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Graphic Design News

Graphic Design Classes that Inspire

Graphic design classes usually take place in a college curriculum, but as many professionals are discovering they have their place outside of the structured college environment, too.

Independently taken, graphic design classes provide professionals with an edge over the competition and can help teens and adults decide if a career in graphic design is the right choice for them.

Short graphic design classes that are 6-weeks or less are an affordable way to discover hidden talents and make decisions about a pricier college education for those considering a career in the arts. For professionals, art classes can offer exponential growth potential and perhaps inspire a new career path for those struggling in their first career choice. Many graphic design classes are offer online, making it easier than ever to fit professional training into an already hectic professional schedule.

For students who aren’t sure of their future career and think that a career in graphic design might be an interesting option, one of the graphic design classes available through online providers is the ideal way to find out without breaking the bank to do it. Many online graphic design classes are 24 hours in length and cost less than $100. The prerequisite for online graphic design classes is a basic knowledge of computers.

Graphic design classes provide training on some of the industry’s most popular graphic art software programs and teach everything from basic web banner design to advanced print publishing methods. With the internet fast becoming the main way we communicate, professionals need to know how to present themselves online. The days of meet-and-greets with potential clients are swiftly fading away and graphic design classes offer an affordable way to make sure your first impression in the virtual world is as positive as your in-person meetings will be.

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Graphic Design News

College Bound Students Study Graphic Design Classes

Graphic design classes at high schools help young students figure out what they want to do following their high school graduation.

Now more than ever, teens are learning computer-based skills before graduation and many do so before even entering high school.

Computer classes are very beneficial for teens, especially in schools where graphic design classes and other art or multimedia disciplines are covered. Most high school courses focus on the technologies that are used in these fields of study and offer a unique advantage to these students. While much of the country’s schools lag behind in technology, for those who attend a technical high school the graphic design classes can be a game changer in the future.

Graphic design classes in college focus on the fundamentals of graphic design, at first. And part of that education is to familiarize students with the many computer programs that they will use in order to carry out the standard tasks that will be required of them in their field of study. Some technical high schools are enabling students to get the jump on this part of their college education, even if they decide that graphic design isn’t the right field for them in the future.

Whether they go on to become fashion designers, architects, drafting technicians, or marketing professionals, almost all professions related to art and design will make use of many of the same computer programs to get the job done. CADD (computer aided drafting and design) programs are heavily used in the fields of graphic design, architecture, and interior design.

Graphic design classes at some high schools are teaching students the basics in a number of software programs, including Adobe suite programs like inDesign, Photoshop, and Acrobat, to name just a few. These classes will help them to not only make decisions about their future profession, but puts them at a learning advantage when they do enter an art and design college.

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Graphic Design News

Rising Graphic Design Careers in Animation, Web Design

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), graphic design careers are expected to continue in stability and see an overall 13% growth in job through 2018.

But not all graphic design careers are the same and according to the most recent reports, the best sector for graphic designers is going to be in animation and web design.

As huge as the web has become, there seems to be a gap in the number of graphic designers choosing a career in this sector of the job market. Graphic design career paths can take designers into many facets of the art – from promotional packaging and displays to marketing and logo designs; some even develop the government signs and markers we see on the side of the roads.

However, the BLS report indicates that these types of jobs are very saturated and the competition can be fierce. It does identify one underserved area of design, however – web related graphic design careers will be the most open in the job market for new designers. While it can take 1 to 3 years of “paying the dues” in a lower-end job before any advancement opportunities open up, graphic designers with training in web design and animation stand to make $10,000 more annually than any other type of designer. Furthermore, those with this specialty training will face less competition until the market starts filling up in the next 4 years.

Education is an important part of this process, obviously. At most graphic design firms, a bachelors degree is the minimum requirement for qualifying for a job with no prior experience. However, for freelance graphic designers and those that intend to start a firm as quickly as possible, there are also plenty of trade schools and colleges where one can earn an Associate’s Degree and Certificate courses.

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Graphic Design News

Dual-Enrollment: Graphic Design School and High School Credit

Sometimes, graphic design school starts a little early; students in dual enrollment classes can get a head start on their degree.

Is it worth it to get a jump on credits they will have to earn at graphic design school after high school graduation? Most say yes, yes it is.

Being a dual-enrolled high school student is a lot of work. Not only are they studying their normal high school coursework, they are adding elements that most students would not learn until they entered into a college or university. For high-achieving high school students however, this added curriculum might just save them money and time when they finally get into a graphic design school.

