CREATIVE OUTLOOK: FROM HERE TO CAREER

A Guide for the Creative Person

by Debra Belluomini, The Art Institutes

Here's The Truth: A Job Is A Lot More Fun Than School

But it’s got to be a job doing something you love. And since you’re reading this, let’s assume you’re thinking about a job that involves your love for creativity. The question is, how do you transform your creative passion into a career with a paycheck?

The answer is easier to find than you may think. For people with artistic talent, a broad range of career opportunities exists in the applied arts where your work is measured on its ability to communicate the same thing to every person who encounters it (unlike the fine arts, where 10 people can look at something and get 10 different meanings). Consider the possibilities:

ANIMATION:
This is a profession in which you create impressions for three-dimensional moving image formats for entertainment, publishing, electronic games, education and marketing firms.

COMPUTER-AIDED DRAFTING AND DESIGN:
Using 3-D modeling software, you create plans and drawings for architects, engineers, planners, designers, and contractors in a variety of industries.

FASHION DESIGN:
Here’s where you use your talents in design, sketching and illustration to create almost anything associated with personal style and attire.

GAME ART & DESIGN:
This is a field for people with a flair for creating scenarios, play strategies, characters and settings for video and multimedia games.

GRAPHIC DESIGN:
People in this profession produce targeted visual communications such as print advertisements, magazine layouts, posters, packaging and billboards.

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN:
This is a career for people who want to design in three dimensions, from products, toys, and automobiles to museum exhibits, special effects makeup and theatrical props for film and television.

INTERIOR DESIGN:
By combining color, patterns, lighting, fabric and furnishings, you create all styles interiors for homes and businesses.

MULTIMEDIA & WEB DESIGN:
This is a profession in which you create and maintain Web sites, make graphics, code in HTML, write scripts, and program in an Internet language for all types of organizations.

PHOTOGRAPHY:
Magazines, newspapers, posters, advertisements, Web pages or any other medium that visually communicates –they’re all dependent on you as a freelance or studio photographer who can get the shots.

VIDEO PRODUCTION:
As a videographer, you record moving images on tape or film for use in communications for the broadcast and cable industries, as well as entertainment and corporate entities.

VISUAL MERCHANDISING:
Using your eye for style and design, you decide how a store will present its merchandise to most effectively sell to customers.

Now that you may have a better idea of what you want to do, how can you make it happen? More to the point, what do you need from an education to succeed in your chosen field? Selecting the right school is serious business, but asking the right questions can help you make the best decision.

Start by taking a good look at a school’s curriculum. It should include a lot of coursework in creative skills development. People who can employ you want fresh ideas and new twists on old products. Learning how to create and fine tune those ideas is critical to your success. Look at the work on the school walls. Is it inspiring? Does the school have a track record of graduates who have risen to produce great creative work?

Another important aspect of your education is business skills–working with clients, copyrights and creative ownership. These issues are as important as your ability to create and have everything to do with your financial success in your field. Are they part of the school’s curriculum?

Does the school provide structure for team projects? Creative professionals do not work in a vacuum. They collaborate with copywriters, art directors, designers, photographers and illustrators. Your success and that of the team is founded on everyone’s ability to combine strengths so that what you come up with as a group is better than what you could have done on your own. Does the school foster this type of learning?

And what about technology? In addition to having the ability to come up with the big ideas, it’s critical to be able to proficiently execute them. When researching a school, check into its equipment and computer capabilities. Is there enough equipment so you can get to it without waiting forever? Does the school offer instruction with program specific hardware and software?

Doing some research can make the difference between getting a good and a great education, which brings us back to your career. A job is a lot more fun than school. When you consider the time involved to get an education (two to four years) and the time you spend in a career (oh, say 45 years), the effort to ask the right questions in order to find the best school for you can pay off in a lifetime of work that gives you personal and creative satisfaction.

To get started in your search for an education in the creative and applied arts, contact The Art Institutes at 1-800-592-0700 or visit www.artinstitutes.edu.