Graphic design career start here

By Todd @ Mitchell Creative Group

When it comes to a career in graphic design you're very fortunate. There's a tremendous variety of possibilities and positions available in the graphic design industry. It's no longer a narrow filed of choices for only "talented" artists. With technology today it's even more spread out, and with modern software (oh, sorry, I meant cloud apps) there's even more potential than ever.

Whether you plan on being a simple freelance consultant, or starting your own business, or entering the competitive graphic design work space, there are many options.

The best place to start is thinking about the type of work you want to be doing on a regular basis. Creative, yes... Graphics, well ok... But think about sitting or standing at your place of business on a daily basis. What exactly are you doing? What do you imagine yourself doing that might be considered fun or inspiring?

Is it sketching artwork, or drawing graphics whether on paper or on a computer? Or is it working with a client to develop the next great website or ad campaign? Maybe it's something simple like drawing graphics for a catalog, or writing content for the next cool ebook. Yes, even writing can be "creative." In fact, in many graphic projects the content is king... Great content is imagined and created in conjunction with the graphic design part of the project.

Start here: Imagine and write down the kinds of graphic design-related types of projects you can see getting in to. What are you passionate about, what would you love to be doing...

Here are a few ideas to consider:

Thinking and planning

Concept development

Ideas and creative thinking

Branding and identity

Business development

Creative writing

Team environment or independent

Sole business person, or team business

Do you like working with people

Do you like helping and recommending better solutions

Do you like doing the actual work

Creating the actual graphic material

Drawing

Painting

Illustrating

Computer graphics

Charts and graphic creator

Infographic creation

Designing and creating brochures 

Logo and brand development

Packaging design

Posters or event graphics

Making simple edits

Computer and online technology

Web programmer

Web designer, coming up with the website plan

App designer or developer

Online graphics material

Hardware and Software

Nowadays there’s so much awesome software out there that help you bring out the creative genius. Creating websites, animations and videos, as well as brand, identity, logos, brochures, and infographics are all done with high end graphical software. Usually on a high end computer— typically, but not limited to Apple computers. Many tasks can now also be done on smaller devices as well.

Learning about the right hardware to use (computer, devices) is as important as it is learning the right software to use for the right job— on top of exploring and learning how to use that software. Hardware and software are the tools. And amazing tools at that. But unless you are willing to explore, learn, and use them, they won’t be of much use. They can be used to create unbelievable masterpieces, or just as a source of fun, creative exploration and creativity— or both!

There is a variety of software out there, used for an equal variety of creative and graphical needs. It can be anything as basic as a Word page layout, or a simple infographic, on up through high end and complex animation and video editing software or web site creation tools.

I should also mention though that when it comes to web design, that also adds to the mix the programming technology. An actual computer programming language (many languages actually) that all software and online media is based. Web code. Many websites can be created in a basic text editor if you’re  a skilled programmer. Although many designers prefer the WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) software so you can really play with the design visually, much of the requirements of online sites today warrant a responsive design that shows up well on multiple devices— and best addressed via web programming code, which again can be written directly as text.

Here is a list of some very popular software (tools) and what their common (but not limited to) use is:

Word. Basic page layout.

Pages. Basic page layout on the Mac. 

Powerpoint. Presentations.

Keynote. Presentation on the Mac. More graphical.

Indesign. Page layout and design. High end design. Books, magazine, ebooks, web content.

Photoshop. Raster/pixel photo images. Web and print images.

Illustrator. Vector based graphics. Shapes, colors, fonts. High end design program. Documents, drawings, illustrations, charts, graphics.

Dreamweaver. Web/online design and creation software.

After Effects. Animation and video software. High end.

Quicktime. Animation and video software.

Premiere. Animation and video software. High end.

Lightroom. Working on photos and fine tuning images. Much like Photoshop, but more detailed.

Final Cut Pro. Animation and video software. High end.

Keeping in mind that any one of these tools above can be maximized and if your are skilled, imaginative, and daring enough can push these into amazing results. They each are focused on their strength best suited to what they are geared for, but all have the underlying nature of allowing you to use your skills in fonts, colors, and design skills. Remember, they are tools. A skilled person with a masterful tool creates skilled, masterful results!

