[QUOTE=Autumn;46987985]agreed, the job market really isn't as bad as it might seem. there are a lot of rubbish jobs, but also a lot of rubbish designers. our tutor used to tell us that "cream will always rise to the top", i.e. if you're good enough in terms of both design skill and personality/drive (which is just as, if not more, important - if you can believe it) then you will find your calling somewhere. you might not be lucky enough to walk out of your studies and straight into a job, but if you're hard working and proactive about gaining experience then you'll be fine, really. and if you've only just started your studies then i really wouldn't be worrying about your job prospects at the end, it's good to be aware that there can be some tough competition but generally speaking that shouldn't be an overbearing thought.
[B]and what do you mean hand-drawings versus graphics? do you mean finished digital pieces compared to pencil drawings?[/B] that is no bad thing. something that is not 100% essential to being a designer is the ability to draw, but my god does it help. i know a few people who are good designers but really struggle with a pencil, but nearly all the great designers i know are pretty nifty with one. they're not going to kick you out of design studies if you can't draw, but if you can your job (and career) is going to be a lot easier. the best place to start with any design is with a pencil so don't consider that to be a problem, not yet anyway.
any experience is still experience so even if you don't get a job with your internship the experience gained there will be invaluable. do not turn down experience, but i mean real experience like a week/month here and there (even if only one day a week, between your studies) working at places, not "oh my friend wants a logo designing, they've got no budget but it'll be really great experience" <- that's not experience.
if you're interested enough about it to want to make a career out of it then that's the best starting point, i don't think there'll be as many hurdles as you think.[/QUOTE]
Yes, I meant specifically thanks to my drawing class I have more charcoal and pastel drawings than any actual Photoshop, InDesign, or Illustrator related pieces. I've heard numerous times it's really not a main point of the job but it usually is part of the design process so it's still a useful skill to have.
Thank you so much guys though for the tips and encouragement, especially from somebody who is a local NH dude (153x).
If you are wondering what avenues of graphic design might be the best career value, I can say that I have looked at my own skill set and thought about what I would need to be confident in the jobs I hope to go after in the future. For me, I would say that the valuable skills (the ones that set someone apart and are in demand) to the industry at the moment would be typography and type design; motion graphics; and web & app prototyping and design.
I have no official education or training in the first two and it is definitely something I regret.
Your drawing experience could definitely be an asset for those as hand drawn type is huge right now and motion graphics might make use of "story boards" etc.
Branding and print design is something most people can do, not necessarily well, but most people can. Motion graphics and type design are a higher skill level and would definitely set you apart.
Been doing a bunch of logos for free recently to get some content into my portfolio.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/rMUacbM.png[/img]
This logo, if chosen, would be used on clothing and a bunch of other stuff, so I had to make sure it looked good in a bunch of colours. It's for an adventure activity center that does off road driving and archery and shit.
[QUOTE=PieClock;46997032]Been doing a bunch of logos for free recently[/QUOTE]
I'm sure most of the people in this thread would be mad at you for this
[QUOTE=153x;47001297]I'm sure most of the people in this thread would be mad at you for this[/QUOTE]
Haha. I don't like it either but it'll pay off if it gets me into Uni, I really need to get my portfolio fattened up a bit.
Ya, for sure. It's not really such a big deal, stuff like competitions are more harmful to the industry anyways.
I've done a ton of free stuff, mainly because I just enjoy doing it and have never really needed to make money from it. The logo I have made that has had the most use was one I made for free in Grade 11 for an extra assignment haha.
I do a bunch of personal work though, like think of a concept and then make it. Board games, game huds, fake companies, etc...
Yep, good practice too.
[QUOTE=Smeetin;47003743]
I do a bunch of personal work though, like think of a concept and then make it. Board games, game huds, fake companies, etc...[/QUOTE]
yeah do this for your portfolio, don't work for clients for free. you'll prob get stronger concepts if you self direct anyway and you're not taking the work from designers who make a living from it
The issue I find that lays in making stuff for fake companies or whatever, is that there is to much freedom.
What I mean is if I designed something that is fake, sure, the design will be stronger, but you haven't worked to a brief or anything like that, which I reckon is equally important to show off in a portfolio.
Ya I definitely agree, I don't know how it works for schools, but jobs definitely want you to have client experience.
describing process would do the trick I imagine. Could write yourself a brief as a challenge
Hello everyone!
There's some impressive work in this thread, now that got me wondering. I'm in the middle of starting up a new (family) business. Now I've got a logo set up (Can't post it because of obvious reasons) but I'm really impressed by the work in this thread. Which made me wonder if any of you could make a better logo! If you're interested hit me up with a PM and I'll share you some info.
Oh and as a bonus, I'm still looking for a graphics designer for the website. If you have any experience with that let me know. Preferably in the EU because that makes payment easier trough IBAN!
Thanks!
[editline]25th January 2015[/editline]
Oh and seeing the discussion on the previous page, displaying the work in your portfolio after work is done is not a problem at all!
Congratulations everyone on making it to page 2!
