Graphic designers/ artists?

[Sukey]

Where to start? Maybe that is my question.  I graduated college 10 years ago and I was basically an art major.  I took a few graphic design classes, but that was probably over 10 years ago.  I know programs have probably changed.  At the time I was attending college I had very little motivation.  Now I am interested in getting back into it.  I work with a company doing social media and we get to do some creative posts sometimes and it makes me think about how I would rather be doing something like graphic design. I just don't know where to start.  They actually employe graphic designers in my company.

I don't own any programs such as photoshop or illustrator.  I don't even know if I could afford them.  Up until recently I played around on Creata Card. I was recently introduced to publisher. I don't know if I should go back to school at the community college or if I could even afford that.

I just feel frustrated and not really sure what to do next.  I know I need to work on my drawing skills some more.  Are there certain graphics programs that are recommended?  I know that I couldn't work part time at my current job if I wanted to go back to school, because they just decided they didn't want to keep their part timers

[Bekuno]

I can't tell you much when it comes to professional things, I do art as a hobby because it's just not worth a shot trying to get in the industry (at least not for me). But I can help you with programs!

Adobe terminated it's CS2 software about two years ago and "technically" released most of it's CS2 programs for free. I can't exactly remember how to get to them, and they're not really reliable because they're old, but it's the closest you'll get to legally getting them without paying.

I think most adobe stuff is a pay by month for use system now.
If you don't mind spending a little, Paint Tool Sai is a good art program. It's what I use. I think it costs about $50? Corel Painter and Clip Studio Paint are also cost affordable in comparison to adobe programs.

Good free programs are Krita, Gimp, and Fire Alpaca. I don't have much (if any) experience with them however.

[dashesndots]

I graduated in 2007 as a English Lit / Studio Art major and spent 5 years as a proofreader before moving to my current graphic designer job in the same company.  I was lucky that my boss was willing to take a chance on me (it also helped that  1. they were kind of desperate with 2 designer openings that they were having trouble filling and 2. they had seen that I had some artistic skill based on random projects I had done over the years.)  It also did help that I had a solid foundation in the company branding from my years as a proofreader, so at least I didn't have to learn all that as well.

As far as software, I literally learned "on the job"    I started out with Quark (& Photoshop and Illustrator), only to have the company switch to InDesign for page layout after I had been here only a year and a half.  So then I had to learn that from the ground up.  And I am still learning.  But I know enough now to do my job, and if I ever run into any issues I have a whole team of other designers I can ask or I can use google and usually come up with a solution. 

So I think that you being out of school 10 years isn't a big deal, especially if you've proven that you are a fast learner.  I'd try to get your hands on an older version of InDesign if possible (or pony up for the subscription for CS6) and just play around - watch tutorials on youtube!  Anything to get a basic grasp of things.  And then the next time there is an opening in your company (or somewhere else) perhaps you could apply and just let them know that you've been working on it on your own - and that you can learn on the job!

Just to note - I am a strictly print designer, so I'm not sure how much of what I just said would go for web.  Obviously you'd need a much wider skill set if you were going to do web as well.

eta I put the wrong date - I graduated from college in 2007 not 2003 LOL.  Trying to make myself older.

[banditpony]

I think the term graphic designer is fairly broad. And usually most jobs aren't that creative (sadly)..  and the biggest demand is web/interactive.

What makes a good designer is their skill with layout and composition. InDesign is an important program to learn. Pick up books about type -- this is so important.

You could try watching skill share videos.

I really don't think there is getting around using Adobe products, it's a industry standard. I wouldn't use anything below cs4 creative suite. Looks like < $200 on eBay... But I think getting cs5 or cs6 is more ideal if you can't afford CC. I believe being a student gives a heavy discount for CC.

ETA:
You mention creatacard. Are you in the social expression industry? I can probably give more advice via pm if you are.

[Sukey]

I think the term graphic designer is fairly broad. And usually most jobs aren't that creative (sadly)..  and the biggest demand is web/interactive.

What makes a good designer is their skill with layout and composition. InDesign is an important program to learn. Pick up books about type -- this is so important.

You could try watching skill share videos.

I really don't think there is getting around using Adobe products, it's a industry standard. I wouldn't use anything below cs4 creative suite. Looks like < $200 on eBay... But I think getting cs5 or cs6 is more ideal if you can't afford CC. I believe being a student gives a heavy discount for CC.

ETA:
You mention creatacard. Are you in the social expression industry? I can probably give more advice via pm if you are.

No, Creata card was just something I have had over the years, so I've played around on it.  I run social media pages mainly for insurance agents and i have a few local customers, too.

I took Typography in college and if I looked hard enough, I probably could find all of my art and graphics books at my parents house.

I just feel so overwhelmed by it all... They did have one of their graphic designers(he also did other things in the company) relocate a few months ago, so they are down a designer. I would just like to have some experience doing things before I would mention anything to my boss.