Notes on training

Getting training on any of these tools above really varies. It can be as simple as, and starting with being self taught by challenging your self to find samples you like, or something you want to create— and then find the ideal software and start playing with it. Create it!

It’s like learning how to draw or ride a bike. You just do it. You practice. You explore. In fact, no matter if you are highly trained or not, without the desire, the exploratory mindset, or the willingness to try, practice, and create— it won’t make a difference. I have personally seen and worked with folks that have taken all the classes, degrees in college, and even worked at top agencies, but lacked that passion to want to create or actual experience and haven’t really done much at all. 

As opposed to so many I have worked with that have seriously amazing skills and abilities— and mostly all self taught, and worked on tons of projects. Maybe not so great in the beginning, but with practice comes experience. And with exploration comes discovery, and with all of that comes skill. For example, find a picture of something you like. Drag it into a background layer in Illustrator. Create a layer on top of that and then just start copying over it. Tracing it. Learning the tools. Recreating it exactly the same… Then delete the background. By exploring, using, practicing, and engaging your creative will, and just doing it— going at it. Now you’ve learned the tool, created artwork, and will now apply that into creating your own stuff moving forward. You have now attained more experience than someone who went to a class or watched a video. Now you obviously don’t want to steal ideas, sell them, etc… but for practice, it’s golden.

Start here:

1. Do it! Get the software and get started. Create projects, volunteer to try any project, work on any edits. In fact, just opening and working on edits is the easiest way to get into a program. But aggressively seek and create constantly. I have gained most of my experience here. Make it a habit to just create stuff— daily, weekly...
2. Youtube. Millions of videos to explore. Look up any subject. “Basics of Illustrator” for example… try different videos out. You’ll find ones you hate— and ones you love. Then USE THOSE SKILLS and try it yourself! Start at step one, and work through them. Experience begins the second you have experience! I use this all the time— and I also contribute and post training videos my self to help others.
3. Lynda.com (http://www.lynda.com). With over 600 creative courses online to date— your bound to find online courses that suit you best. Not like experience, but you will definitely learn and pick up some great tips and guidance.
4. Adobe online training (http://www.adobe.com/training/overview.html). They offer the worlds most powerful software— and some of the finest trying there is. Hey, they know their products! More complex, but definitely something worth trying out if you are a serious contender!
5. Local universities and continuing education. I personally have done this numerous times. Local colleges and facilities offer classes by professionals and or administrators that are skilled in several creative applications. Graphic design, illustration, online software, and so much more… Look in your local area papers, or online for classes near you. They usually inexpensive, and fit the right time slots for you after work.
6. Get a degree. I you are serious about a certain field, such as Web design as an example, there’s often a great reason to enroll in a full course getting college credits, and hard core training on that (and many other) field(s). If it becomes a serious career choice, and college is the right fit for you— consider that as an option. 
7. Internships. Volunteer for free or paid internships in most college, and look it up on job search sites, as companies are often looking for volunteers, entry level interns, etc… A great “dig in and get started” opportunity if you really want some experience. I personally hire interns as well.

Final word on graphic design as a skill

Please remember that like any skill‚ be it a doctor, a lawyer, or landscaper… They all require the desire to want to do it, the passion that drives the level of that skill, and the continued commitment to learn, explore and grow… It’s a path, a journey. That changes regularly.

Same here. Graphic design skills are often deeply engrained, genetic traits that many are gifted with. But they are also equally skills that if you have a deep spiritual calling to do it, can easily attain mastery with practice and commitment. Everyone is born with the ability to be creative, imaginative. In fact the power of imagination is the most powerful force on the planet. Everything is once imagined!

Graphic design skills incorporate a wide variety of components as well as the potential to master just a single part of that industry. Fonts, color, layout and design, and just general overall artistic ideas— all vary from person to person. It’s important to learn the basics of all of these (especially basic overall design, fonts and color), but more important to master them in an area that you really feel deeply about. Be it animation, logos, or creative writing… That brings out in you the uniqueness that you then apply passion to and share with the rest of the world. And thus, doing something you love to do! And gee, would’t that be nice!

And finally, don’t let fear, confusion, and patience get in your way. All of these will affect you. You need to be brave, focused, and VERY patient when learning these new skills, or approaching any career path— especially in graphic design.

I can’t wait to see the masterpieces you create— or how you impact the creative world in whatever creative, graphics-related position you end up getting your self into. 

