Where do you study?

It is not just curiosity, I do need to find out how many of our members are studying art or graphic design and where you guys study. Personally I believe that participating in contests (both in the guaranteed and in the community ones) helps to develop your skills as a designer and artist. But I would like to hear from other students. Well maybe there are art professors among us? Their opinions would be appreciated as well!

I studied both art and graphic design and have toyed with the idea of going back to teach graphic design, at a junior college.....I also would like to go back as a student to learn web design html and all that fun stuff:)
I feel this venue, Design Contest is incredible for all to grow as a designer, more so than what you leave with from college.....

I studied design in SF at the academy, but dropped out to start working during the boom. Lucky for me, because about a year later everything crashed and it would have been almost impossible to get a job as a designer. Since then, I study on the job, every day, doing the best I can to keep rocking. Oddly enough, I sucked at packaging in school, but it's been what I do the most of since I got into the industry.

Thanks, guys, for the input!
Exo, but what do you think about DC as an instrument of education? Can design students benefit from DC at the moment or do you have any other ideas we could implement to make it more interesting for design students?

I taught myself web design, and have only in the last year or so started looking at the more "artistic" side of things....like color theory, balance, and all that good stuff that naturally talented people just seem to "know".

I have found DC very educational for me. I love to look at the work of more talented people and find inspiration.

Hello,

Going to wrote a few lines.
Since childhood I have a passion for logos, I guess it was the logo of the milk bottle (?) or the Lego blocks that started it.
I went studying in the area of architecture/design/arts, yes, at that time I was determined (sort of...) to be an architect, but then I had to quit due to life's turnarounds.
More then 10 years later, meaning now... I'm finishing school (at night) still in the art/design area and I'm aiming to go to University. Could be difficult to achieve because I have my own family (I'm a father of a beautiful 4 1/2 years old daughter) and I'll see what happens and/or what are the best chances to stay near base and try to not alter things.
I found out the design boards (DC.net included)more than a year ago and I'm loving this side of things...
Well, you can saythat I'm a student but with no degree (yet?) but fully passioned by the magic of the logos.
I'm loving this community everyday and now I can say that DC.net is helping me with the growing of myself as graphic designer.

Oh... you guys and girls are all asleep?
Ok... I guess it enough.

Sergey,

I know you are looking for feedback on this, so I thought I would provide some.

I am not going to tell you where I am studying, as I know for a fact that my instructors would not feel comfortable being contacted by a contest-based or related website. Many of the high-end schools and instructors think very highly of our profession, and believe that contests (such as the ones here and on other sites) make our profession washed-out and cheap. I ran into alot of industry people who gave me trouble about contests while promoting a certain site of mine -- and they did not think highly of me.

This isn't to say that some schools won't support the idea. I believe that contests are a great way to build up a portfolio, get experience in the industry and learn a thing or two along the way. You may be opening a can of worms by contacting professionals from higher education.

I think your best bet (and a great option) is to contact High Schools that have good art or design based programs. It is a great way to get younger people involved, and I believe their teachers would be more supportive of the idea.

Hope that helps some!
John

Sergey,

I know you are looking for feedback on this, so I thought I would provide some.

I am not going to tell you where I am studying, as I know for a fact that my instructors would not feel comfortable being contacted by a contest-based or related website. Many of the high-end schools and instructors think very highly of our profession, and believe that contests (such as the ones here and on other sites) make our profession washed-out and cheap. I ran into alot of industry people who gave me trouble about contests while promoting a certain site of mine -- and they did not think highly of me.

This isn't to say that some schools won't support the idea. I believe that contests are a great way to build up a portfolio, get experience in the industry and learn a thing or two along the way. You may be opening a can of worms by contacting professionals from higher education.

I think your best bet (and a great option) is to contact High Schools that have good art or design based programs. It is a great way to get younger people involved, and I believe their teachers would be more supportive of the idea.

Hope that helps some!
John

John, thank you very much for the feedback, it really is appreciated. And you are absolutely right, I know what you talking about. The attitude of some people in the industry is ideed inedequately supercilious towards the contests and designers who take part in them. But I guess part of our message will be about trying to change this kind of attitude. There are some serious points those people are missing.

Hello,
I taught myself: Web Design, Art, Graphic, Music.

I read books sbout it then go trough trial and errors.

I also taught myslef. Online tutorials helped alot.

I have used no tutorials and learned the tricks of the trade myself.

John, thank you very much for the feedback, it really is appreciated. And you are absolutely right, I know what you talking about. The attitude of some people in the industry is ideed inedequately supercilious towards the contests and designers who take part in them. But I guess part of our message will be about trying to change this kind of attitude. There are some serious points those people are missing.