[MsMedley]

Hey! So I've been doing print work for @ 15 years now - received a bachelors in Visual Communications. One of the things I've learned that if you have the drive an passion to learn about design, you don't necessarily need a degree. One of the best designers I know only took a handful of courses and never graduated with a degree in the field. He just had a knack for it and loved what he did, and taught himself most of it. And much of what you learn is just by looking at what is considered good design, and learning to use the necessary programs, and if in print, learning how to prep files for the printer. A lot of it is just jumping in and doing it, and learning along the way!

Since you were an art major you already have the basic skill set of what a good design looks like, I would think, or at least proper composition. Maybe taking a course in typography and basic layout theory would be beneficial. From the technical aspect the Adobe Creative Suite is the industry standard. InDesign definitely. If you want to learn I would recommend the Visual Quickstart books -  they are a great blend of techniques and tutorials that will get you up to speed on the program pretty quick. And if you learn one of the Adobe programs, it flows well into learning the others (like Photoshop) since they have similar program layouts. InDesign Secrets is a great web resource. And just start looking at high profile portfolios on Behnace or other sights, to get a feel for what is considered good design. If you just want to freelance, you will have more flexibility as to what programs you use. Then I would just focus on sharpening your design skills.

Another thing is they have changed is they have made creating and saving print design for social media/web a lot easier. InDesign will convert print to web rather seamlessly, as far as measurements, color and file size. I don't work very much with that end of it, but the little I do need to do is very easy to convert for web. As far as getting the programs...Do you have a home computer you use? You could try to download a trial versions of InDesign - it just won't let you print (I'm not sure about saving either, but I think you can), and you only get it for 30 days, so be prepared to cram! It may be a good way to get your feet wet and see if you want to pursue it further. You can then enroll and just get InDesign for $20/month. That's not too bad considering back in the day it would cost upwards of $700.

IF there is a design department at your job, maybe try and be-friend one of the designers there, and see about using their computer at lunch or after hours to just get familiar with the programs?

A few more tips - once you get into it more, try to do design works pro-bono for local non-profits. It will help get you experience and build your portfolio, and the smaller places like animal shelters can't usually afford to hire someone. Are you thinking of getting into design as a full-time thing, or just want to do side work? I'm finding that the more varied experience you have, the better chance you will have getting a job. Most places want you to know so many things,so if you can do graphic design as well as social media, you will be more marketable. Having a fine art background will help a lot too - throw a few pieces of fine art into your portfolio and it will stand out. But  I would say you don't really have to focus on your drawing skills to pursue graphic design. I love to do fine art but only on the side. I think people like to see you have that background because it means you have a fuller range of experience, but you won't be drawing on the job, most likely.

I hope this helped a bit! Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions or need more pointers or even want me to take a look at some of your design work - I'm happy to help I also have resources about where to get cheap stock art, free fonts, ect. I can share too. Good luck!!

[banditpony]

It can be totally overwhelming! Just take it little by little. This is great if you already are familiar with your companies product.

At your company what roll do the graphic designers do specifically? Are they responsible for webpages or print materials?

Definitely look into skill share. I haven't yet but I've heard good things about it from designers and artists. It's on my goals to watch some myself. I hear it's less dry then Lynda.com

[Duenia]

I'm graduated for Web Design, and took some graphic design classes. Since I worked with graphic design student a lot, I learned quite a bit about the current state of the industry.

For Adobe you will need PhotoShop, Illustrator, and InDesign experience. But getting a job for design alone isn't easy, you'll also need some basic web skills since things are moving away from print and towards digital. Most companies expect they can hire one person to take care of their web and graphic needs, so look into learning HTML and CSS in particular. I don't have much advice on the programs unfortunately - but for the coding there are two sites I typically send people to.

Codecademy - free service, I haven't done their HTML and CSS courses, some of the courses are buggy but most don't appear to be.
https://www.codecademy.com/

Treehouse - this is a subscription service but their content is generally wonderful
https://teamtreehouse.com/home

Adobe terminated it's CS2 software about two years ago and "technically" released most of it's CS2 programs for free. I can't exactly remember how to get to them, and they're not really reliable because they're old, but it's the closest you'll get to legally getting them without paying.

I would highly advise against this. The 'release' was accidental and they have threatened legal action in the past for people who illegally download it through that mistake. They have also closed the channel that had been opened to download it from them. It was open for about 2 weeks I think?

Also, Medley is correct that if you can learn on your own you don't need a degree. Sometimes the degree just makes it a bit easier.

[Sukey]

Thanks everyone for the replies! When I was in school they didn't offer a graphics major. I was 2 classes shy of being an art major- I didn't take core review or senior portfolio, but I'm pretty sure o took all of the graphics classes that were offered.

Just reading responses did give me an idea if I'm brave enough to ask about it.  The company I work for might even be able to put some graphics programs on my laptop.  They put Microsoft office on my laptop. But I don't know that might be different.

At work we are split up into teams and we were told we could design a logo for our team.  So, I worked on some ideas and I thought some of them turned out pretty neat, but we change up teams frequently(almost every month since we started teams) and that team and its name is long gone I was really hoping to see it on a t-shirt someday, oh well...

[kaoskat]

I have no advice but I do wish you luck!