Don’t hesitate to contact me if you need any advice, ideas, or guidance. todd@mitchellcreativegroup.com, 508.494.8182. Visit http://www.mitchellcreativegroup.com.

Website. Start Here.

By Todd @ Mitchell Creative Group

An awesome website doesn't just appear. Like a nice home, store, or building, it takes planning. Thorough, inspired, and strategic planning so you end up with a web site that showcases your brand, service, or product, looks amazing, and does what you want it to do. And all day every day. 

Websites today are THE storefront for business. They are read on multiple devices and relied on for getting information and engagement. If you create a lousy website, you are guaranteed lost business opportunities. Create an awesome website and you're guaranteed more business, more contacts, more engagement, more revenue, and more happy customers.

Here’s what matters most: 

1. First and foremost: Awesome site = awesome results. Crappy site = crappy results. (period). 
2. Write down WHY you want a new website. Helps you stay on a strategic course.
3. You ideally want a responsive site that looks awesome on all devices.
4. Professionally designed sites create optimum results.
5. You need to create a rough site plan. A list of all the pages you want on your site, and what you want the site to do. Big site, small site?
6. Pretend a site is like a car. How much you want to spend vs. all the extras you think you want vs. need. Do you know of any “extras” you think you need? SSL, databases, contact forms, etc…
7. Know what you like. Research. Find samples. Ideally 3 site you like. 
8. Who or how will the updates and edits be done in the future? By you, or hired professional?
9. Content is king! Do you have content, will you write it, or need help with that? 
10. Estimate what an ideal cost might be best for the project— a ballpark idea
11. When will you expect to want to launch your site?
12. Do you have a domain name and/or hosting plan chosen or purchased?
13. Do you have a hosting plan selected or purchased?
14. To create it with an online creation tool like Wordpress, or custom created website by a professional?
15. Is your brand material (logo, etc…) high quality as is, or need reworking

Here is some more detail on the above:

Create a website plan.

Step one. Write down your website plan. What are you aiming for, and more importantly, WHY are you creating a website? What's your mission. Your goal, your reason and purpose?

Find samples of sites you like.

Search for and find websites you like most. There are a lot of examples out there so try to limit your final choices to three.

Study the competition.

What are your competitors doing? You can learn a lot about what they do, what you like and what you might not be doing, or how you want to do it differently so yours stands out.

Do it yourself (DIY), or get Help!?

Be honest in your approach. Do you know exactly what you want, or need help consulting with a professional that can help coach you getting the best site for you? In the web world, it is very, very important to get it right. It's highly competitive and the technological rules are changing quickly so it's important to do it right and guarantee the success of your website.

Determine type of site you want.

There are two primary types of sites:

1. Do it yourself online application web site creators such as Wordpress, WIX, and Squarespace. 

They allow you to create it your self online with templates. Advantage is DIY, any time on most any device and inexpensive. Problem is limiting design so you can't create your own custom design, you need to learn and manage the site and changes yourself which require learning, skills, and time. 

2. Custom website. 

Hiring a creative professional to design your site with top level website design software and applying modern web site rules (that change regularly) so the site works well on all browsers, as well as applying professional design principles to ensure a brand-consistent site, look amazing, and ensure a smooth, fun experience for your audience.

2A. Determine whether you want a simple, static, html site or a responsive web site. Responsive sites "respond" to the device and screen size, and use a different design and programming to create. They are typically much more advanced and expensive, but equaled in the "coolness factor."

Estimate the approximate size of your site.

How many pages roughly? What other stuff do want on the site. Forms, animations, downloads, slide shows, portfolios, etc...

Create a rough site map.

Create a list of all the website pages you envision. Think about what links are clicked and where they go. For example: Home, About us, Services, and contact. That's roughly a four page website.

Consider the content.

Based on your site map, start assembling text documents that contain the content or the text that you will want on each page. Will you be creating and providing that? Or need help creating the content. Or maybe you have some rough content pieces and need help editing and organizing it appropriate for web sites. Web text should be short, concise, engaging, and strategically written with a purpose in mind. Just plopping stuff on a page will look terrible no matter what design. You want a positive experience for the audience, something that really sells your brand properly, and intuitive so it leads your customer where you want them.

