When I wasn't in the position to study animation at a school I decided to look into whatever other creative fields there might be that I might take an interest in. In the midst of looking for animation programs I discovered my local community college offered a commercial art program. It looked like an interesting enough thing to do while I figured out how to get into animation so I enrolled.
During the orientation I found out that my strongest abilities leaned toward graphic design. So I focused on that.
I took what classes I could afford and learned enough to do some production art. At the time this was paste-up on boards with X-Acto knives and wax. I was unable to go through the whole program but did pick up some skills that I could use.
I worked during a summer in the community college’s Publications and Promotions Department. At a Portfolio Day someone from an advertising agency suggested that I should learn Quark X•Press. Unfortunately the college didn't have that program available so I had to wait until a later time to work with that one.
During the orientation I found out that my strongest abilities leaned toward graphic design. So I focused on that.
I took what classes I could afford and learned enough to do some production art. At the time this was paste-up on boards with X-Acto knives and wax. I was unable to go through the whole program but did pick up some skills that I could use.
I worked during a summer in the community college’s Publications and Promotions Department. At a Portfolio Day someone from an advertising agency suggested that I should learn Quark X•Press. Unfortunately the college didn't have that program available so I had to wait until a later time to work with that one.
A Christmas card I designed about the time I was taking Commercial Art classes at DMACC.
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Class catalog cover designed while interning in DMACC's Publications and Promotions Department.
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Another class catalog cover design, this one for Continuing Education classes in Health.
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I eventually got a Pre-Press Operator job at a printing and pre-press company. There I finally learned Quark as well as gaining proficiency in PhotoShop and learning a thing or two about Illustrator. I was able to take some of the knowledge and use it for some freelance jobs later. Freelance Work I did a number of freelance jobs both before and after I learned Quark. I did production art for a T-Shirt printing company (color separations). Other small jobs followed (posters, business cards, promotional cards, etc.). |
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Book Design
One thing that came up in recent years was doing design for self-published books. It was much closer to meaningful work for me than the usual commercial work for printing. It made me think of a few ideas of my own for books, ideas which I hope at some point to execute.
One thing that came up in recent years was doing design for self-published books. It was much closer to meaningful work for me than the usual commercial work for printing. It made me think of a few ideas of my own for books, ideas which I hope at some point to execute.
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Besides designing physical books I also did some conversions to Kindle which turned out to be a very difficult process.
With most of the books I did both the design of the cover and the inside pages. The exception was "Rockets on a Rope" where I mostly edited the book. For that I did some modifications to the cover (making it fit the book dimensions, adding text to the back cover and a picture), and designed a simple chapter heading format. One thing that is satisfying about designing a book is that it is meant to be kept, unlike magazines, advertising, packaging, etc. which is usually thrown away after its intended use.. The designs for the books offer a lot of fun and interesting design opportunities and are satisfying because they tell a story usually. |
An obstacle I've hit lately when considering working for others as an employee is that within the business nearly everyone has abandoned Quark X•Press in favor of Adobe InDesign. This happened not long after I left that pre-press job. I'm in the process right now of taking a class in that application and getting up to speed. Graphic Design is not probably my ultimate destination but it is a nice place to be for the time being.
Update:
I've gotten a certificate for Adobe InDesign from Des Moines Area Community College after completing a class in it. I now have a certificate for Adobe Photoshop as well. I will no longer be pursuing a certificate in Adobe Illustrator as I will no longer seeking employment in the graphic design field. However, it doesn't mean that all graphic design activity is going to stop. I'm replacing Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign with Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer, and Affinity Publisher and will be learning those when I have the opportunity, probably on an as needed basis.
I'm currently at work on a book project about a new concept called Paper Cinema and have been busy writing content. I'm hoping to have the book published in a month or two. See the Media Studio section of this site for details.
Update:
I've gotten a certificate for Adobe InDesign from Des Moines Area Community College after completing a class in it. I now have a certificate for Adobe Photoshop as well. I will no longer be pursuing a certificate in Adobe Illustrator as I will no longer seeking employment in the graphic design field. However, it doesn't mean that all graphic design activity is going to stop. I'm replacing Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign with Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer, and Affinity Publisher and will be learning those when I have the opportunity, probably on an as needed basis.
I'm currently at work on a book project about a new concept called Paper Cinema and have been busy writing content. I'm hoping to have the book published in a month or two. See the Media Studio section of this site for details.