4 Things to Know Outside of Design School

Going to school for design was a great thing for me as it was something that helped me realize what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. One thing to really take in is that life outside of school is a whole different jungle. There are plenty of things they don’t really tell or teach you in school that is vital to your career. School is great to grasp the fundamentals, but there’s much more to take in.

Through my experience from graduating, here are 4 things I wish I knew and that you should know when you’re near the end of your program.

1) Don’t Rely on Your Degree

Though your degree may look good to potential employers, it isn’t the full package to landing a job. Experience usually trumps knowledge. If you can offer more experience than those with a degree, the more likely you’ll land the job. It’s something I’ve gone through plenty of times (on the graduate side)

A way to assist that degree and minimal experience is to make sure your portfolio aligns with the job you’re looking to get. Having work that reflects the position you’re seeking can help you get noticed. Some ways to do work around that is to look at the actual job descriptions. See what the company is looking for in a designer and what the common duties are. Use that information to fine tune your skills I’ll touch on a bit more in Section 2.

An alternate to trying to find work experience is getting an internship. You’re likely to develop skills and build your portfolio in the ideal places you’re looking to work at. They could even lead to a full time job.

2) Don’t Rely on Student Work

Your class projects can only get you so far. From what I know, the student work you created may not be relatable to the position you want to land. It may help you get something, but not exactly what you’re looking to get.

Let’s say you want to design t-shirt graphics for a sports company. The company would want to see a portfolio filled with apparel graphics rather than student work focused on web design. Take on self-initiated projects dedicated to areas that interest you. If you do a project around an existing brand, find the art/creative director’s email and send them what you created. If they like it, they may respond with something good.

There does come the problem of doing the work you’re passionate about when you’re also trying to make money.

Solution: find a job that’ll drive income and experience. When the day job is over, take time after to make the work you really want. It may interfere with your free time, but sacrifices must be made to help reach your goals.

3) Go in on Your Strengths

Focusing on the things you’re good at will usually lead you to getting work around your skills. Trying to be great in all areas of design could just slow you down. If you’re looking to work in a specific industry with a specific skill (apparel graphics for sports), continue to create work dedicated to that. The more you create, the better you get. The better you get, the more likely you’ll get noticed.

Dedicating your time on developing those strengths will get you work much faster than spending time on things you’re not so well versed in. There’s nothing wrong with trying to learn other things, but make sure it’s geared towards something you want to do. It shouldn’t be a distraction with doing the work you’re really good at. Don’t spread yourself too thin, to the point where you’re only “kind of good” at many things vs being “really good” at a couple. Maximize your potential!.

4) Keep Learning (Design, Business and Marketing)

One of the main thing you don’t learn in school is the business side of design. The side where you’ll need to be able to deal with clients and market yourself. This is where you need to take full advantage of one of the greatest resources: the internet. It’s your greatest tool to learn, promote yourself, and be up to date in the industry. Google and youtube are your best friends to answer some of your questions. There are countless of articles, videos, tutorials, and podcasts that give you tips to help solve any problems you face.

Social media and online networks are necessary to promote yourself. Best of all, it’s free. The only expense is time and hard work. Using the time you have to get yourself noticed by constantly sharing your work and building relationships. Sharing your work on platforms such as Behance, Dribbble, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and even LinkedIn will get you going.

You’ll never know who will come across your work. Sharing my work on these platforms has caught attention from potential employers and other interesting people. Take advantage of these resources and don’t waste it on unproductive things.

In order to get to where you want, you need to put in the time and work. I’m continuing to do so. It’s resulted in creating interesting opportunities.

Thank you for your time.