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Thread: Hands up who's actually studied Design

  1. #21
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    Never studied design.
    I am a business major at California State University.

    "An educated designer is not always good; a good designer is not always educated."

    -unknown

  2. #22
    Old Member gecko2's Avatar
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    I did three years at Art College, only did a further 6 monthes of a HND (Higher National Diploma) and a web company saw my work and offered me a job, this was nearly 4 years ago and I'm still here. I could have completed the HND and entered a Graphics/New Media degree half way through a two year course but saw the job as something too good to miss. Where I lived there was virtually no companies really any good in graphics/web environment. It was a 50 mile move but I've got 4 years experience compared to some of my friends who have either dropped out of the course, completed the degree and are struggling for to find work or are working in a completely different line of business which has nothing to do with graphics.
    Keep it rural.

  3. #23
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    as someone else mentioned, years of study won't make up for lack of talent and originality - I would rate portfolio contents and personality over a degree anyday in an interview

    having said that 3 + years at uni does hammer a lot of stuff in you and working alongside your peers means you get over fads and novelties quicker - once 30 kids have discover lens flare together, they never abuse it again in the real world...

  4. #24
    Work sucks ]v[orpheus's Avatar
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    I did a Certificate IV in Web Site Production, but quit it cause of a girl I met that year and that I was disgruntled at how some of the classes where taught.

    Maybe next year I might do a Web Design course like CIW or similar at a private college.

  5. #25
    ********* mentuat's Avatar
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    was the girl worth it?

  6. #26
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    Originally posted by Markosef
    From which books are you learning Design theories ??
    I received a gigantic list of books from my prof to read, so I'm not going to post them up because some of them may be not quite as useful as one might think.

    In general though, I'd recommend picking up a copy of Josef Muller-Brockmann's "Grid Systems in Graphic Design." That book you won't regret buying at all, as it has the potential of influencing everything from your poster making to web design, and more. "A History of Graphic Design" by Philip Meggs is also a nice pickup because knowing about past theories can really inspire or affect your own work. And "The Elements of Typographic Style" by Robert Bringhurst is a nice reference and intro to Typography.

  7. #27
    Loop Junkie calpomatt's Avatar
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    Well...I'm majoring in Civil Engineering and haven't taken any classes in design.

  8. #28
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    They can teach you theories, but not creativity.
    Again, not all educated designers are educated.. not all educated designers are good.

  9. #29
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    yes, they can teach the theories.
    Teaching creativity is somewhat harder, who knows if you can.

    Yet what I think essentially alot of people agree on is that a knowledge of design principles can only benefit peoples designs.
    I never mentioned degrees or diplomas.

    Some people have said ' I never studied design and have got plenty of clients' (or something of that nature), all I can say to you is that learning principles and theories of design can only improve your abilities, and so perhaps enable you to gain even more clients (who knows, you might even be able to justify raising your rates).


    Also if more people looked into it, then certain so called design companies (I'm not naming any) might actually be able to justify associating themselves with the word 'Design'. Rather than just being a collection of people who can pile together a page of text and images in html/flash or whatever and sell it to unsuspecting clients as a 'professionally designed website'.

    well that's my two cents

  10. #30
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    My Ramble begins.....

    The computer age has been and is the fasted developing industry in history. One of the consequences to that is that education is hard pressed to keep up with the advancements. This has allowed a growing community of people to develop their skills individually to a point that exceeds what can be learnt in a classroom.

    Having said that, there comes a time when the general level of expertise grows to a point where a lot of peoples skills are similar to each other. This is where education sperates the wheat from the chaff.

    eg. the most outstanding programmers where generally hackers that were young and self taught. Now, the most outstanding programmers are people who have supplemented those skills with theory and training through education.

    Even in an artistic context, almost all of the greatest painters and artists in history studied in schools to better understand concepts and theory. This enabled them to progress and even develop their own styles.

    Talent can only take you so far. Education and training help you reach the next level.

    The Rambling ends....

  11. #31
    An Inconvenient Serving Size hurricaneone's Avatar
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    I took a lot of elective art courses while in high school and at university (all types of mediums & materials), and they all helped with the design work that I do now.

    Reading is a great way to find out about what you can do, but doing is the best way of all, just to keep that part brief.

    In response to the 'great ideas can be ruined by mediocre design', this is very true, but still, you don't have to have the greatest idea ever to still make a prefectly presentable site. Granted, I always try and incorporate something new into the work that I do, but I think that's more to keep me on the ball/interested, rather than simply to make a better portfolio - though, if it does that too, I'm all for it.
    Stand by for emergency synapse rerouting

  12. #32
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    Originally posted by bcb037
    Even in an artistic context, almost all of the greatest painters and artists in history studied in schools to better understand concepts and theory. This enabled them to progress and even develop their own styles.

    Talent can only take you so far. Education and training help you reach the next level.
    Isnt it all the other way around?
    Surely it was that lots of artists studied and understood concepts and theory, yet it was the ones with the real talent that reached the next level and became the greatest painters and artists in history.

    Isn't it Education and Training only take you so far. Talent gets you to the next level.


    Saying that, I think they both go hand in hand.
    You can be talented as hell, yet if your skills and talents aren't trained and harnessed, they'll go nowhere.

    Hey I think I managed to confuse myself

  13. #33
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    Originally posted by dazza3
    Isn't it Education and Training only take you so far. Talent gets you to the next level.

    Saying that, I think they both go hand in hand.
    You can be talented as hell, yet if your skills and talents aren't trained and harnessed, they'll go nowhere.

    I believe it goes both ways. And I fully agree with you.

    Heres another question to ponder.

    How many Successful designers have NOT actually studied design?

    I think you will find that the vast majority of the most respected designers in any industry would have done practical studies.

  14. #34
    Lunch is for wimps. erova's Avatar
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    we could even take it a step further when we talk about which designers have studied design and who hasn't by asking which of those designers who work in a corporate atmosphere have studied usability / human-computer interaction.

    obviously a four-year art degree and a well-stocked portfolio will get you in the door to a top madison-ave design shop in manhattan, but knowing principles of interface design (rather than the history of san-serif font and the Gutenberg press) can sometimes help more in tech/consulting gigs.

    of course, if the logo looks like hell and the color scheme is terrible, everything's doomed--but it's also true that on corporate sites the premium is not on the originality of the design but on how successful the dumbest users are in pulling out their credit cards.

  15. #35
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    True,
    that is an interesting point, I haven't studied human computer interaction. I kinda had to go with my instincts on that one, and try and look at it from the point of view of a human, interacting with a computer

    But I have generally just learnt from my mistakes, and am now able to put on my stupid head when designing so that even the lamest person can navigate the site.

    It is still true thought that it can navigate brilliantly, but look crap.In which case, people wont even take the time to discover how intuitive your design is.

  16. #36
    curmudgeon swampy's Avatar
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    I've studied architecture and the design of towns. does that count ?

  17. #37
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    nope

  18. #38
    curmudgeon swampy's Avatar
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    damn

    *packs in job*

    *signs on dole*

  19. #39
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    Architecture IS design.

    So if you study architecture...

  20. #40
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    Granted, it is possible that in Architecture you might possibly study colour theory - I don't really know, but I really don't think they teach you things like typography.

    But I guess an architect is a creatively minded person, so would probably have an interest in many forms of design.

    Didn't the guy who makes www.yugop.com use to be an architect?

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