Hey /gd/, /ic/ anon here. I've noticed that a lot of the people on this board seem to be getting freelance work. /ic/ has a similar goal of getting work with their art but sadly very few of us actually have work.
I currently have the mindset that graphic design has a much lower skill requirement to be good at. How much of this would you say is true. I feel that it is a very insulting mindset and I'm hoping that the truth is that graphic design is actually very hard. In the similar way that someone who doesn't draw would believe that once they've discovered that you can copy Morgan Freeman photographs accurately you're as good as the old master.
Could someone help to get across to me how much it actually takes to git gud in hopes that I can use it as motivation for /ic/. Even /fit/ has a lot of people achieving their large goal on their board on 4chan of all places.
>TL;DR is graphic design hard?
>posting butts to draw attention
>>242590
Fairly easy to follow trends, but a real fucking skill to learn good, timeless design and then meaningfully apply it. Imagine all the web artists that have some bit of minor success because they gave a bunch of characters tumblr noses, and then consider where they are now and if that's really sustainable, if anyone really considers them good, and if they can get a real job out of it. I think you'll realize the difference between copy pasting meaningless hipster logos or slapping down bits of text in left justified Helvetica and the practice of meaningfully and thoughtfully communicating a message through visual communication accompanied by any number of tools, whether physical or digital, each one taking time to get anywhere near good at.
tl;dr this thread is fucking pointless and you already know the answer but I'm okay with it as long as you post more figure drawings
A few unorganized thoughts:
It takes more than online tutorials, college courses and pirated copies of adobe products to be a good graphic designer. There's some things that you just can't learn or teach someone.
Ahmed Tuctuc the VII and his $3 logos have had a huge impact on graphic design. Quantity over quality has become the norm. Sub-par, even bad design is acceptable.
Over the years, I've noticed that the majority of young designers lack any skill OFF the computer. Ask them to sit and sketch a basic still life on paper and they wont know where to begin. It's really sad.
The old term 'starving artist' is no longer valid, a 'stupid artist' is more appropriate.
Not many people in the art/design field have much knowledge when it comes to business. As a freelance artist you need to understand basic business principals if you want to succeed. I'd highly recommend that anyone who plans on freelancing to take some business classes.
>>242590
let me share my point of view.
there will always be design everywhere. good design and bad design.
The main difference about art and design is that design has a function, a design has a practical measurable goal unlike a piece of art. design lacks the freedom illustration has when it comes to artistic styles.
Design is run by principles, and you can learn those principles just like you can learn perspective in drawing, but to be able to do good design.
not everyone can do it, at least not people who lack the understanding of the reasons behind why design is needed in the first place.
Another aspect of design, wich is one overlooked by many, is the real reason why universities have careers using design as their label.
the technical aspect.
Design has many designers, but design doesn´t have as many people prepared to do it well. There are a lot of things they will teach you if they teach you well, that have to do more with machinery and project the in itself that have nothing to do with how well you can use illustrator or how well you can do mockups and are things that are of so much use and make designers stand in their field as professionals.
A designer is someone who solves problems professionally.
A kid who just started his photography classes will take 100 photographs, and at least 1 will be good.
A professional photographer will take 100 photos, and all 100 will be good.
Same with professional designers.
same with any other professional field.
GDers are having an easier time getting jobs than ICers not because of any particular skill or field-related differences (although I'm sure there are some) but because 80% of GD has the mindset
"roll with the big boys in the industry, whatever it takes, prepare your anus yes I'm going to make a logo for your shitty startup just pay me retard"
while 80% of IC has the mindset
"my precious art is a treasure to humanity, I must avoid becoming mainstream and successful like sakimichan at all costs oh my god she is literally hitler and also fundamentals are the only thing that matters, you gotta get your perspective and anatomy perfect, because no ordinary person on the street could ever accept art that is not perfectly formed, gotta study the old masters that have not been relevant or appreciated by anyone for centuries"
and as a result their sketchbooks look like they've been drawn by a mental hospital patient who only had a single pencil available to them for safety reasons.
