Marketing By Design

ooking back college was a much simpler time, but that’s what we all say when looking back. At the time it was overwhelming: class, rent, internships, parties, projects, jobs, friends, etc… It was hard to look ahead to this fuzzy, undefined and slightly scary ‘real world’ that we were all vigilantly preparing for. If I could go back and talk to students here is the advice I would share.

Find Your Passion

Design may be a little understood niche in the business world, but it has many forms: Identities, Publications, Packaging, Advertising, Illustration, Infographics, Web Design, Flash coding, Web Development, Interactive Media, Motion Graphics, User Interface, etc… You can’t be great at all of these things, so focus. Pick one or two areas to focus on and develop your skills. I’d hire a specialist over a generalist any day. Make sure you are intrigued and excited about that specialty or you will burn out fast. Don’t pick the one that pays the best, pick the passion. It will show in your work.

Get Experience

Get all the design related experience you can get. Classroom projects are great for developing your skills and flexing your creativity, but we want more. We want to know you can deal with real clients, deadlines, rejection, curve ball requests, ‘non designer’ feedback and produce technically correct, printable or programmable files. This also shows motivation and work ethic. You have to bring something more to the table than student work.

Develop Relationships

Don’t treat your teachers like your parents. Don’t resent them for the work they make you do. They are experienced professionals with a massive wealth of knowledge to share… if you take the time to ask. They’ve been in the real world and are experts in their subject. Cultivate and develop these relationships, they can provide valuable advice and possibly connections and recommendations upon graduation.

Network Now

Every time a speaker comes to your campus, attend, ask questions and talk to them afterwards. Get their business cards and send a quick ‘thank you’ email afterwards. Now you’ve made a connection that you should definitely not be afraid to call upon when you graduate and are job hunting. Every designer you meet you must get their card and send a simple correspondence afterwards. This is networking ‘lite’ and you probably can’t do much more than this as a student, but these are valuable connections to the design world that you can not let pass you by.

There are three things that will get you hired: Attitude, Aptitude and Experience. There are two things that will get you an interview: Connections and Hard Work. The portfolio is very important, but you must be more than your work. We hire the whole person.

:: :: :: :: ::

Designers

What do you think? What would you say to young aspiring designers in school? Did I miss anything?

Students

What do you want when you graduate and how are you going to get it? How are you connecting with the professional world? (Hint: This is an opportunity to connect with me and any other designers who may comment here.)

Illustrated Drop Cap by Jessica Hische