#studypulp

[4 of 100] mentor session went well today, replied to student emails and looked through all their fabulous work in progress - they’re all so talented! 

Hello! Ahh I think this is the first time I’ve gotten an ask about studying graphic design hehe~ (This’ll end up being a bit lengthy haha, sorry)

So I know a lot of programs are going to vary in their curriculum, but at my university (it’s not an art school btw, just a normal university with a fairly good art program), we spend our first year taking traditional art/design classes. So drawing, 2d and 3d design, and two art history classes. After that is when you get to do classes more related to your emphasis - graphic design, in my case. The first core classes you do are Typography I and Graphic Design I. 

A lot of us actually thought typography class involved making your own fonts or something, but it actually involves working with type and putting type into layouts. That sounds boring, but it’s actually quite difficult and most people would say it’s one of the hardest classes. We start with the basics - like laying out a short novel, and then after that we get into more experimental projects like trying to abstractly combining a type specimen book with an essay. That being said, it’s such a fundamental skill that you’ll use everywhere, so this class is one of the most useful ones. There are 3 total typography classes, and we have to take a minimum of 2. It’s quite fun for me, and my favorite subject haha~ I just finished Type II in May.

The graphic design classes (there are 4 total) focus more on creating vector graphics. Graphic Design I focuses on the basics, II focuses on icon-making, III (which I’m taking now) is infographics (it’s so hard ;A;), and IV is branding (creating logos and developing a brand; I might take it next year). Once you reach the 400 level classes (Graphic Design III is 400 level, for reference), you have the option of taking either that or Packaging Design (designing packages obviously haha - I’m taking this right now!) or Environmental Design (creating signs for navigation - like you know those signs in parking lots that tell you where to go). We need at least two of the 400 level classes.

You also can take other art electives as well, like web design and photography, although there are less classes available for those. We also do a lot of art history classes as well. There’s a class for making a portfolio, getting an internship, or working in a design studio too, but I won’t get to do any of them until my last semester because of the prerequisites.

Anyway, I decided to go to school for this because I was in a graphic design program at my high school all 4 years. I really loved it, and it was something I could see myself being able to do for a really long time because it’s really challenging and won’t get old as long as I push myself. It’s kind of cheesy to say this lol, but design is something I feel really passionate about, and even though I’m not that great yet, I really want to be someday. I’ve struggled so much doing projects for school honestly (and I’m kind of going through that right now /sigh infographics), but when I look back at some of the projects I’ve done that I’m proud of and worked hard on I’m like “wow that was really cool, I did that? no way lol how did i pull that off” and I feel like it’s personally rewarding, haha. The challenge is so difficult, but when I overcome it, I feel like I grew as a designer. 

On a bit of a side note, I just kind of wanted to throw this out there because I know this is an issue some people face when they’re considering graphic design. A lot of people who are traditional or fine artists try studying graphic design because it’ll be easier to find a job in the field or it’ll pay better, but in the end, they might not like it. While there is still a lot of creative freedom, there is still someone telling you what you have to design, so there’s not as much freedom as creating your own work for yourself. With the exception of personal and maybe school projects, your work will mostly end up being for someone else. If you’re totally fine with that (many are - it’s not like you can’t be creative at all or anything) then go for it! If not, then I guess you’d have to think about it a bit more~