Art/Design school Discussion thread

[chorus]

^ :lol:

 

Some of the most commercially sucessful artists I know dropped out of art school. I think trying art school definately helps though.

 

If you want to learn design, you need to learn more about practicalities I think. In Australia theres an institution called TAFE. It's less expensive than uni and has more or less a purely practicle focus. Something like that I think is ideal for getting a base for design. Find out which places are the most reputable and obviously try to get into the best one.

 

During your time studying such a thing you should obviously make any possible internships and your portfolio your prime concern and not much else.

[MAR]

I went to art school for design, had a great time, and now work in a well paying job. The only downside is that art school makes you think you'll be doing awesome projects when in reality 90% of the time its boring. Its that 10% that makes you want to continue working. That said, I'm probably going to make a slight career change by next year.

 

If you go to art school, like Mams said, keep and open mind and dont let the other fuckers get you down.

[chorus]

Also what drue down said is true about low paying highly competitive work at first. The difference is in your portfolio.

 

It's highly competitive but there's alot of people out there who do not have stand out porfolio's also. If you have some talent and you work very hard at it. You'll still have to do a mind numbingly boring job at first. But you'll get your foot into the door faster and possibly in a better place. If you find yourself shit kicking in a good media place to start off with, that's better then making shitty catalogues or something.

[DownSyndrome]

Hustle hard - cut throats - and don't look back

[!@#$%]

after seeing what became of many of the people i know who went to art school, i have no regrets about getting a science degree and doing art on the side.

if i had to do a quick rough sketch, only about 1 in 10 became what people think of as 'artists' ...some others, maybe 2 of the 10 got a little luckier and ended up with jobs doing crappy shit like advertising or faux finishing.. the rest didn't do shit with the degree and have tons of loans

 

granted, i'll never be famous, but i don't have that kind of talent anyway, and in my experience, art school doesn't matter when someone DOES have that kind of talent.. for example i bet el mammerro would have turned out pretty well even if he hadn't gone

of course i could be wrong about that, who's to say? it's also obvious that he really exploited the opportunities he was given. being super hungry and open-minded will get you a long way, but that goes for any field.

 

if you are going to become an art teacher, or are totally comfortable going to art school and ending up a cook, then go and make the most of it

if you really want a serious jobby job one day that will pay, you should think about a 'career' instead

[shai]

I nearly went this route- I checked out CCA, FIDM and SFAI- but realized I wasn't going to learn anything I either didn't already know or could learn about for free. Plus I was 28 and have never been much of a scholar, so it didn't really make sense or sound appealing when I thought about it....I think what you get out of art school is a lot of art history and marketing skills. Which aren't bad, but anyone can figure that shit out independently, but you go to school to get that piece of paper. Meh.

 

A bunch (20+) of my friends have art degrees. Three of them are really successful fine artists. A couple tattoo. My best friend is finishing up an art history degree she doesn't want since she's a photographer. The rest are doing shit where an art degree doesn't apply.

 

But if that's what you want to do, do it. If I ever change my mind I'll probably go for something like fabrication/industrial arts.

[yonis]

honestly, i think art is one of those things where you can learn more just doing it than paying for an education for it. kinda like cooking, you can either start out as a prep cook, or pay 40grand for a culinary degree, and then still start out as a prep cook. then you can work your way up at the same pace, except one person didn't spend 40,000$

[Sleazeside Heights]

I like art school girls.

me too.

 

I want to take a couple painting classes so I can bang girls with purple hair.

[Fist 666]

you giant faggot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(somebody had to do it)

[chorus]

If you want to learn design programs you can teach yourself if you have the discipline.

 

If you want to learn how to produce fine art. Formal training can help and I think to be honest a lot of people who say learn it on the street or whatever are not people who spend a lot of time making art for galleries.

 

I'm not saying formal training is absolutely nessecary. I deliberately don't have much and I've been fine so far. But I am saying it can make a real difference to someone with some natural talent and that you can often tell from a persons work if they were trained or not. ( that's not always clear cut good or bad).

 

If you go to a traditional school or you learn illustration for example. You also run the risk of developing a finished look that ultimately looks similar to a lot of other people from such schools or that typical illustrative style. So you have to think about that.

 

A lot of peoples stuff is technically pretty well painted but it personally bores me because it looks the same as a lot of other people... And on of that their ideas aren't all that good. ( having good ideas makes a huge difference I think )

[KILZ FILLZ]

Go blue collar.

 

Live without a school loans. Get paid well. Work with your hands. Talk shit to co workers all day without repercussion.

 

I know youve seen office space.

[ohnoone]

if you have the discipline.

 

big if

[Furious_Styles]

Wanted to go to art school, but it cost to much money. Thinking about hitting up an art degree at a university instead to save some $.

[defer]

i just wrote a fucking ton and closed my browser.

 

i'll be back tomorrow to re-write it.

 

if you love it: go get a bachelor's degree in design. don't get a degree in advertising. advertising is essentially a shitty design degree with a little bit more of the marketing side thrown in. do your best and make a fucking amazing book. go to a reputable school. if you can't afford it, hustle harder. i was broke as shit and did it by myself.

 

a degree gets you an interview and an outstanding portfolio gets you the job.

 

if you're unsure: save your money, time, and sanity.

[xoXox]

two words:

industrial design

[N0W0N]

I enrolled in community college at 30. I had been on a 15 year hiatus from education. I hate authority and a lot of the ideology that's settled into formal education. I tried to educate myself and I became pretty good. I was landing shows for my painting but I was sick of working service and construction. I wanted a career in the arts.