Graphic design schools often teach the basics in the first years of their programs – stuff like how to run graphic design software and basic concept creation and management. High schools are already employing new technology and computers are part of the classroom. So a class in electronic drafting, for example, is likely going to involve getting to know some of the software a student might use in their college courses.

It makes sense for students who already know that they want to attend a graphic design school later to learn as much as they can before they get there. High schools offer electives, too, so it becomes easier with computer technology to blend these ideas together for high school juniors and seniors. This is one of the reasons that technical high schools are popping up in tons of cities around the country, too.

The term “dual enrollment” is important and differs slightly from “technical high school”. Students that are dually enrolled in a high school and passing college level coursework in a college approved curriculum are awarded credits for the classes that go toward their high school diploma and their college degree.

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Graphic Design News

Graphic Design Schools Celebrate National Contest Winners

A commemorative poster competition drew attention to a few of the best graphic design schools in the nation recently.

The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) is celebrating its 100th year this year and opened up a competition to graphic design schools for a Centennial poster design to honor the landmark birthday.

The top three students placing in the contest were Clayton Stewart of the graphic design school at Westwood College, Michael Fitzgerald of the graphic design program at Anthem Institute, and Raul Pastor Lopez of the graphic design school at John Dewey College. All three students created outstanding posters using their graphic design training, which can be viewed on ACICS’ website with a bio of each designer.

The winning design by graphic designer Clayton Stewart features a blue and black theme and bears the phrase “100 Years Making the Transition Between Education and the Workforce” and shows a student walking into the phrase on the left and a businessman walking out on the right.

The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools works with independent graphic design schools and any independent teach facility seeking accreditation from the agency.  It is responsible for accrediting over 900 schools in the United States alone and is a non-profit agency based out of Virginia.

The graphic design school where Stewart attends classes at Westwood College is located in Houston Texas. The graphic design program is one of many offered at the college, which is currently closed to new enrollments because the classes are full. Westwood is the recipient of multiple industry awards and was named as having the most-satisfied student body in a 2010 survey by Noel-Levitz.

The second and third place winners of the competition were from graphic design school programs in Puerto Rico (John Dewey College) and Springhill, PA (Anthem Institute).

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Graphic Design News

Graphic Design Schools Challenge: Illustrations that Draw Emotion

Graphic design schools prepare students for a future career in “the arts”, but many who are still trying to decide on a major may not understand what that means.

At a period in the economy when it is more important than ever to choose the right career path, graphic design schools may offer more than one might expect in the way of flexible career choices.

Graphic designers go on to work in a seemingly limitless pool of job categories. Everything we see on television, billboards, magazine ads, and even on the walls of our favorite eateries and the subway stations in from which we travel were created by someone in “the arts”. Most of the time, those creators are graphic design graduates who made a career choice to be flexible and marketable to a variety of companies.

Everything has a label, an advertisement, and an associated image or logo these days. Graphic design school is where students learn to use the software needed to produce these forms of art and where they learn about the concepts of visual arts. It’s more than creating an image; graphic design students must learn about conveying emotions such as urgency, comfort, dismay, happiness, and an array of feeling.

From the ASPCA’s donation posters to major fashion label advertisements, a skilled graphic designer, if not several are involved in the process. Graphic design schools have to teach the tough lesson of guided imagery and emotional illustration. Most art students can illustrate their own emotions, but graphic design students have to guide the emotions of others and that is a harder task. In a recent article by Joanna Wilson at the University of Idaho in Moscow, University of Idaho professor in the college of art and architecture Greg Turner-Rahman explains it well: ““They have to think about everything that’s happening there. How does this feel? Does it express what I’m trying to say? Is it clear?”

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Graphic Design News

National Competition for Graphic Design Students Almost Over

The National Archives is almost finished with a recent competition for graphic design school and other art students to produce works of art for their latest challenge on challenge.gov.

The grand prize for the winning design is $500 and will be the best from all categories. Winners will be announced on February 6th.

The purpose of competition was to find multimedia projects about the environment created by students in the categories of graphic art, video, and poetry. Students were asked to express their own point of view about their immediate surrounding environments and how they view the current state of their environments.

According to the contest website, the challenge was born of a 1970’s EPA decision to hire photographers to document environmental problems facing the U.S. Now, The National Archives wants to update the journalistic library to include new, fresh perspectives of the environment through the resources found in graphic design schools and art institutions from around the country.

The original project “Documerica” encompasses the environmental perspective of thirty-years ago through more than 15,000 photos. Recently, the EPA and National Archives created a similar project called “State of the Environment”. Graphic design and arts students were encouraged to use these photos as the basis of their presentations for the competition and their project submission had to include a notation showing which image had inspired their competition submission.

