Design as a Career?
Out of context: Reply #13
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- monNom0
Drawing is a skill like any other, you just need practice to become accomplished at it. Don't worry that you can't draw yet, you can learn.
DO worry that you can't draw yet, because that might be telling you something about what you actually enjoy doing, and design might not be it.
IE: If you haven't been practicing drawing as a simple byproduct of wanting to create "things", then a career in design might not come easy, and you'll be competing against natural born tinkerers and artists who will seem to have a leg-up on you as a byproduct of their constant practice of their craft. They've been visualizing "things" their whole lives, and have learned to draw those things to give them form.
My advise would be to think long and hard about what you actually like doing. What did you do as a kid? where did your skills with photography come from? why do you have good design taste? Get to the heart of that and you can figure out where you'll be best directing your education funds. Design isn't a well paid or prestigious profession (generally), so you really need to love it for it to be worth paying for.
If you do want to get into design, dip a toe in before committing 4 years of your life. Sign up for lynda.com and learn some software, Assign yourself some projects and figure out how to make them, Take a couple of intro short-courses and see how you like them. Design absolutely does not require a degree, though it's probably the fastest way to get up to speed.
Also, I'd suggest a college that has a well regarded design program over a technical school that will teach you mostly software.