American Design Schools Are a Mess, and Produce Weak Graduates
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- herzo0
About 75% of my undergraduate class left with unemployable portfolios. Now they've racked up debt, are not competitive in the field especially with this economy and working at places like the Apple store or Blockbusters.
Our critiques in school were always so predictable yet nobody ever told these students explicitly you will never make it as a designer. When it was painfully obvious that they should save themselves money and change majors.
- discoduro0
There are a lot of kids that go to those schools that think they can learn to be creative on mommy and daddies dime. On the flip side there are some talented people that go to those schools. The ratio is just very extreme.
- herzo0
I think people should be told the truth after their 2nd year to spare them the pain of the last 2 years and give them some time to do something else.
- doublespaced0
I entered a BA design program alongside a group of students entering an MA design program at the same school. In the end, it was the BA students who had employable portfolios. The MA students spent so much time on a thesis (with little design background in history and practice) project that they lost sight of the goal (a good job). Although I wanted the MA, I'm beyond glad that I went for the BA and was able to create a ton of portfolio pieces instead of a single thesis and an inflated ego.
- Yeah MA is a theory degree, you only need it to teach. Seems people withherzo
- We were lucky enough to have classes that were conducted more like actual design studios would.doublespaced
- no design degrees go that route so they don't have to do a 2nd bachelors.herzo
- But MA degrees do not teach the fundamentals that Bachelors programs do.herzo
- I almost got suckered into the MA program instead of the 2nd BA. The 2nd BA was priceless in comparisondoublespaced
- fresnobob0
Cool, so start teaching then and fix some shit, dude! Oh, wait, you probably wouldn't be making enough money that way....
- hellojeehae0
i have a friend who was told to quit now and save money instead of continuing his major in graphic design. but he continued anyways... so i dont think someone telling you to quit will do anything.
- this was in his 2nd yearhellojeehae
- If the person doesn't want to quit that is on them. Some of my classmates are in shockherzo
- at why they don't have design jobs. They think they are good designers.herzo
- At least they should know why they can't get hired at even shitty places like fast signs.herzo
- ********0
Fact: most of the designers think they are good.
- send 'em to QBN for a reality check ;)doublespaced
- They are all on QBN.********
- kgvs720
"Because most of them are for profit schools or public schools where they dont care who they admit."
That's any for profit school. And even worse, try transferring your credits from a Nationally Accredited College or University.
- doublespaced0
Another thing I noticed when I was in school is that a huge chunk of students treated design courses like they would their general education courses: get a passing grade. That attitude and approach entirely destroyed their future.
The minority of us that treated the classes like work were much better off. Every project had the potential to be a portfolio piece, and that point-of-view changed everything. The grade meant nothing, the end result meant everything.
The poor students who squeezed by with Bs and even Cs had nothing to show at the end of the day. Conclusion, design schools are awesome if you take them seriously. If you think it's just passing classes, you're fucked.
- So what you're saying is that the grade is based on effort? Revolutionary!Mr_Mxyzptlk
- No. Not at all. I'm saying that just trying to pass the class is the wrong approach.doublespaced
- ifeltdave0
"Such well integrated notion of design is shared by a few good programs: In the U.S., Cincinnati has an excellent program with very solid graduates.."
UC Represent :)
- MSTRPLN0
... on the other hand, the UK is killing it as far as what I have seen coming out of their design programs.
- Bargels0
Yup. I went and got a BA in design at a uni, graduated, and realized my portfolio never stood a chance. So I went back to a portfolio school...it worked, but wish I had just gone to a better design program in the first place.
- herzo0
Doublespaced I agree. In our programs our teachers gave us grades based on our potential. I don't know how well that worked. So students who had really bad work were getting As because it was the best that they could do while others who had consistently good work would take a chance on something and maybe get a B or C if the execution was off. When the fact of the matter is those on scholarships have to maintain a certain grade to keep their free ride. The grade system totally limited you in some respects because it prevented you from trying things for the sake of playing it safe and keeping your grade in tact.
- Hmm. Sounds like everyone got screwed, really.Bargels
- Yeah there was this one kid who is god awful who thought he was the king because he got Asherzo
- I had several offers before I even graduated because I took risks. My grades simply didn't matter.doublespaced
- The teachers were industry pros and treated us like employees.doublespaced
- I interned 4 times during undergrad. I believe that was the best education.herzo
- randommail0
Design schools are not meant for job training.
The best design schools (like RISD, Cranbrook, etc.) teach their students the fundamentals of design and art, help them to think creatively, teach them to be resourceful, and expose them to the power of design. And this is merely the first 4 years of a designer's lifelong career.
Design schools are not supposed to serve the staffing needs of a design company.
- randommail0
And if you do go through 4 years of design school and end up working as a designer for several years before realizing your true calling is something completely different, you shouldn't consider that a bad thing or a waste of time.
It's a part of one's journey. It's part of the process.
And if you don't understand this, then you truly don't understand what design is.
- dbloc0
depends on the person. you either have the mind for it or you don't before and after school.
- +1,000,000doublespaced
- +5409894654613131313...herzo
- +6848489446161616511...herzo
- +1akrok
- randommail0
So
Art schools educate you on design.
Portfolio schools teach you to be a good employee.- I think a good program does both.doublespaced
- Being a employee is simply one of the many things a designer can choose to do.randommail
- We can also marry rich and not worry about paychecks! Crossing fingers... :PBargels
- utopian0
I absolutely agree with the Fast Company article. Just about every design school in the U.S. is accepting students purely for profits that will benefit their university. Just take a look at all the talentless cunts flooding and saturating the job market.
- iheartfun0
I had to through two portfolio reviews to graduate. One half way through the degree and other was at the end. Almost every class that reached the end portfolio review had a 70/30 passing ration.