quite sure whoever made that is not THAT generally generous seeing there were no credits to any artists. (Found it browsing ads on 3DM3, and yes, it had a trojan)
And the biggest scare isn't that someone might steal your stuff, but the company/host might think you have stolen it, I'd be pissed off if people said "you didn't make that, I saw it on YouTube"- and believe me, once people find something they like, it ends up being hosted everywhere...

[darkshark]

Why would you post your raw files unless you WANTED people to mess with them? I think you had just be able to back up whatever you say you can do. Period. If you show off this awesome cityscape to your employer and be like "YEAH LOOK WHAT I MADE" and when he asks you to do something similar and you can't.......well.....we all know where that road will get you.

[darkshark]

Ultra bump.

Times are changing, and we've all grown since this thread was written. Many of you srtists reading this are ready to take the step into the real world, and get paid to do what you love. You guys have come a really long way, we all have. Spenner, Renevatia, Makdaddy, Spitfire, Mythix...You all have great potential, and have the skill that it takes to make it in this industry. Even up-and-coming artists like midnightraver show great potential.

Time to get active!

Just thought I'd throw this list out there:

http://freelanceswitch.com/finding/t...ing-job-sites/

It's a compilation of a ton of freelance websites, and since you guys are able to produce great quality work, I say go for it, make the jump on your own into the professional world.
Be active with it, search out new clients, retain old ones, and NEVER sell yourself short.

Even though I work a full time job in the design field, I still constantly have freelance projects I work on. Salary and freelance combined, I'm now averaging about $70-$110 an hour. I definitely know that all of you can get to that point too, and even exceed it. I want to again congratulate Spitfire for getting that internship, that's a great foot-in-the-door you've got!


SO GET TO IT. Freelancing is great money, and is your portal to better skills and a better life.

[rushyrulz]

Holy walls of text :O