Jack of all Trades

When I went to college way back in 1986, I went in thinking I should take every class related to my major and then some. Because I was going into commercial art (that is what graphic design was called back then) and it was a given that anyone with a commercial art degree was hired on at an advertising agency, I decided to learn everything I could about Advertising. I acquired a minor in Psychology, and took most of the Sociology classes as well. I took creative writing, theater, every fine art class they offered, marketing, advertising (I, II & III), broadcasting, photography, journalism, and communications. 18 more months and I would have had three more degrees (BS degrees in Fine Art, Psychology/Sociology double major, and Industrial Technology with an emphasis in Secondary Education [I kinda wanted to be a high school shop teacher, too]). As it was I decided not to go that extra year and a half, and got out with my Bachelor's in Communication Arts with a Graphics emphasis, Associates in Commercial Art and a minor in Psychology with an emphasis in Personality Theory. It only took six years! :P

Then reality hit and I realized an Advertising Agency was not going to hire me. Two reasons: looks and family. There are very few Advertising Agencies in my home state to begin with, and basically the only way to get in is be a model yourself or be related to someone in upper management. So I got a job at a local newspaper instead. Now while in college, I also worked as a graphic designer for the University, tutored and ran the Mac lab, and did graphic design for college groups, clubs and organizations. With that experience and the degrees, I landed a pretty good job, really. Newspapers in my state also double as copy/print shops with in-house graphic designers. In this case just myself, but it was a big step from entry level.

My position included all graphic design for independent projects outside of the newspaper itself, all design jobs for the offset press, one big yearly magazine for the rally, a quarterly gambling magazine for Deadwood, the snowmobiling tab that ran weekly over the winter, and the weekly Sunday giant shopping inserts. I learned so much at that newspaper. Their system was so dated when I got there! I was used to working on Macs, but they had nothing but an old Compugraphic system they had invested heavily in just one year before Macs took over the industry. Compugraphics are like working without a monitor. You have to think in points, do everything in your head and hope it printed right. They were barely a step up from typewriters and line tape. Graphics were clipped out of huge clip art books and waxed into place. The dark room was the heart of the business. Invaluable experience, believe me.

Eventually the family that owned the paper sold it to a big corporation and they updated everything to the latest Macs. My job was expanded to include ads and I was then able to learn QuarkXpress and scanning (which was new).

After that job I worked for a while as an in-house designer for a print shop. While I worked there I taught myself PhotoShop, specifically, photo manipulation. Now you have to understand that when I was in college, Aldus reigned supreme: PageMaker, FreeHand and SuperPaint. Quark and PhotoShop didn't start to hit big until just after I graduated. Then I got stuck in the time warp at the newspaper. But I was young and caught right up.

Eventually I landed a job with a screen shop that did decals and stickers. I had drafting experience from high school and my Industrial Technology classes. Who would have thought those would help me land a job? Again, the company was still pretty much old school. They had just bought their first two Macs, but most everything was still done by hand. First an illustrator drew the design; the line art was then made into a positive on clear film; with rubylith and an exacto knife process/spot colors were cut out; half tone screens were used for shades and gradations; the rubylith separations were then shot and made into positives; color separations were then ganged on large sheets; cut lines and registration marks were added by hand and eye; the large sheets of positives were sent to be burned onto screens as negatives; and, finally, inserted in presses. Some presses were hand run and some were giant machines. All positives and negatives were done in a dark room with a giant stat camera (which caught on fire sometimes). We also ran die cutters, sheet cutters, stampers, sorters and packaging machines. Again, a wealth of knowledge to be soaked up. Eventually color separating and stripping was slowly relegated to the new machines. FreeHand was the main software we used. From that job I became a FreeHand Guru. We also used PhotoShop and Illustrator. I excelled at that job.

From there I went from the boonies to the big city. Fairly quickly I landed a job as a graphic design instructor at The Art Institute. SCORE! It only lasted the one semester, but that was a blast! I totally want to do that again. :) While teaching my one class, I also got a job working for a screen printing/embroidery company that did clothing and merchandise. Again, FreeHand reigned supreme, but I learned to design for different types of screen printing, pad printing and embroidery.

I eventually left that job to take a position with an electronics buying group. I was back using QuarkXpress and PhotoShop, but it was there that I learned how to use PowerPoint. I bolstered my basic graphic design skills and learned to design logos, faxing campaigns, conference building, presentations, catalogs, technical writing, and took a stab at management.

From that point I worked with a lot of start ups sprinkled with some established mega companies (PricewaterhouseCoopers and Houston Chronicle). All those positions drilled branding into my head. I branded companies from the bottom up and was the company brand watch dog at PricewaterhouseCoopers. At the Houston Chronicle it was back to learning about black & white. So many mistakes are made there. Printing black & white is a whole different animal to printing full color. I also learned web design. I can't and have no wish to develop a website, but I can design one with all the right colors, images, text and navigation. Making it run/work I leave up to the experts.

What's my point? Well over the last several years I've been getting a lot of flack from the design community and potential hires that I need to pick a specialty. Why? I personally feel my experience makes me a better designer and better employee. No one is perfect, but I can nip many problems in the bud before they go into production. Why should I limit myself to "Logo Designer" when I can do so much more than just that? Some people are afraid to call me a production artist, as though that may offend me. It does not. I am a damn good production artist. I'm also a good designer as well. Again, why can't I say I do all of that? When did knowing the ins and outs of your chosen profession become a liability?

Now I know I will never be a Design God. I'm good, but not a God. I've met some Gods. I think, however, that, with my experience, I can help mold future Design Gods. I mean where do you go from here? I'm getting tired. My eyes aren't what they used to be (too much staring into bright lights over the years). The tendons in my hands are creaky. I'm into middle age and feeling it (if not showing it). I believe it is time I went back to school and got my Masters in Fine Art so I can mentor/teach the Design Gods of the future.