Need to go college or self-study Graphic Design?

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Lmangus

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:wave: Hola everyone! I'm a stay-at-home mom with my 3 (5, 4, and 2) wonderful babies and been married for 6 years. As you can see timeline where everything went too fast and all were wonderful things. As to my question is, is it really a need to go to college and get a degree as Graphic Designer? Not that I'm looking to work for a company (not saying never), but for myself ready to expand much more and a possibility to own a business. Of course to help out my husband but as you know that it can give him a strain of spending more money for college, so that wouldnt be fair. lol :D
What are your thoughts? Is there that I can learn from a book and do self-study?? Or would it be too complex?? anything... lol
Thanks for looking! :ty: :wave:
 
You can do everything computer related by yourself at home if time is not the issue. I follow a more "hands-on" approach by trial and error and you can learn anything you wanted, especially graphics design. If you want, get a book but with youtube and the internet almost everything is free out there today.

Anything computer related, even programming can be done in the comfort of your own home.. That is how some "hackers" were hired for the FBI/CIA with nothing more than a high school degree. As for graphics design, you only really need to go to school if you want a connection to work corporate - such as Disney, NYC fashion, advertising, and so on. Rest is your own skills. All you need is the desire and enthusiasm to learn.

Look at it this way - the only reason you'd need to go to college to learn the arts is if you are not good at learning material on your own and need someone to organize/lay it out for you. Or, you need to "secure" a job by a certain time. That's all there is to it aside from the connections/interns side.
 
do it yourself. see how far you can get with self-education. your selling point would be your product not your education. i knew a woman who was a self taught web designer. southwest airlines hired her . she never went to school for it.
 
Self educated here. (did some small classes though in the young years)
 
It depends on what kind of learner you are and how self-disciplined you are.

Even if you teach yourself it would be beneficial to have a live mentor in the field to guide you along, especially in the business end of your field.
 
It would help to have some credentials when it comes to acquiring jobs, just saying.
 
self-study, it's your skill, you show the artwork, they thought it's impressive with NO MEAN.

Go to college, they teach you more on how to make it a concept via market.
 
I think that if you're serious about graphic design and want to make a career out of it, then go get a college degree. Employment for graphic designers is expected to grow as much as 13 percent up until 2018. Source: Graphic Designers

However, if you're like me and want to make a business out of it, you can learn at home. Buy a book at or two from Amazon.com (read their reviews) and study at home. If for whatever reason you need a project done but can't complete it, you can always outsource it. Works for me.

Good luck.
 
Yeah, you can study at home, which I think is fine. But, from my experience, you will learn a lot more in a classroom. I am currently studying graphic design even though I am self-taught.

I also think that being in a classroom gives you a good opportunity to pit your skills against others, which can allow you to learn about your strengths and weaknesses. And, if you are awesome, you can use your teachers as references.
 
omegaman said:
Yeah, you can study at home, which I think is fine. But, from my experience, you will learn a lot more in a classroom. I am currently studying graphic design even though I am self-taught.

I also think that being in a classroom gives you a good opportunity to pit your skills against others, which can allow you to learn about your strengths and weaknesses. And, if you are awesome, you can use your teachers as references.
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That's true.

You'll be surprised what you're actually missing when being self-taught.

Sometimes, you can find out easier and faster approaches towards what you're already doing. :thumb:
 
Depends on your discipline and motivation imo.

If I were doing it all over I would definitely learn using materials and guidance online/from home. I don't mean to discount what you can get from a classroom but graphic design is one of the few areas that a person can truly get all that a classroom offers and more with only an internet connection.

If you're interested I can supply a list of incredible resources/websites that'll teach you lots.
 
Neostrategos said:
If I were doing it all over I would definitely learn using materials and guidance online/from home. I don't mean to discount what you can get from a classroom but graphic design is one of the few areas that a person can truly get all that a classroom offers and more with only an internet connection.
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Constructive criticism is important. The instructors/professors are able to act as if they are real clients while looking at your works. Heck, they even sometimes will give you actual projects to do for actual clients sometimes.

Yes, people can make comments and such on the internet, but it's not the same as dealing with a client in person. People need to learn how to deal with clients the right way. Social interaction with clients is important since it help people in getting hired for projects and more.

I'm sorry, but hands-on experience is an absolute must when it comes to graphic design. At least in my experience.
 
Banjo said:
Constructive criticism is important. The instructors/professors are able to act as if they are real clients while looking at your works. Heck, they even sometimes will give you actual projects to do for actual clients sometimes.

Yes, people can make comments and such on the internet, but it's not the same as dealing with a client in person. People need to learn how to deal with clients the right way. Social interaction with clients is important since it help people in getting hired for projects and more.

I'm sorry, but hands-on experience is an absolute must when it comes to graphic design. At least in my experience.
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I feel like you're talking about something different than what OP asked about and what my reply addressed. Learning graphic design doesn't necessarily have anything to do with dealing with clients.

