Become a Graphic Designer: No Talent Needed!

We’ve all seen them. Those obnoxious, cheap, made-on-an-exceptionally-low budget-with-a-deadline-in-twelve-minutes kinds of commercials. The ones that reflect the design prowess of an individual completely devoid of any sense of composition, color, or creativity. They are usually trademarked by clashing hues, Microsoft Word-made typography, and an overly enthusiastic narrator. But the most offensive aspect of these commercials is not how they are rendered, but what they are all too frequently known to promote – a career in graphic design. In a cruel twist of irony, this very method of advertising is known to be used as a means of attracting potential candidates to our profession. Usually airing on the local channels of daytime television, these ads are intended to recruit flocks of people to various vocational schools, offering training in the area of “graphic design”. Yet even more disturbing than this trend is the idea communicated through these commercials – that our particular profession is nothing more than a get-rich-quick scheme; so easy, anyone can do it!

This is clearly a flagrant misrepresentation of our occupation. Regardless of the extent of an institution’s facilities, one cannot train an individual to suddenly have an eye for what our profession entails. He or she must bring something to the table. There must be some spark – be it an eye for color, a good sense of space for layouts, good concept ideas and critical thinking skills, or a mind tinged with innovation. Yet these very vocational schools targeting potential design students seem to think that this is not necessary. In fact, one particular commercial even went so far as to boast, much to my extreme shock and horror, “No talent needed!” as their facility’s phone number flashed across the screen. It was this very commercial that sent me over the edge, causing the cereal I was eating that morning to lodge itself in my throat as I nearly dropped the bowl. The audacity of such an institution to claim that one does not need talent to be a graphic designer! The utter temerity of any school to even suggest that our working career is of a level that just about anyone can easily pick up!

Of all the possible professions out there, why do all these commercials target graphic design? What is it about being a graphic designer that makes this occupation so attractive? Is it that the very name of the profession sounds glamorous? Could it be that the ideas of designing CD covers and movie posters like those shown in the commercials is so appealing because of our country’s obsession with the media and pop culture? Maybe it’s the lifestyle that being a graphic designer entails, spending countless hours seated in front of a computer – something not so far removed from what many of these potential students are already doing in their free time. Why not put this squandered time to good use, and have it generate money? I’ve barely ever seen such an ad promoting a career in anything else, save for the occasional mechanic or the rare medical office assistant. Although the vocational schools are advertising these blasphemous ads on local channels, every geographical area seems to have more than their fair share of such commercials. This indicates that it is not just a local phenomenon, but one that has roots in every urban and suburban area of the United States.

And just what exactly is the demographic that these vocational schools are targeting in their television ads? By examining the timeslots in which the institutions choose to air their commercials, perhaps we may gain a better insight. It has been noted that these particular advertisements have only ever been seen during the late-morning on local channels. Often they air during the breaks of shows like Jerry Springer or Judge Judy, alongside ads for attorneys specializing in personal injury, and power chairs for senior citizens. Based on the programming and commercials with which the ads to partake in our profession are associated, we can infer the kind of crowd to whom they are catering – primarily Americans who are unemployed, injured, or aged to the point of immobility. Thus we find the demographics which these institutions have deduced will yield the best possible candidates for a career in graphic design. But why would such a career appeal to individuals from these walks of life – or of any other position that would enable them to sit around soaking up late-morning television? Perhaps because of the very attitude in which these messages for education are conveyed – that graphic design is just so easy that anyone can take it up.

Are we to believe that anyone off the street can just hop on the design bandwagon and achieve success in this field? That the commercials are indeed true, and members of society who are seeking employment will be able to attain work as a designer, having attended one of these vocational schools and received the training necessary to operate Adobe programs? That possession of a certificate that indicates a grasp of technology is the only thing standing between one and a successful job as a graphic designer? There is a key component missing from this equation, and that is the amount of talent – however small – that is necessary to make logos, web pages, posters and more actually work. Without even a small degree of skill in perception, critical thinking, or innovation, one cannot realistically hope to turn out successful pieces as a means of making a living. There must be something in the way of talent or passion to be brought to the table. This is something that no school can teach – it must come from the individual him or herself – a sort of design intuition; that which is not just visual, but also is intuitive in terms of generating compelling and innovative concepts. It is this characteristic that makes an individual a candidate for a successful career as a graphic designer.

