Most Important Tools
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- Gucci
What, in your opinion, are the most important tools a young designer – fresh out of school – should possess in order to place them in the best position to get a job after graduation?
How should a school prepare them?
Any help with your thoughts will be greatly appreciated.
- mg330
A solid steel ass and/or a chastity belt made of the same material.
- MrOneHundred0
A pair of knee pads and a box of Kleenex
- Riley0
A copy of Getting Things Done by David Allen. The actual book, or audio book will do.
Productivity makes the most drastic difference between every designer (and person) i've ever met.
- MrOneHundred0
Seriously, though, a good work ethic goes a long way. As does being prepared to do internships where you should ask lots of questions.
And be prepared to do very little actual design for a long time.
- VectorMasked0
oh man... get some condoms dude.
Designers get so much ass and you just never know what your winner might catch from so much booty.
- VectorMasked0
But seriously :oP
the best tool is time. Asking questions, making time to read, practice, explore, making time to study even more while reviewing old shit. You'll be amazed at how much some people know about design, pre-press, etc... while some other in similar positons know nothing about the field. Some wouldn't even know what a "descender" is.
I think young designers (students and recent grads) should focus more on typography, pre-press and business. I see young people lacking knowledge in those areas.
- colin_s0
vodka
- mg330
More than anything, these come to mind:
Don't ever let yourself believe anyone owes you anything. Don't empower yourself to deserve anything beyond the norm. All the same, don't be a pushover either. Everyone's been through that "new graduate, world-by-the-tail" phase, and you snap out of it until you realize you actually have to work hard and pay your dues before you're established/steady/respected/und... It seems that as time wears on, younger people feel they deserve more and more when they're only at the starting line. Out there like everyone else. All the talent in the world but a clean slate as far as what they'll do with it.
Sadly, this is exactly what they won't teach you in college, unless you have a great professor that can see enough in you to give you some extra advice about what the real world is like. I really think that many schools these days are terribly lacking in professional preparation for students to at least somehow introduce them to certain elements of the working and business world.
Granted, all that can be applied to much more than design jobs. I'm partly speaking from experiences of my own here. I've been working towards a new job since August and got exactly what I was hoping to get and started last week. Along the way I found copies of the very first resumes I was sending after graduation in 2001 and especially when I moved to Chicago. Hilarious stuff, you have no idea.
Anyhow, that's my 10 cents. I think more than anything you have to realize that you're going to be working for a long time to a) be successful, and b) survive - so if you can head down a good path from the beginning, good things can and will happen.
- should say "and you snap out of it when you realize you actually have work to do..."mg33
- mg330
Oh, and get a good night's sleep as often as you can. I meant to go to bed at 10:30 tonight and it's damn near 1:00 a.m. Thank God I'm still in training.
- mg330
Also...
Don't ever go up to a coworker in the lunchroom with two pieces of bread held together by thick, bloody saliva and say "Want an AIDS sandwich?" as you pull the two bread pieces apart inches from their face. You'll get pulled out of the building faster than you can blink an eye by security - corporate types don't really go for stuff like that.
- Nice tip, thanks, I was planning to do that tomorrow. I won't now.ukit
- Yep, same here. Phew!MrOneHundred
- Whether it's true or not, a friend told me that a coworker of theirs actually did that - and I nearly vomited I was laughing so hard.mg33
- so hard.mg33
- JerseyRaindog0
Make sure you understand the business side almost as much as the 'fun' side. And a nice comfy sleeping bag can come in handy too.
- There’s a fun side?MrOneHundred
- Note the ''s... I was being ironic.JerseyRaindog
- joqui0
Mainly getting a good working attitude...
They really don't learn that at school. That's why interns are such a whiners...
- trooper0
as much experience as quickly as possible.