When I enrolled in the local college I just took whatever I wanted (e.g. art history classes, swimming, marketing, small buisness, all kinds of art shit & welding.) Never got a degree.

I did end up figuring out that I am and never will be the next white wall phenom; I had a good chance to take that style that I was raised on through graffiti and apply it to metal. I was accepted as a transfer student to a great craft school and got a bfa in metal. This education and ability to network with experts in the field was and continues to be invaluable to my everyday life and career.

In short:

Is art school insanely expensive-yes

Is it filled w/TFK'S that I couldn't relate to at all-yes

Did it teach me a better way to create and a way to get paid doing it-yes

Would I take it back and learn it "on the street?"- fuck no.

[KILZ FILLZ]

So you're a welder?

 

I return to my previous post.

[Mercer]

[MedicineCabinet]

tight pants & caviar dreams

[Balthazaar]

Cooper Union.

 

/nuff said

[KILZ FILLZ]

Immjust sayin why rack up 100k of debt to make 60 k when you could start a gig now and earn 60k in four years time.... minus the student loans.

 

I get the 'doing what you love' deal. But you'll be sitting in meetings and in front of a computer. Who loves that?

[N0W0N]

If I wanted to be a union pipe-fitter or something then that would've been a good route to go. I know how to weld but I'm not a welder. I'm a metalsmith. I fabricate one-off or small series production work with a few friends. I run a small LLC that I own. I imagine the pipe welder has better bennies, job security and pay but that's just not what I want to do with my life. There's a glass ceiling that the welder hits fairly quickly that's not even a worry for me. I work as a tradesman and artist for myself. I am allowed more potential profit and the freedom to do as I please.

I guess without the formal education, metalsmithing would've never even entered into the equation. I would have still been chasing that dragon; trying to sell paintings and hustling some shitty 9-5 grind.

It helps to have a plan and a modus operandi when you enroll in that four year. Attending the cheap school helped me figure that out.

I think a lot of art school programs are a joke. Don't get me wrong. Learning a craft and a trade was important to me. I could have learned all of this dolo. It just would have taken me much, much longer. The networking, the paperwork and the education made my world an infinitely better place.

 

Just take your time. Do some research into the field, the school, the alumni, the faculty. It's not a race.

[chorus]

I agree the debt is a sad thing. Noam Chomsky talk's about it. A lot of young people are basically forced into the corporate sector because of these inevitable debts their studies involved.

 

Ironically people often study because they are looking for a meaningful vocation but end up doing a lot of work they don't like to maintain their finances.

 

Kind of a very real aspect to that cliche of being 'sucked into the machine'.

 

Not everyone likes just working with their hands though (n/h). Some people like to earn money mainly using their 'brains' others their creativity etc.

 

 

For people going to art school or whatever I highly recommend working fucking hard, making careful desicions and doing what ever they can to reduce debt so they have more options when they graduate. Their are a lot of scholarships, so at least try for them.

 

Also people need to realise doing artwork and creative work in general is fucking hard work. All those guys who do a bfa then smoke bongs and play video games are not evidence that a fine arts degree is a waste of time. But more that a lot of people who do bfa's like to waste their time... so dont be one of those dudes

[chorus]

Also I see El mamero lurking. How's your dad? Do you guys still get ridiculously wasted together?

[Akrisone]

Went to design school for a 3 year advanced diploma, graduated with honors, and then went Into the field. Worked for a year and realized that getting paid 12 bucks an hour to design info graphics for internet servers blew.

 

Now I got a job working in accounts management in the waste industry making 30% more...

 

Get a certificate from college, it will help you get your fundamentals and your book nice...then if your committed go for it...but if you actually want to be am artist, don't waste your time

[kolohe]

as a art school dropout i'd describe it like a summer camp for adults. if your parents wont mind supporting you into your 30's, then go for it. the industrial design prof. at the school i went to said anyone majoring in the fine arts should save their tuition money and use it towards living in some hipster part of town, being at the right parties with the right look, and "schmoozing" with people (his words.) he said thats a better path toward becoming successful in the art world than going to the school where he taught. but if you have an extra $150,000 laying around then go for it.

[kolohe]

also, for graphic design a certificate or 2yr program is more than enough. you're still gonna have to compete for jobs with people who learned the software on their own and are willing to do the work for $8hr. contrary to what they tell you in 4yr art schools, you will be making clipping paths for a living for years and no one cares about all the bauhaus design/swiss typography b.s. you talk about in those mind numbing "critiques."

[terrorlicious]

Went to college for art and graphic design, dropped out after a year and got a job as a graphic designer off of my portfolio. Head graphic left after a year, so i became head graphic and ran the graphics department.

 

Still with the increase in responsibility and stress i was on pretty shit money, figured a degree was what i needed to get higher up in the industry, so went to university and again my portfolio got me in over my qualifications. Did a year, hated it. Just couldn't get with the whole school thing again after working professionally in what i was studying. Teachers were bitter old failures and classmates were (mostly, save a few people with real talent) hipster dicks. So i left and now i'm working freelance.

 

The way i see it, if your portfolio is good and you've got some solid experience and handle job interviews well, you can get in wherever you want to fit in and work you way up.

 

Also whoever said it before, don't stop learning. if you need to be good at illustrator/photoshop/flash/coding/whatever then look online and put some time into getting your shit dialled. The internet can teach you pretty much anything these days.