Judging ended on January 27th for the graphic arts submission hat could include scans, cartoons, and photos. All video graphic designs were uploaded to YouTube prior to judging and can be found under search term “Documerica” for interested parties. Each of the categories will also award three finalists. Each will receive $70.00 and a framed print from the National Archives. The grand prize award is courtesy of the Foundation for the National Archives.

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Graphic Design News

Graphic Design Careers Still Promising for Students

The Department of Labor forecasts continued job demand for students who choose to go to graphic design school for a specific type of graphic design job.

In their report, graphic designers mostly work in specialized disciplines, with either marketing companies, print companies, or other types of publication companies.

The United States Department of Labor had good news for graphic design schools, too. Graphic designer schools should continue to fill programs according to the Department of Labor’s 2010-2011 Occupational Outlook.

The report made another point that graphic design schools should have taken note of: fewer graphic design students were actually working in design fields relating to web and computer system design, but the need for these specializations were expected to rise by last year.  Some graphic design schools started offering cross training in the last 2 years, integrating the art of graphic design with the art of web design. Other designers were expected to find opportunities in marketing and communication.

Many designers choose to be freelance agents in addition to their full time job. Graphic design schools undoubtedly touch on the topics of web design and running an independent company. Freelance graphic designers need to know business beyond client specifications and the job of design itself. Special business courses are offered at many major colleges, but some technical institutions may fail to recognize the importance of business studies during graphic design schooling.

In any case, the new report from the DoL is expected to be released at the end of March, 2012. Graphic design schools and students will be interested to know if the 13% prediction for an increase in job demand will rise or remain the same. At the time of the last report, they predicted that the need for web design that included mobile applications and other technologies would rise as well.

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Graphic Design News

Graphic Design Students Work to Feed the Hungry

Students studying graphic design are putting their skills toward a good cause benefiting their own class and Winnipeg Harvest.

Winnipeg harvest is a non-profit organization in Manitoba, Canada that helps get food to needy people in the community.

Graphic design students from Red River College will be at the Forks Market for the 10th Annual Art Festival and Auction this weekend to create works to be auctioned off. They will be drawing and sketching works of art during the art festival which will be auctioned before the end of the event on Sunday.

Winnipeg Harvest is a community-based organization that strives to make the general population aware of the hunger that happens in their own town and works with partners to find lasting solutions to the problem. They keep a surplus of food and distribute goods to any family who needs help.  Each dollar form the art auction that is donated to the food bank could purchase up to $20.oo in groceries for needy people in the community.

Red River College has 13 campuses in Manitoba and three in Winnipeg. The graphic design school at Red River College offers basic and advanced degrees in graphic design. According to the school’s website, the graphic design program offers up-to-date artistic training in technology, techniques, and philosophy.

The rules for the auction are simple: graphic design students can use oil, pencil, or any medium they choose. They just have to create original works of art. The festival will take place on Saturday between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. and on Sunday from 9 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. The graphic design student’s creations will be auctions off between 2 PM and 5 PM. The money raised by the auction will go to Winnipeg Harvest as well as the student’s graduation fund at Red River College.

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Graphic Design News

Graphic Design School to Talk about Success between Art Disciplines

A graphic design school teacher from Ferris State University is set to speak to faculty at Mississippi State University in March to discuss graphic design teaching methods.

William Culpepper wants to talk to other graphic design schools and universities that teach architecture and art in order to shed light on some of the successful processes used by Ferris.

Culpepper’s lecture on the value of graphic design students coordinating with other facets of architecture will discuss the teaching theories that seem to work the best in schools like MSU’s School of Architecture. According to a website hosted by Ferris, an art and design university located in Michigan, the lectures will talk about creative works, professionalism, and will be presented to students as well.  He will also cover a project that is helping the graphic design school gain some recognition known as Graphik Intervention

“My name is starting to get out there in terms of using different media to engage the public,” Culpepper said in the school’s news report. “I think it’s important to expose students outside of Michigan to the unique nature of Ferris’ Graphic Design program, which is housed in the College of Business, and how it works so well with other academic programs.”

Graphik Intervention is a project in which groups of students in Culpepper’s graphic design classes go out and research decrepit buildings in the area. The students find out about the building’s history and involve the community in coming up with innovative solutions for the spaces. Armed with projectors, the students display photographs and other messages on the sides of the abandoned building to spark interest in revitalizing the sites. The graphic design students find out what made the site a great place to be in its history, projecting stories and information onto the walls for all of the public to see.