Need you advice!

[ohmto]

hi guys , i 'm a newbie web-designer.. i worked for last two years as a freelancer web-designer but you know i feel so low that's because i didn't get a degree of a graphics designing ... although most of people around me keep telling me to go on and that i don't need a degree cause you are running a business of graphics already ... but i keep insisting that i need to get that degree... and i came here now to ask for any advice for a good and sustaining online degree of Grfx.. any comment or advice will be appreciated..

[cmolina84]

Hey ohmto
I think a lot of people have that same problem. I've been a designer for quite a little while now, and I did go to art school. Unfortunately I dropped out because it just wasn't for me. I found that I learned more by looking up tutorials and self taught. However there are a lot of things that you miss out on that they teach you in college. Most schools don't only teach you the designing part but also the coding (which is always a plus). I think it's different for everyone I have seen people that didn't get their degree that master the field, however it's not like that for everyone.
Do what makes you feel more confident as a designer, and what will give you the tools to continue being one. Not forgetting which one will open more doors for you.

Just my humble opinion.

Keep doing what you love! Best luck to you.

[jiaix]

show us your work and we'll tell either you need a degree or not :P

[gdeetan]

There are a lot of resources for coding and design. Schools can teach you the basics and principles of design which helps because you'll be armed with the basics however, ultimately you'll have to come up with your own creative ideas to move ahead in this industry. You can get the basics by reading up on articles on the net, there are a lot.

If you have a portfolio please share it with us

[ohmto]

thanks cmolina84 ,jiaix ,and gdeetan

here you can find some of my work on

ohmto dot deviantart dot com
or
99designs dot com slash people slash ohmto

[Coy]

thanks cmolina84 ,jiaix ,and gdeetan

here you can find some of my work on

ohmto dot deviantart dot com
or
99designs dot com slash people slash ohmto

You can copy and past the links from your browser to make it easier for us to find your work.

99 designs is a competitor of Design contest and wouldn't suggest linking them to this site.
That site will let anyone join. CH's get 100's of worthless designs and alot of clip art and coping of one anothers work.

ohmto on deviantART

[ohmto]

thanks Coy

[scorpionagency]

I have a personal list of over 65+ freelance designer sources to generate income, build your portfolio, build your client base, & start branding your company. I won't post the link to it, as I wouldn't want to violate any TOS regulations of this forum that restrict one from posting links to pages of their own websites.

So, The next best thing I can do is simply encourage you to research yourself using Google, yahoo (or your other preferred search methods) & searching for popular terms in relation to design. This will allow you to compile your own lists (After testing all the sources) of the places that prove to be the most useful as you strive to grow in this overly saturated industry of design.

Besides design terms, you'll also want to research marketing strategies to aid in your overall branding campaign. I've honestly seen some of the best designers with no clients & then some of the worst designers with more clients than they can deal with. Why? Because of their marketing approach, the branding & exposure of your services is everything, of course it helps to actually be a good designer, but other than that with the right dedicated marketing campaign you can generate the clients you need to achieve the level of revenue needed to eat every day, pay your rent, & cover other bills.

At any rate, good luck to you.

[jiaix]

umm ... they are a bit heavy and blocky, but i do see some very promising alternatives (the ones where you play with empty spaces and cool colours). so just keep your eyes open for more visual 'luggage'

and if you can code aswell then you'd be wasting your time in school

though i recommend joining some art ring to get your sketches flowing more freely. (it's like workout, you do it every week and soon you'll be running miles and miles :P )

[tsmith]

The benefit of school usually comes from the social atmosphere it provides (connections, networking, etc) and business information you learn. You can learn to design and code on your own but it's often difficult (at least for me) to be aware of the business side of the design realm without proper instruction.

[ohmto]

thats one of my reasons to digg for a degree

[ichbinhungry]

you sound like you're passionate about learning more, and your work shows a lot of natural ability for design, so i would definitely advocate school. maybe not bother with an art school (i recently graduated one and found that my work wasn't as good as some coming out of a public state school). it comes down to the teachers and the students to give you a great atmosphere, so shop around. education's cool, though

[toddbee]

i'm taking design in university right now
they hardly teach us how to do anything (technically)
it seems the aim is to build the way you approach conceptualizing a project
also a great chance to push yourself harder on each design (getting graded pushes me, anyway)

[designedbylele]

A art school can teach u a lot of important background knowlege (like comprehensibility and aftermaths). But if u are allready succesfull u dont need a degree