Trying out a career helps you discover if it's right for you. This week: graphic design
If you fancy yourself as an artist but don't like the idea of starving in a garret while your masterpieces go woefully unappreciated, you might want to think about combining technology with your talent. Graphic design is the bright commercial face of art, and good designers are working well away from the breadline.
From Microsoft to Guinness - which employed John Gilroy to design dozens of posters for it in the 1930s and 1940s - every big company is aware of the importance of good design. And the job is more varied than you might imagine. Graphic designers can be involved in print and film advertising, magazine, poster and logo design or even the film industry.
Work experience can be tricky, however, according to Nollaig Crombie, head of the school of design at Letterkenny Institute of Technology, in Co Donegal.
The problem lies in the nature of the work: while designers are working towards deadlines and juggling projects, they have very little time to show a newcomer the ropes. A lot of coffee-making could be in store for a transition-year student.
A better option, Crombie suggests, is to get a graphic designer to come to your school to talk about the industry. "It's a very good idea," she says. "A speaker will explain how frenzied the industry can be. They can give an idea of the design skills needed and how to go about putting a portfolio together."
Crombie's former students work in all sorts of environments, from self-employed freelancers working from home to designers working in Los Angeles movie studios.
Creativity is obviously a plus when working as a graphic designer, and an aptitude for art is a given. Less obvious but equally important is an ability to work towards a deadline. "That really appeals to a lot of people that do the job," says Crombie.
You also have to be comfortable using technology, although the ability to do so is no longer the advantage that it once was. "The programmes have become so user-friendly that knowing about them beforehand isn't really an added bonus," says Crombie.
Communication is surprisingly important. "You need to be able to visualise an idea and communicate that to a client," says Crombie. This means that designers must be able, for example, to not only explain a concept clearly and with flair but also communicate an idea for film on paper, in a storyboard.
"Each college presents its programmes differently," says Crombie, "We try to factor in the overlapping deadlines, and the juggling of projects and clients, into the course. We just want to give the students an insight into how it is."
