What's new
By:
Photoshop Gurus Forum

Welcome to Photoshop Gurus forum. Register a free account today to become a member! It's completely free. Once signed in, you'll enjoy an ad-free experience and be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Graphics Design Apprenticeship


Status
Not open for further replies.
I

iDesign

Well-Known Member
Messages
116
Likes
35
Hey guys,

I hope you all don't mind me asking a few questions in this thread regarding a graphics design apprenticeship.

Well since I am a huge fan of photoshop, and love designing. I wanted a career out of it so I have decided I would like to do an apprenticeship.

Anyway, I'm just wondering what softwares I should get myself familiar with before I start my course?

I have Photoshop and inDesign already, any others? Be reasonable here though as design softwares are not cheap, please only suggest the important ones.
 
Adobe illustrator. That is the basis of many other programs as well with the flexibilty of designing work that will fit on a pin head and then expanding it to fill a huge billboard. It is vector based so no pixels and no jagged edges.

Also Graphic Designers are expected to know multi software now so a good 3d program knowledge would be useful, I personally prefer Cinema 4d which is becoming main stream now but studio max or maya is also good, Better depending on who you ask.

Dreamweaver is also good as many designers rely on web design as well, but if you are not upto that yet then maybe adobe Muse is a good starting place. It claims to focus more on the design aspect and all the coding is done for you. However I still have my doubts about software like this, the coding is just not as good as a proper web designer woul do it.
 
Thanks Hoogle,

I did have Illustrator in mind, so ill look into that one.

I have already, Photoshop, inDesign & Dreamweaver, and ill look into getting Illustrator & Cinema 4d. That should be ok?

Should a BTEC Level 3 be high enough, or should I aim more advanced?
 
Last edited:
well depends what your going in for you may as well get the full creative suite if your a student then it is only £25 a month, then you can get cinema 4d now that it is integrated (admittedly a lighter version) with After Effects but once you get the hang of stationary Graphics you will want to move into animation and motion Design (probably). How did you design the apple logo was that just photoshop.
 
Creative suite, ill look into the costs etc.

The apple logo was just from google, I just copied and pasted it, nothing intelligent I done myself :cheesygrin:. My signature and avatar was done in Photoshop.
 
well having the apple logo followed by Its my Design is a bit misleading don't you think??

As for is a Btec Good enough depends on what you want to do with life if your doing an apprenticeship with a good job offer at the end and plan to stay within that company working your way up for many years, Sure But now it is either being head hunted and lucky or people with serious Degrees that get the good jobs. That said I have worked with many Graduates and to be honest the best people I have worked with are the self taught. You either have creativity or you don't.

Sure you can be taught basic elements of design, But if you don't have the practical creativity to be in the top 5% that leads in the industry and rewrite the rules any qualification on paper is useless.

I recommend BA Hons in general Graphic Design and then maybe a specialty top up Degree The BA will soon let you know which areas you like and which areas are your strong point.

Sadly I think it is time to start admitting though can you afford 5 years studying I have seen a huge influx of Professional Experienced Graphic designers that have been in the industry for many years and they are only 15 years old, But then that is only if you believe what people that watch a few youtube videos believe also
 
Hoogle said:
well having the apple logo followed by Its my Design is a bit misleading don't you think??
Click to expand...

I guess you could say it sounds misleading, but its just a "Slogan" I like my name to go by. The slogan is not connected to my signature to say its my design.

Thanks for the above, the BTEC level 3 is only a 12-18 month course, so hopefully I can get taken on full wages after that.

But hey, working in the real thing may not be as good as my Photoshop hobby at home, who knows!
 
Properly trained is the key....Either you are competent or your not...You need to be honest to yourself, if you don't know it, you don't wish to learn it....with a deadline.
 
Oh trust me your first few years suck working for a company that will charge £5000 for a job you will do and ony get paid £50 a day for it so after 3 days of work on 1 project and your employer makes £5000 of your work and your only seeing £150 of that, it soon gets to you. it is a rare industry where you make a lot of money unless your at the top, and Get over the top wages when being head hunted with lots of bonuses.
 
