Graphic Design as a Career

[namesweb]

Posting on behalf of my partner, she's currently an out of work graphic designer and has suffered at the hands of COVID.

She's interested in potentially pivoting careers, but doesn't really know where to go and where to start.

Her ideal is to stay in graphics design, but the job security seems a bit difficult, and has been for her last 3 jobs, where she was artworking, some website design (but not technical web work, more like wireframes, digital banners/emails etc). Web wise, she's not keen on the technical side of it so has avoided this.

She's got a solid portfolio with work for multinational corporates, airlines, oil and gas companies, smaller merchandising companies, retail brand companies and urban planning/development artwork experience.

In each job she's had a decent stint, built good relationships, proven herself then found her self made redundant due to the company losing clients, or the company not knowing exactly what they want from the designer role.

Any ideas? I've said she should set her self up in branding but it's so saturated and whilst she has experience being a designer, she doesn't have experience setting up a business.

Ideas shes played around with include:
- Project Management
- Tattoo Artist
- Photography
- Videography (has After Effects / Premier Pro experience)
- Drawing

Thanks

 

[Alison Moore]

My cousin is doing very well as a freelance graphic designer. Lots of companies don't have the requirement for a full time designer, but still need their services. Surely your partner wouldn't need to set up a company to work as a freelance graphic designer as she could be self employed.

In answer to her other ideas for a new career -

Project Management - does she have any experience of project managing? Plus in what sector? Most PMs need to know their sector in order to PM successfully.

Tattoo artist - not the best time to be getting into a market that is shrinking. You'd be better off opening up a tattoo removal service.

Photography - totally saturated with every one being a part-time/on-the-side photographer and photoshop user.

Videography - I don't know much about this field, but with the film and TV industry having been severely affected, plus corporations tightening their belts, I doubt they will be investing in promotional material at this time.

Drawing - difficult to build up a name for herself, plus lack of outlets with so many fairs being cancelled.

Good luck to her whatever she decides to do.

 

[The Byre]

Right now the entire film industry is going through the most violet changes you could imagine. It is locked down and as Roger Deakins said "I can't make films wearing a hazmat suit!"

Some limited filming has begun around Pinewood and about £1bn worth of projects have been able to start filming in the UK but that is chicken-feed compared to what should be happening. More to the point, unless you have the budget to pay people to collectively isolate and you can have an in-studio testing station (that is what Pinewood and one or two others have had to do) then you cannot make TV or film material.

That said, there is a huge pent-up demand for material of all sorts and of the options you have posted, that is the one I would go for. If she can draw, story-boarding is one path, editing can be done in Vegas Pro (cheap) or DaVinci-Resolve (free or full version is cheap or free with a Black Magic Design camera) and every movie has to colour-correct in Resolve anyway, so everyone has it.

Film editing is an art form and it takes years to learn to do it properly.

There are more roles in film than I can list here - all the different types of production manager or things outsiders forget like stills photographer, casting director, location scout, ADR recorder, Foleys artist, colour scientist, data-wranger, the list just goes on and on and then there are all the CGI people - and right now, that side of things is veritably exploding!

People forget just how much CGI and VFX there is in a movie. 1917 may have looked a bit like a documentry but was loaded with CGI. Even stupid YouTube videos nowadays use CGI, if only for stings, gimmicks and openings.

The problem is, that is a field people grow into slowly and often are born into the industry. The one skill that is always welcome is being able to market and sell a movie.

Film and TV always involves a whole team, so if she can get together with like-minded people and start making things, she might find a whole new world opening up before her.

 

[Tirion]

Very useful info for my startup.

 

[DazRave]

If she's good a graphic design, does she know or understand UI and more importantly UX design?

Most User Experience and Product Designers start off as Graphic Designers. So do not have technical skills and those that do usually pick up the basics as they go. Salaries are usually better and because the roles can be linked directly to outcomes rather than output, you usually have better job security also as you can prove your worth easier.

 

[namesweb]

Thanks guys I appreciate the advice. @The Byre do you know how best she might go about obtaining something like those without any prior direct experience?

As we know the whole online applications world is a nightmare, and I've suggest she "get on her bike" so to speak and pick the phone up and canvas companies she might be interested in; i.e. treat it very much like a 'business opportunity' with the deal being closing a job, but the approach of online-only seems to be relatively fruitless but moreso the way of the world in many cases!

@Alison Moore thanks - I agree with your summation of the other ideas, hence why we're back at the drawing board! About your comment on freelancing - I suppose it's just simply a case of her getting herself out there, building a network (my presumption is to partner with print houses who might need assistance, web design companies (possibly other freelancer more technical focused) etc and just putting herself in front of these people as their go to when they need art/creative/design work done)?

As someone not in the industry I'm just trying to help by making semi educated guesses as to what approach. I'm guessing there is no secret formula beyond getting out there, producing good work and building from there...

 

[The Byre]

I've suggest she "get on her bike" so to speak and pick the phone up and canvas companies she might be interested in; i.e. treat it very much like a 'business opportunity' with the deal being closing a job, but the approach of online-only seems to be relatively fruitless but moreso the way of the world in many cases!

She just has to keep banging the door down!

As one key grip told me "I got my first break as a kid by going to the studio and asking for a job at least once a week. After about three months, the floor manager gave me a job as a runner, simply to shut me up. He told me later that he thought if he hired me and I then was as useless as I looked, he could fire me and would never have to see my ugly mug ever again! As it was, I did all right!"

Don't ever forget that people get hired when they are needed and not when they need a job. Your girlfriend has to be the one who is standing there with the right skills at exactly the right time for when someone needs those skills. That means banging on the door again and again and again and again . . .

 

[mattk]

I'd be tempted to avoid anything which other people do as a hobby. Otherwise you can find yourself trying to earn enough to make a living competing against people doing it for some spare cash. You'll spend your whole time trying to justify why you charge three times as much for what superficially seems the same product.

Out of that list, project management would be my preference. There is loads of demand, decent PMs can earn good money and there is always the option to go out on your own, especially if you have niche skills.

 

[ethical PR]

If your GF wants to stay in graphic design why doesn't she approach larger marketing/design agencies and in-house operations she would be interested in working for.

I would suggest multi-nationals, larger charities and public sector bodies are likely to be more robust against redundancies.

Being a freelance in a hugely over-crowded marketplace is much more risky.