If you look at some of the commercially successful artists/illustrators, I think you'll see that they understand this difference in mindset. People care about the message, feelings and the story you have to tell, art/design is just a medium to convey these things. You need to be receptive to what your client and your audience wants, rather than autistic about your art.
>>242613
(also, to answer your question, I do think GD is easier than many other types of art. In particular, it's very easy in GD to create something that looks *passable*, whereas in many other forms of art it is not. The endgame might be more even.)
>>242614
>I do think GD is easier than many other types of art
>easier than many other types of art
>many other types of art.
>types of art.
>art
>>242617
Not that guy, but design and art is a spectrum. Good works of design can be art and almost all great works of art have required some degree of design to them. Starting a green-text pissing match over the design vs art argument is fucking stupid. Anybody who's not garbage at either one knows that it's not a competition unless you're old and hold trivial beliefs grounded in traditional knowledge. It's about figuring out when to express more of one side of that spectrum.
A lot of IC could benefit from learning some design and almost all of GD could benefit from learning more illustration.
Lastly, I just want to say that this post
>>242597
is incredibly accurate and insightful. I couldn't have phrased it any better.
>>242597
From what I have understood, this is all correct. I am already knowledgeable as a programmer, but I'm barely starting out seriously learning graphic design, and I do believe I want to be a designer first and foremost. Even if I'm not skilled, I do see the value in working with and for others, and do want to start freelancing while studying graphic design.
>>242597
>Over the years, I've noticed that the majority of young designers lack any skill OFF the computer. Ask them to sit and sketch a basic still life on paper and they wont know where to begin. It's really sad.
Design is a lot more than being able to draw something on or off the computer. I'd say it's mostly thinking and solving (that's the part you can't learn or teach).
Part of that thinking and solving can be finding the right person to make that interactive-animated-3d-poster-video-3-foot-wide-10-foot-tall that you might have thought of but won't be able to learn how to in the next few years. Or that flat illustration. That's why people get more proficient towards one area or the other and that's why there's people freelancing in very specific fields.
Thinking and solving is what matters.
Art, IMO, doesn't have the solving* part of it and that's the key difference.
*Solving in the sense that there's a briefing from someone else that's not yourself.
>>242629
competition? I wouldn't even compete with someone who thinks art and design are the same thing.
sure design uses the same tools as art, it can even be confused as art, but let me give you a clear differentiation about what art and design are.
art is the mae-west sofa.
Design is chair Number 14.
the same applies to graphic design or any other kind of design.
If with this you can't get it then I don't know what else I can say
>>242662
> let me give you a clear differentiation about what art and design are
There's the reason why all your designs are sub-par. Stop being a lazy cunt and learn some /ic/.
>>242834
>yfw I was taught scott robertson´s techniques in my first semester of school
toppity kek
>>242590
Design is a necessity in the world of production - even if something is badly designed, it's still been designed and someone's probably been paid for it. This makes finding work less difficult for Designers of any kind in comparison to artists.
As >>242650 said, design is about solving a problem by applying creative thinking and artistic skill, so a lot of qualities IC have could be carried over but there's a lot more to be considered than just making something look good.
I'd have to disagree with >>242650 to an extent in regards to not being able to learn/teach the ability to solve problems etc. I think people are born with certain natural talents, however a skill is gained by anyone who puts the hours in. So a talented GDer who rests on their laurels may not be as good as someone who's put in thousands of hours of practice.
Personally I'm headed towards a career in Illustration, so I'll sort of drift around, bouncing of logo designs, book illustrations, wall murals and self-led zines. I feel as though it will give me a broader spectrum of opportunities.
A tutor of mine once made the observation that GDers are the whores of the art world. So I guess I'm gonna be some sort of escort who has a bit more creative freedom, and delves into weirder shit.