I will have to agree 100%.
12 years ago when I was looking for a graphic design college I came to the exact same conclusion: Some people educated in graphics decades ago had the attitude of superiority versus all newbies or wannabes. The internet graphics-related companies werent exist yet (at least not in Greece, where I live). So all the graphics industry values originated from the conservative classic print-only art houses and schools. I remember when I had contact with a well-known art school in Athens. They asked for a small fortune for studies fees.. When I asked if computers and electronic design process were among classes they felt offended!!.

Nowadays internet is a reality and nobody feels that way anymore. BUT what will remain the same is that everything out of their formality is a non-go.

Guetizo, we have something in common. We could be both architects and designing buildings instead of logos :) (dont know yet if it would be better or not - not sure)

I have similar experience as Oxygen does.

Personally, I had arts classes when I was younger in the US, but here in the Czech Rep. my highschool didn't offer anything close to arts (they barely offered PCs - Pentium 166Mhz five years ago ), and universities, which teach arts or graphic design - to be exact - accept only a few students each year.
This lead me to take private graph. des. classes and I also learned lots and lots myself, especially web programming.

The fact that angers me is that their is an enclosed "community" of designers, which don't accept newbies and like Oxygen says "out of their formality is a non-go". The worst thing is that their criticism isn't constructive, they just tell you "it's terrible".
But me and a friend cooperate together, teaching one another new things, filling each other in, helping out. This has proven to be very constructive indeed.

i went to college for web development, but knew or thought i knew how to design a site before hand. I have taught myself marketing, design and brand development and keep learning more everywhere i go, hopefully including here!.

With that said I believe this site is a very important aspect in gaining knowledge in various fields of digital media to beginners and expert designers.

I've tought myself html/photoshop/illustrator/flash/3ds max - And am currently looking for a good art school to attend. I'm in South Dakota, US - right now and there just isn't anything around here. I might have to go to Minneapolis, Minnesota to " The Art Institutes International Minnesota " - www.artinstitutes.edu/minneapolis/ - For one or a couple of the following - Advertising, Graphic Design, Interactive Media Design, Visual Effects & Motion, and Media Arts & Animation.

Havn't decided which course to take, I have a tour of the school comming up at the end of the year though so I can see the classes in person. I might even pick an entirely different school.

Choosing a school is hard work when you live in the boon-docks lol.

Now-a-days, you almost have to have a degree for a good position in the industry in the Tech Age

While I did studied (industrial design) most of the things I have learned were from simply sitting at home and working myself sensless.
It is not that I haven't learned anything usefull during my studies, but it is I didn't learn all I think I was supposed to learn. ((Of course, my country can not really boast with quality of schooling system.)) So, I could say that I have learned most of the stuff on my own and through internet.

Although I've just graduated High School, I haven't studied arts for years. In May 2004 I decided that graphic design is what I want to study and work. I started drawing and reading lots of books. I redrawed some academic pictures and that helped me a lot. Internet Phoshop and CorewDraw tutorals were helpful,too. So far, I've taken some art lessons to prepare for the exams of Bulgarian National Art Academy. I was happy my scores were high, but not enough:(. I got an offer from Cumbria Institute of Arts in the UK but I couldn't go there because of some personal reasons. Two weeks ago I was back from hospital and now I am ready to start preparing for applying this year. I'm sure that I can develop my art&design skills just if I have a chance to. I hope DC can help me for that purpose, too, because I want to give all my best.

i studied architecture for a bit, but dropped out when my mind started wandering... but all i know about design, i either knew beforehand, or taught myself. the college i studied in was/is quite old school, using hand for just about everything... i was a spas at that (probably one of the reasons i quit?)

right now, im back to doing architecture, without a license though. my partner handles that aspect.

as for design competitions, where i come from it's encouraged. especially at the college level. once you get into the professional circuit, it's pretty much a closed door in that aspect, as a majority of the competitions are rigged (or so we are made to believe). a friend of mine runs this design competition forum, where all he does is update people on compettions around the world that students/ young professionals can participate in.

I study graphic design and interactive media at Fitchburg State College, which is quite a small school but has a great Communications Media program nonetheless. My professors always encourage freelance work, and it is through one of my professors that I have gained many jobs already (I'm in my senior year). As far as people here are concerned, the more work you do, the more experience you get, and the more of it you can show in your portfolio! I will be interning next spring before I graduate, and I've found that interviewers are impressed by lots of past work, regardless of what you were paid for it and how important the client was.

i'm a graduated graphic designer.
nowadays i'm working as designer at the mayor isp of my country.