Here are some various assets from a personal card game project (some of the colours got messed when uploading):
[img]http://www.kenoncreative.com/images/print/Planet_AETARA.png[/img] [img]http://www.kenoncreative.com/images/print/Planet_UNDAS.png[/img] [img]http://www.kenoncreative.com/images/print/Planet_PRIME.png[/img] [img]http://www.kenoncreative.com/images/print/Planet_KORDU.png[/img] [img]http://www.kenoncreative.com/images/print/Planet_CIVIS.png[/img]
[t]http://www.kenoncreative.com/images/print/Ships.jpg[/t] [t]http://www.kenoncreative.com/images/print/Ships2.jpg[/t] [t]http://www.kenoncreative.com/images/print/Ships3.jpg[/t] [t]http://www.kenoncreative.com/images/print/Ships4.jpg[/t]
They are still kind of WIP, so some don't have the right names, etc
[url=https://flic.kr/p/qDFN2C][img]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7349/16179036990_3970df864e_b.jpg[/img][/url]
Favorite quote from the radio.
I feel like i've seen those cards before.. Did you post them in the old thread?
[editline]25th January 2015[/editline]
Just a critique I guess but I feel like since it is a card game, since most of the planets have almost exact same placement with only a few of them off center it seems like it messes with the theme a bit
[QUOTE=Skwee;47009445]I feel like i've seen those cards before.. Did you post them in the old thread?
[editline]25th January 2015[/editline]
Just a critique I guess but I feel like since it is a card game, since most of the planets have almost exact same placement with only a few of them off center it seems like it messes with the theme a bit[/QUOTE]
I hear ya, and agree, have some ideas for that. Ya, I posted them in the last thread. Some of the ships are new though.
The civis ships aren't done yet though.
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/UuhhoSg.jpg?1[/IMG]
Does this look like a rabbit?
Ya. It's pretty noice. I keep expecting there to be pupils/eyes in the black spaces between the ears and the nose though. Maybe that's intentional.
[QUOTE=Smeetin;47063522]Ya. It's pretty noice. I keep expecting there to be pupils/eyes in the black spaces between the ears and the nose though. Maybe that's intentional.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I was worried it'd come off as a panda. The eyes are meant to be implied in this area:[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/HWx8BQg.jpg[/IMG]
I tried putting actual pupils in but couldn't get them to look right.
I kind of like the ambiguity actually. I tried throwing some eyes in as well, so I know what you mean when you say you couldn't get them to look right. To me though, I am seeing the WHOLE black area, not just the part you circled in red, as the eye and I would just be interested in some how throwing a cartoon iris in there.
Here is a shot I gave, I don't know if it works or if i'm just seeing the negative space weirdly:
[img]http://s21.postimg.org/u9pr81vkz/Uuhho_Sg.jpg[/img]
I feel like everything else having sharp lines and then the eyes being feathered doesn't really work. Try making them hard edges.
The idea is there though. With hard edges it would look really good.
That was just a quick mockup in Photoshop to show where I thought the eyes could be, but I agree fully about the hard edges. That is pretty much inherent to a vector logo anyways.
i haven't really updated my logo much since [URL="http://puu.sh/d84KY/33fedc9429.png"]last time[/URL] but here's something i made that combines it with the letters or whatever
i like the font a bit better than before, but the blur might be a little bit much
[IMG]http://puu.sh/fbxGt/4af2706063.png[/IMG]
(sorry smeetin, still thinking about that octopus idea)
Really nice work there octopod. I really dig the simple clean white letters over that background and the logo symbol appeals to me in its simplicity.
The only thing I would say is that I definitely read it as octopod first off without thinking, but upon further inspection I found myself thinking that it was Oct Pod with a symbol in the middle. I know its supposed to be an O (knowing that is supposed to be octopod) and I don't think many people would miss that if asked, but its different size than the rest of the font screwed my brain up a little bit and new people could mistake it for Oct Pod. (I don't think you should change the size personally, I like the differentiation, but maybe if the spacing was broader on either side of the symbol? I don't really know. It is a really minor thing and might just be personal opinion, so don't worry about it haha)
(no worries about that octopus / tentacle idea :P, I have no idea how to properly execute it myself, would have to do a bunch of sketching.)
[IMG]http://i60.tinypic.com/vio9l4.jpg[/IMG]
I made it for Product Photography Company....
[QUOTE=DMGaina;46955709][thumb]http://abload.de/img/rapixize1x.png[/thumb][/QUOTE]
I don't think it would make much sense to have such a large readout of the ammo left in the magazine on the side of a rifle.
[QUOTE=PieClock;47005187]The issue I find that lays in making stuff for fake companies or whatever, is that there is to much freedom.
What I mean is if I designed something that is fake, sure, the design will be stronger, but you haven't worked to a brief or anything like that, which I reckon is equally important to show off in a portfolio.[/QUOTE]
If you want real briefs, head over to 99designs.com and look around. Lots of cheap bastards wanting their design done from crowdsourced work over there.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/BKkDa9x.png[/img]
I made this as a logo for someone called Rage Retro. The basis was the Team Rocket R and I changed it into an N64 controller.
[QUOTE=dgg;47112426]If you want real briefs, head over to 99designs.com and look around. Lots of cheap bastards wanting their design done from crowdsourced work over there.[/QUOTE]
Just took a quick glance at the landing page. Is that one of those competition sites? They're pretty awful to be honest. Unless you win you'll never get any feedback. Every logo I've done for free I work to a brief and always be sure to get some feedback.
[QUOTE=kaine123;47090733]I don't think it would make much sense to have such a large readout of the ammo left in the magazine on the side of a rifle.[/QUOTE]
It was a reimaging of the Alien Rifle.
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The Graphic Design Thread - Drop It Like a Hotkey
