A Reflection on the Design Industry
A few weeks ago a student from a local college emailed me to ask me a few questions about my thoughts on the design industry for a class she was taking. I was glad to help. I thought about the questions carefully and replied to her email. I had almost forgot about my answers until I saw the email again in the bottom of my inbox (almost inbox zero, ha!). Anyway, I thought this would be a good thing to share with everyone, so here are the questions w/ responses.
Q) Could you describe your specific day to day duties and responsibilities?
A) Since the company I work in is smaller (about 13 people w/ 4 designers) I work on almost every creative project that comes through the door at some point. I mostly split my time between web design mockups for miscellaneous client websites and doing UI work for NFi's main product, MemberFuse. My time on Memberfuse is split pretty evenly between front-end coding and actual design/UI mockups. Meetings, emails, feature planning and giving the others direction and support also take up decent size parts of my day.
Q) What are the most challenging and the most rewarding aspects of your job?
A) Most challenging parts are putting out half-finished concepts due to time constraints. When done that will only end up costing more time and energy later to go back and fix. Design comes naturally, dealing with the business side of things doesn't.
Q) How did you prepare yourself for the work you do, in relation to education and work experience?
A) I tried to learn as much as I could from books and classes but real world experience is the best teacher. I've had internships before and those were priceless (even if unpaid and I didn't need college credit).
Q) What preparation would you suggest for someone who is entering the field today and what type of degree do you feel in mandatory?
A) Take a few classes, a good sampling, see what you like first. Then get an internship as soon as possible. Don't be afraid to try new things, it might just change your focus. A degree really isn't mandatory, the right attitude and willingness to learn is, but a degree can help, especially when looking for your first job.
Q) In your opinion, how good are the future career opportunities in this field?
A) People will always need stuff to look pretty. Right now might not be the best time to start looking for a job but things will always turn around.
Q) Do you feel that there is an over or under supply of qualified people entering this field?
A) Probably just enough to make it competitive. If you're coming out of school, you better be the best and have the portfolio to back it up.
Q) What professional organizations within this field do you think I should join or learn more about in order to help me progress in this industry?
A) Any tech networking events, meetups, or local conferences. BarCamp is great and its next Saturday (and free as most events are). Ingite Orlando, Florida Creatives are great too and free. There is something every week. Doterati (the new Central Florida tech assoc.) also throws great events and happy hours. All these events are a little light on the design side (a lot of dev and marketing/social media peeps) but not networking is the biggest mistake people make. Most jobs are gotten through a friend or colleague.
Q) What do you feel is the average salary range for an entry level person in this field?
A) I'd guess for this area $27k for graphic design and around $30k for web design. Also see the List Apart web survey.
Q) In your experience, what do you feel are the advantages and disadvantages to working in a small firm vs a large firm?
A) In a small company you most likely have more creative freedom, but have to play many more roles that you may not have to at a larger place (I'm a designer and front-end guy). Ive only worked for small companies so I can't compare too much.
Q) As I am just beginning my studies in Graphic Design, could you give me some advice in relation to what is important for me to do over the next few years in order to ensure I am best placed to get a job at the end of my studies?
A) Get an internship as soon as possible — you'll get the best experience even if you're getting coffee the first month and you'll meet people who are working in the industry. Also go to meetups and events. Networking is important. Start working on real projects as soon as possible even if they aren't for class. Do a small site or poster for a local band or business you admire but always go to them and offer; turn down all requests for free work. In the end it devalues the whole industry if people think they can get any design work for free.
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