Obviously if you're going to be a freelancer or dealing with clients directly experience is always a good thing. And nowhere in my post do I imply that A) you shouldn't be social with clients or B) you don't need to be. I never even broached the subject.

Back to the subject at hand...

I did say that you can learn anything about graphic design online, and you can, if you disagree then you clearly aren't aware of the same web resources I am. Does it hurt to have someone in person who can answer any question you have, obviously not, is it worth the $ when you can get the same/similar answers online with a little more effort...debatable.

Get your context straight homey.
 
I feel like you're talking about something different than what OP asked about and what my reply addressed. Learning graphic design doesn't necessarily have anything to do with dealing with clients.
 
logon68 said:
I feel like you're talking about something different than what OP asked about and what my reply addressed. Learning graphic design doesn't necessarily have anything to do with dealing with clients.
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If you don't need to deal with clients, then for whom are you doing the graphic designs? If you are designing for your own pleasure, then you don't need clients, true. If you are designing as a profession, to earn an income, then you do need to know how to deal with clients.

Even if you want to design without charge for non-profit groups, you still need to know how to deal with clients. The most scintillating, mind-boggling, technically intricate and perfect design in the world is worthless if it doesn't meet the client's needs. ("Client" can include non-payers.)
 
Reba said:
If you don't need to deal with clients, then for whom are you doing the graphic designs? If you are designing for your own pleasure, then you don't need clients, true. If you are designing as a profession, to earn an income, then you do need to know how to deal with clients.

Even if you want to design without charge for non-profit groups, you still need to know how to deal with clients. The most scintillating, mind-boggling, technically intricate and perfect design in the world is worthless if it doesn't meet the client's needs. ("Client" can include non-payers.)
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Bingo. As just I was saying.

In order to be a graphic designer, you must be able to deal with the clients. There is no way around it.
 
Neostrategos said:
I did say that you can learn anything about graphic design online, and you can, if you disagree then you clearly aren't aware of the same web resources I am. Does it hurt to have someone in person who can answer any question you have, obviously not, is it worth the $ when you can get the same/similar answers online with a little more effort...debatable.

Get your context straight homey.
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No need to be rude.

Anyway, you can learn plenty about graphic design on the internet. However, graphic design itself is a profession. In order to work in the field, you need to be able to work with clients and employers. Hands-on experience is pretty relevant, I would say.
 
Well I used to major in photography and business. I was a semester away from receiving my associate degree when I decided it wasn't worth the effort and walked away.

The thing with many places that rely on your creative skill is, most don't give a damn what's on piece of paper. They care more about what you have to show them (profolio) and your ability to market yourself. It is a incredibly tough business! It is basically like as selling.

As for business, if you're really new to the whole thing, may take a couple basic businesses and marketing classes to get idea of what is involved and what it takes. Then you can decide on your own if you still really want to try and run your own business.
But the degree in business... Unless you go to some of the best business school in the country and receive a bachelor or master degree, your diploma will be more of a use in scrubbing the floor. Most businesses don't care about your degree, they want experience. So you're better off start at the bottom and work your way up to some sort of management level if you really want to be some kind of business manager.

Hope this help.
 
At the college where I work, the major for graphic design includes a course for the exit portfolio, which also includes how to prepare the resume, interview, and make a presentation.

Having the skills is most important but no good if one doesn't know how to demonstrate those skills to prospective clients.

The entrepreneur course includes preparing a business plan and making presentations.

All the skill in the world is no good if one doesn't know how to manage the finances of the business.

Some businesses won't even let you in the front door without a degree. That might not be fair but it's a fact of life.
 
RabidLamn said:
Well I used to major in photography and business. I was a semester away from receiving my associate degree when I decided it wasn't worth the effort and walked away.
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If you love photography, then I reckon you should complete the course. You put so much time and effort into your studies, and only have a few months left before acquiring your qualification.

One of my regrets is choosing not to do a graphics related course when I was younger. Like you, I felt that the creative industry is extremely competitive, thus prospects of finding a job is very slim.

I am also often told that people who are work in the graphics industry are doing marketing duties instead of graphic design. Moreover, I also know a few people who are qualified as graphic designers, and are fantastic designers, yet they could not find work.

Whilst I think it is true that employers want to see a good folio, they also want references and experience. And, in most cases, from my experience, they also want to see qualifications, whether it is a certificate or degree.

Although graphics is a difficult area to get into, realistically, what professional field is easy to break into anyway? In most cases, you need to know somebody.

I think that if you are interested in something that you enjoy doing, then you should at least make an effort to pursue your interest, because you may end up regretting not trying...

I am currently doing a graphic design course even though I do not know if I can get a job in the area. But, the thing is, I feel better about myself than wasting my life in an office doing monkey work (which I am currently doing).

As for business... Business is not my area. But, I do know of a few web designers who run their business from home. It doesn't seem to be rocket-science to run a small business.
 
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