You sound very knowledgeable Hoogle, do you work for a company in this sector yourself?
 
I am mainly an IT guy however several years ago I ended up being head of a marketing team for a large company, which was when I transitioned into Graphics & Motion Design. And then I worked for some larger companies in high up roles and just as my dream job came to me, I had to turn it down as due to personal reasons and health conditions I couldnt move to America. However I have just been recently contacted saying they are opening new offices in London, and would I be interested in a role there. Not sure if i will do it, as my last job working for a large company in a similar role turned out to being working 19 hour days.

I am happy tootling along running a computer repair and sales shop by day and freelancing web and Graphic design by night in my own name.

But don't be fooled if a good job offer is made that suits me I will take it again. There is a buzz you get when you are on a tight deadline and a team of people causing chaos around you.

But trust me when I say dont expect to do an apprenticeship for 18 months and be on a £50,000 a year salary straight away, you will be lucky to be on £10,000 for your first few years
 
"I am happy tootling along running a computer repair and sales shop by day and freelancing web and Graphic design by night in my own name. "
Soooo...you don't have a REAL job then..:bustagut: (me either and I LOVE it!!!!)
 
Hoogle said:
But trust me when I say dont expect to do an apprenticeship for 18 months and be on a £50,000 a year salary straight away, you will be lucky to be on £10,000 for your first few years
Click to expand...

And if you are good and daring, then you open up your own shop and make money off others work......:bustagut:

Hard work, not quick dollars.
 
my job for now is to find a potential Wife and make mini Hoogles damn where is Clare when you need her lol.....

By real job if you mean dreading going to work and bored out of your mind counting down the clock til home time, then no I dont have 1 of those jobs. I still work hard but actually enjoy it, and even have spare time to work on some of my own projects.
 
Have been working for myself so long it is in my DNA. However, I am pretty much retired now. Day after tomorrow I will be 69, so I work mainly at staying above the dirt
Hoogle said:
my job for now is to find a potential Wife and make mini Hoogles damn where is Clare when you need her lol.....

By real job if you mean dreading going to work and bored out of your mind counting down the clock til home time, then no I dont have 1 of those jobs. I still work hard but actually enjoy it, and even have spare time to work on some of my own projects.
Click to expand...
 
iDesign said:
I guess you could say it sounds misleading, but its just a "Slogan" I like my name to go by. The slogan is not connected to my signature to say its my design....
Click to expand...

A suggestion: If and when you apply for an academic program, or even just an internship or job in this field, you need to be a lot more careful about issues like unauthorized use of the Apple symbol as part of your sig line, and your labeling of an industry standard such as Pantone as "rubbish".

You obviously don't think these are very important points, and that you can easily back-pedal when someone calls you out on them. However, take if from someone who, over the last decade+, has interviewed hundreds of students for university, these will almost certainly be perceived as errors of judgement that will make you appear immature and unknowledgeable.

HTH,

Tom M
 
Tom Mann said:
unauthorized use of the Apple symbol as part of your sig line, and your labeling of an industry standard such as Pantone as "rubbish".
Click to expand...

Tom,

I like to keep my business side, and my forum time separate. Please don't judge me by my forum character. This is my place to have a laugh with you guys and learn.

This is the second comment iv'e had about my signature, therefore I am going to remove the apple logo. Thanks for informing me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
iDesign said:
Tom,

I like to keep my business side, and my forum time separate. Please don't judge me by my forum character. This is my place to have a laugh with you guys and learn.

This is the second comment iv'e had about my signature, therefore I am going to remove the apple logo. Thanks for informing me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Then you should never use your "WORK" logo mixed with "PERSONAL" content...You will screw up somewhere, then you lost your IDENTITY.

I do agree to keep things separate makes sense, but in today's internet world, I don't mix the two. :thumbsup:
 
Wow, this place is like Jeremy Kyle, who needs ITV :mrgreen:.

It's not my work logo, totally made up for this forum :wink:.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Back
Top