One may wonder about those students who sign up for art classes of any kind, going in with absolutely no experience at doing anything creative, and expecting to produce something exactly as they see it either in a photograph or in life. They have an expectation, yet no sense of how to reach it. Having had no experience nor any perception of shape, space, form, color, or concept development, they find themselves frustrated at not being able to produce something close to what they have imagined. Even when handed the appropriate tools and colors to use, they still cannot create something on par with what they are attempting to reproduce. While this is especially true of the Fine Arts, it also holds water in graphic design. Unfortunately, these students of design may not always be able to tell when a graphic they have made is not of particularly high quality or is far-removed from being refined, or when an idea they have devised lacks substantial conceptual weight. Although they have been handed the same tools used by professionals and taught how to handle them, it is how they themselves apply the tools that determines their success.

Having been an assistant art teacher at a private art school for many years, I have observed this first-hand. I have worked with students coming in with good perception of shape, space, form, and color, as well as those who are lacking in these qualities (usually it is the parents’ idea to enrolled these children in the school for the sake of having another extra-curricular activity). While it can be challenging, I have found that it is easier to help those children with varying degrees of some form of perception to grow and develop as artists. It is easy to teach them new skills when they have some pre-existing knowledge to base these teachings on. We take what they have instinctively and show them how to push it further, and gradually the child’s skills increase and their development is often noticeable even from class to class.

The few others who enter our program with no particular concepts of the aforementioned attributes are not as easy to guide. It is difficult to teach them to grasp concepts to which they are oblivious in the first place. There is less to work with when teaching these students, as the things shown to them are usually aspects that they have never before considered. While in some cases these students can master what they have been taught to some degree, they often become stuck in a rut, or remain in their comfort zone, and do not take it upon themselves to try to develop their skills further. This is not usually out of fear of failure, but out of inability to envision different approaches. Such is often the fate of those enrolled in the educational institutions advertising on late-morning local television. Students of these schools have been harvested from the masses watching TV and longing for an employment opportunity to present itself that can quickly remedy their situations– and the way the graphic design commercials are set up, what better way than to enter our profession?

If given the tools and the instructions on how to operate them, can America’s, late-morning television-watching populaces realistically produce pieces that can stand and survive in the competitive world of graphic design? Would they find themselves employed long enough to establish a decent (by society’s standards) lifestyle for themselves? It is highly unlikely that anything relatively long-term could come out of entering a field that is in itself an art form – a hybrid of art and commerce – when the creator does not have an eye for basic formal principles nor a mind geared for devising innovative or compelling concepts. These are for the most part intuitive, and can be helped and furthered but not created out of nothing. Sadly, the likelihood of this being a rude shock is exceedingly high to those entering the design workforce who come from such a background. It is especially ironic as they jumped on board with what seemed to be a career that is a fast track to success and fortune.

Graphic design is by no means to be taken as a potential get-rich-quick scheme. There are so many facets to our line of work that most people never perceive. From research on demographics to the psychology of anticipating clients’ immediate and long-term needs, there is a wealth of behind-the-scenes work that must always be undertaken. There exist so many subtle nuances in such a multitude of areas that a mere training program could not possibly make an individual wise to – from scratch, no less. Our practice requires more than just being computer-savvy. It is a practice founded on critical thinking skills and problem-solving abilities, both of which go hand-in-hand with the visual skills involving color theory, space relationships and composition, and most often thinking outside the box. Couple this with a strong sense of passion for the field, and only then can one see what it requires to become a true graphic designer, not one of the rabble of “professionals” churned out by the schools advertising their low-quality graphics on the local channels during the day.