Consider all the extras.

Will you want to track your site with analytics, or need a data base created? Maybe you need a multi-image carousel that shows your products? An e-merchant account maybe to sell your products. Make a list of all the "extras" you think you might want.

Where a website lives

A website is a combination of an idea and imaginative concept, web page designed files (usually html, but can also include php, query, java, etc…), style sheets (CSS, etc…), and a series of linked images (jpeg, png, etc…) and related files (downloadable pdfs, etc…). All of the website files are in a folder.

That folder now needs to be copied to a public hard drive out there (the World Wide Web)— usually a data center that hosts and holds multiple hard drives (usually in the thousands. This will be called a “hosting plan.” A hard drive that “hosts” or holds your website folder (and all files).

Your “domain” is the name of your website (whatever-it-is.com, gov, net, etc…). 

You need a domain name, a hosting account, and the website files. And access to getting to the files through the FTP (File Transfer Protocol) folder (fancy name for the website file). Software like Fetch, FileZilla, and many others access your files quite easily.

DIY site builders like Squarespace.com, have all that built in. They tale care of that stuff for you, but again, be careful… They now own and hold the technology to all of that. I personally recommend your own custom site, that way you truly learn, and own the entire process, design, files— all of it.

Think about the brand first.

Do you have good quality, high resolution logos and graphics for your brand? Are you happy with your logo or need help creating a new one first? The brand is absolutely vital to a successful business, especially with a website. A tight, strong, awesome looking brand should be expressed in every part of your business, product or service.

Imagine the time and cost.

What's an ideal time frame for you to have anew site created? And what cost might you estimate in your own mind to have a professional site created. What's it worth to you, how important is it, what caliber site do you envision. That sort of helps you determine the whole site plan, especially time and cost.

It can get a bit confusing figuring out what it might cost to create a website, but think of it like buying a car. Small, simple, economic car, or a larger, faster car with more options. The size and complexity of the site affects the timing and cost of the site. Here are some averages and scenarios that give you an estimate of cost to create a website:

Basic do it your self (DIY)  site

WIX, Squarespace, and Wordpress all allow you to create a template-based site that attempt to make it easy for you to create your own website. You log in, create an account, and walk through the steps to get you a basic website. The downside? It’s theirs. All the software, files, etc… all being to them and reside on their servers. It’s totally controlled by their admin site development, and you can’t create your own custom branded website— you need to use their templates and designs. 

Also, you need to take the time to learn how to use it, as well as continual upkeep of the site. And knowing how to deal with the correct types and sizes of graphics is also important. A decent option for the low, to no-cost website, but not the most effective, and I continuously find clients trying it, getting frustrated, and end up requesting either help— or an entire new custom site rebuild after an attempt at the DIY site.

Custom website

This can range anywhere from the most simple 1 or 2 page site to the most intense 100 page plus, robust, store front, database-driven site there is. It’s important to both find samples of sites you hope to create something similar to as well as guesstimate the ideal cost you hope for. Next to that will be creating first a website plan. A rough description and outline of the site you envision. 

Names of navigationally linked pages, what’s on the site, etc… A “map” of sorts that helps create a blueprint for you or a potential programmer see and maintain the course and goal of your site. Basic sites can range anywhere from $1500-$5K+/-, moderate sites might run anywhere between $5K - $20K+/-, and advanced sites might be in the neighborhood of $10K $100K+/-. That’s how much range there is and is determined by the size and complexity of the site.

A basic website for example might need a new logo created, content/text created, and a feedback entry form. All adding to the cost. So the site plan, you can understand helps build a better picture of what you hope for, and where you can think about making early changes to so it affects your timing and cost before you get started.

I can help you a great deal if I have an idea of what kind of site you like, what you want on the site, and a rough idea of what you hope the site might cost. I can provide ideas to help you meet, or exceed cost goals— as well as provide information you may not have even considered that may have a tremendous impact on not only your site, but your business.

Expect a range anywhere from $1500 – $25K for a standard site. The average although really non-existent since every job is unique, tends to hover around the $8K - $12K mark. Big sites, is a different ball game.

Don’t hesitate to contact me if you need any advice, ideas, or guidance. todd@mitchellcreativegroup.com, 508.494.8182. Visit http://www.mitchellcreativegroup.com.