Need advice

Wagon

Hope this is the right forum for this.

I'm looking for career advice. I've decided to go and try and work in graphic design professionally (either freelance or part of a company). I already work freelance as a web designer but not for very long. I'm hoping to improve that by going into graphic design as well.

I was wondering what software I'd need to learn (apart from Photoshop & Fireworks) and generally what steps are needed to actually do it professionally? I'd be interested in logo design, web graphic design and printing but is there anything else to it? Sorry for my ignorance

(Before anyone suggests college, I can barely afford to wipe my arse these days so I can't fund it. And I've already been and finished too and don't really feel the desire to go down the college route all over again)

Thanks for any help or advice.

looksee

If you are going into graphic design you are going into a whole new technical area. You need Photoshop, Illustrator, a page-layout program - I'm a Quark person but there are several options, InDesign is the next most popular (or it may even have overtaken Quark by now ) Also you have to decide whether to go Mac or PC - Mac has been more used by graphic designers, I am a big Mac fan but it is more expensive and these days there is not a lot of difference. There are loads of other programs for various purposes - Acrobat for example, but those are the main ones.

You also need to learn all the print stuff that is totally different to web - resolution, colour etc. You need to be able to be make jobs that can be separated for printing. There is a lot of technical stuff that you have to get sorted. Assembling jobs for print, sorting typefaces, spot colour, varnishes, tons of stuff. You also have to learn to do some jobs in Illustrator - especially logos - you cannot use a web raster logo for print.

I would suggest you get the basics of the programs then find a printer who will employ you/allow you to be self-employed and allow you to learn on the job. I worked freelance in a printer's office for two years after college and earned practically nothing, on top of buying all my equipment and programs, but I learned all the technical stuff about printing and presenting jobs.

Even if you go to college you will not necessarily learn all the practical stuff, doing it on the job is the best way to learn. Don't underestimate all this, nowadays most printers just print what you give them and if you get it wrong in any one of a hundred ways you can find those several thousand euro's worth of brochures will have to be reprinted at your expense!

steve_

Speaking of proofing heres a great video with practical tips to ensure you get your prints looking how you want them.

http://revision3.com/pixelperfect/proofing

Wagon

looksee wrote: »

If you are going into graphic design you are going into a whole new technical area. You need Photoshop, Illustrator, a page-layout program - I'm a Quark person but there are several options, InDesign is the next most popular (or it may even have overtaken Quark by now ) Also you have to decide whether to go Mac or PC - Mac has been more used by graphic designers, I am a big Mac fan but it is more expensive and these days there is not a lot of difference. There are loads of other programs for various purposes - Acrobat for example, but those are the main ones.

You also need to learn all the print stuff that is totally different to web - resolution, colour etc. You need to be able to be make jobs that can be separated for printing. There is a lot of technical stuff that you have to get sorted. Assembling jobs for print, sorting typefaces, spot colour, varnishes, tons of stuff. You also have to learn to do some jobs in Illustrator - especially logos - you cannot use a web raster logo for print.

I would suggest you get the basics of the programs then find a printer who will employ you/allow you to be self-employed and allow you to learn on the job. I worked freelance in a printer's office for two years after college and earned practically nothing, on top of buying all my equipment and programs, but I learned all the technical stuff about printing and presenting jobs.

Even if you go to college you will not necessarily learn all the practical stuff, doing it on the job is the best way to learn. Don't underestimate all this, nowadays most printers just print what you give them and if you get it wrong in any one of a hundred ways you can find those several thousand euro's worth of brochures will have to be reprinted at your expense!

Yeah, I reckoned learning on the job would be the best bet.

Cheers for that! Appreciate it!

Pixelcraft

Wagon wrote: »

Yeah, I reckoned learning on the job would be the best bet.

Just remember, if you make a mistake on the web you can correct it, if it's a print run in the 10's of thousands you can't. Learning on the job can be very costly

Wagon

Pixelcraft wrote: »

Just remember, if you make a mistake on the web you can correct it, if it's a print run in the 10's of thousands you can't. Learning on the job can be very costly

Yeah someone mentioned that so I think i'll be sticking to the web for the time being to be honest :P It's more the front end element of web design I'd be looking to get into full time for now. Only problem is that I can't do complex graphics graphics yet for logo and page design.

Does anyone have much experience with Adobe Creative Suite 5? Is it worth getting or is there better options out there?

p

Learn to draw, learn to paint.

Wagon

p wrote: »

Learn to draw, learn to paint.

Genius. Well done. You're a credit to society.

Mind44

looksee gave a great response. I agree with everything in that post.

OP, you mentioned learning Fireworks. No need for that. Maybe down the line but that's certainly not a required knowledge for graphic design. Photoshop absolutely! And as looksee said, but it's worth repeating, you must learn how to use page layout software and become fluent in it - either Quark or InDesign. That's 100% essential.

Good luck to you. I'm a print designer who recently moved into the area of web design - it's so different! But lots of fun.

alex_r

Wagoon,
First of all you need to distinguish between web design and graphic design discipline
Both using almost the same tools and instruments but different approach, technologies and knowledges
First and main important difference between them it is a pixel and vector graphic!

You better to separate them on the beginning of your startup and learning and go by one or other way
Web design is all about User Interface and Experience, abbreviations UI and UX, and also basic knowledge of HTML and CSS
Graphic design is more creative process, and requires understanding of vector graphic, printing and colours etc.
I don't say you cannot create websites, I say you won't make them properly in right way

Best tools on the market it is depend from every man, but with no doubt most popular is Adobe suite
For web design: Photoshop, Fireworks, Illustrator and Flash
For graphic design: Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop,

Useful reading and good point to start
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphic_design
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_design

Wish you luck!

alex_r

And yeah, forgot to add, sometimes best web designers in terms of creativity came from graphic design

Take a look how should look quality websites
http://bestwebgallery.com/
http://www.website-gallery.com/
http://www.csselite.com/
http://www.unmatchedstyle.com/
http://www.w3csites.com/
and etc

And graphic design:
http://www.designflavr.com/
http://www.deviantart.com
http://www.logotwo.com/
http://logopond.com/
and etc

After reviewing all websites
Aks your self - will I be able to do the same?

All the best
Alex

bette

Have a look here for free (limited0 software for your needs. This is good stuff and if you need to output for commercial printing you simply do so via PDF!

The full versions are a fraction of the price of Adobe stuff and work equally well. There is also a decent technical forum on that website!