< Myths of the Self-Taught Designer
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- kelpie0
I'm self taught - but I did sign up for a 2 year college course after a couple of years scraping about on my own.
I didn't go much (it was teh worst course ever, I swear) and ended up striking out and teaching myself.
Sometimes I wish I had the conceptual half of design more ingrained and that I was equiped with more "design chat" to get ideas through to clients, but not often. I concentrated on giving myself the technical skills I would need to complement my inate creativity (surely we all have that?)and I'm glad I did.
Had the courses available allowed me to do both those things, I would have been in my seat everyday though. Education is ALWAYS a bonus if you can afford to get it.
- vespa0
didn't see your thread vb_
don't feel inferior because you're self-taught, it will make you better because you'll try harder.
ian anderson (tDR) is self-taught isn't he? i'd like to think any designer worth their weight has taught themselves more then they learnt at school.from the other thread:
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aren't we all self taught? i have a design degree but i still consider myself to be self taught on all the important stuff. i didn't learn much at uni compared to the working world.i'd like to think AIGA are hoping to stimulate debate rather than being elitist.
vespa
(May 17 05, 02:12)
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- vb_0
"i'd like to think AIGA are hoping to stimulate debate rather than being elitist."
amen.
- vb_0
*bump for 'Seff
- pinkfloyd0
I was curious to know how much self taught web designers are out there? When I was in art school, there were hardly any classes for web design let alone web development. I wonder if there's some things i'm missing out on.
- Frosty_spl0
Chuck Anderson is self taught. And awesome.
- ********0
See, the sad thing about a guy like you is, in 50 years you're gonna start doin' some thinkin' on your own and you're going to come up with the fact that there are two certainties in life: one, don't do that, and two, you dropped 150 grand on a f***in' education you could have got for a dollar fifty in late charges at the public library!
Yeah, but I will have a degree. And you'll be servin' my kids fries at a drive-thru on our way to a skiing trip.
That may be, but at least I won't be unoriginal. But I mean, if you have a problem with that, I mean, we could just step outside - we could figure it out.
- Great scene and great fuckin' movie.mg33
- agreedpinkfloyd
- 50% of guys with pony tails are douchespinkfloyd
- 90%********
- 99%bigtrick
- 100%!pinkfloyd
- and 80% of guys with ponytails are photographersMiguex
- what movie is this? is it good?Miguex
- Good Will Hunting, it's goodpinkfloyd
- NEVER work with a ponytailed photographer.... for ANY reason....vaxorcist
- ********0
- NONEIS0
http://www.davidbarringer.com/Po…The best education is the one you get on the job – I went to school for a degree, then I got a job and learned more in the first 3 months than I did in 4 years for 60k.
- better yet: http://www.davidbarr…
why are we even engaging this guy?NONEIS - << ++********
- better yet: http://www.davidbarr…
- cannonball19780
as an autodidact, its been my experience that if you are a self-taugh designer you also have to be a self-applied designer
- ********0
If you're any good -> it doesn't matter if you're self-taught.
- Amicus0
The biggest problem for self taught designers is the degree wielding business owners/managers who require you to have a degree before they'll look at your folio. Personally, I'd rather look at the folio to see whether it's even worth reading the résumé.
I've also had discussions with designers who have gone to respected design schools who wouldn't have a clue about typography, the golden ratio, fibonacci series etc. I've ended up teaching them a lot, and rarely learned anything from junior degree wielders.
Experience and curiosity are the most important factors in this profession.
- bmacneill0
< Self-taught. When I was a partner in an agency, I consistently saw portfolio's and CVs of students coming out of design school and thought to myself "Why did you even bother?" A good design school that cares about the quality of graduates they are outputting should have some sort of portfolio screening process for admission. You can teach someone how to use the tools to be a designer, but what you can't teach is good taste.
- Taste can be acquired. It takes time, but hindsight leads me to believe my taste has vastly improved over 14 years.Amicus
- It's ALL taste. That's what clients want.mikotondria3
- scarabin0
i taught myself how to design.
school taught me how to be a designer.
- Miguex0
designers always seem to have a need to prove themselves to other designers. I think this was a strong component on apple's success.
(back when apple was targeting designers, not now of course)
Your work sucks? you buy a mac and sit down next to a designer with a PC and while the PC guy might not care, the Mac guy fixes his pony tail and mumbles things like "ain't that awesome?" or "you gotta admit, macs are so much user friendly.."Just let the work do the talking.
(fixes ponytail)
- vaxorcist0
The Three best Art Directors I ever worked for were:
1. a design school drop-out
2. a guy who majored in neuro-biology
3. a former business-guy who quit the account side and became a designer... yes, it really is possible, believe it or not....
- Melanie0
I've known people who spent 4 years at Uni studying design and can't design their way out of a paper bag, so I don't think that a formal education is a requirement for a designer. I think you're either good or you're not.
- ********0
Though I didn't study design strictly, Digital Art and Technology had a few parallels. I can't be sure if it is the same across the board, but I found that I didn't get taught creativity or skills of the trade.
All of my technical ability came about through self-teaching outside of Uni.
My creativity probably stems from playing with Lego.
What I learnt on my degree was to open my eyes and appreciate the possibilities in art and design, and the importance of methodology and creating with purpose.
- herzo0
The problem with a lot of design schools at least here in the US is they are housed at ART schools and ask for an ART portfolio for entrance and not a design portfolio. A good painter gets into school majors in designs and sucks. Some of the worst design I have ever seen has been by "artist" who think their artistic skills automatically translate into design.
As far as the current debate goes I wish school were allowed to be honest. Out of my graduating class half of them had portfolios that made them unemployable and the school just let them continue and rack up loans knowing they no one would ever hire them.
I think talented people can always benefit from a formal structured setting. So its not really self taught versus schooled, its really talent versus no talent. NO talent fails in school and in the real world.