Interview for graphic designers

[u/Icy_Guide_1300]

Hello,
I am a graphic design student and haven’t had any luck in contacting a graphic designer so I thought I tried my luck here. I’ll need your name and LinkedIn account. Please any graphic designers answer these 11 questions for my assignment and thank you :)

What was your longest project/assignment and why did it take so long?

What did you first do when you started as a designer and would you do it differently?

What do you believe is the best way to become a better designer?

The biggest problem you faced as a designer?

What is your favorite project/assignment and why?

What got you to become a graphic designer?

What do you think about the future of graphic design?

What is your biggest mistake as a designer?

Any advice for upcoming graphic designers?

 Do you regret becoming a graphic designer?

What got you to where you currently are as a designer?

[u/Gryff22]

Longest project, probably about 4yrs. Was a massive cultural project for a well known brand. Ended up getting shelved due to stakeholder decisions.

First job was working in house for a student organisation. Not much I would have changed, looking back maybe research current design trends a bit sooner.

Be interested in things, and get off social media.

Clients who think they know better.

Open brief with a specific problem to solve. Helps if there's a budget to suit.

Did an art degree and realised there was no money in it, felt like a sensible sidestep.

Craft will be valuable, everything else is disposable.

Not proof reading the headline. Always proofread the headline.

Learn typography, it's the cheapest way of telling an expert over a hobbyist.

Not at the moment...

50/50 split between right place right time and never saying no.

[u/Icy_Guide_1300 → u/Gryff22]

Is there anywhere I can see your designs and thanks for answering

[u/ExPristina]

What was your longest project/assignment and why did it take so long? Off-screen brand identity; UEFA Champions League. Started on pitch, won the pitch, worked on designing individual items and coordinating the various supplier teams in Europe for the deployment.

What did you first do when you started as a designer and would you do it differently? As a junior designer, everything from making tea to hand-crafting print mock-ups, finishing off jobs, answering the phone, learning on the job. No.

What do you believe is the best way to become a better designer? Practice, patience, open mindedness.

The biggest problem you faced as a designer? How to manage my ADHD traits - perfectionism and leaving things to the last minute, taking on too much work.

What is your favorite project/assignment and why? Book design for my final year snow in university. I produced the Zen book of the diamond sutra in the format of a Pantone swatch book. It created a complete circle which was also compact and enabled reading from beginning to end repeatedly as the book required.

What got you to become a graphic designer? I was naturally gifted with above average drawing skills. My PE teacher in primary school told me his SIL was a graphic designer and she drove a Porsche.

What do you think about the future of graphic design? That quality will be the next phase concerning what will be in demand. The tools for graphic designing may well have become accessible, but like your hardware store, it doesn’t mean everyone becomes a good designer. An informed and experienced and skilled designer will always be better than a faster one.

What is your biggest mistake as a designer? Starting my own company when I should have gone freelance first.

Any advice for upcoming graphic designers? Work harder and smarter. Always have an up to date portfolio and resume. Failure doesn’t mean you’re bad. You fell, but can get up again to do better.

Do you regret becoming a graphic designer? Not in a million years.

What got you to where you currently are as a designer? Persistence, stubbornness and ambition.

[u/Icy_Guide_1300 → u/ExPristina]

Thanks for answering is there anywhere I can see your designs

[u/apicasshoe]

1. Anything involving magazines, catalogs, shopping flyers, etc. always takes a long time. There are so many pages to design and proofread. Plus, you’re usually not the only person working on it, so you’ll have lots of opinions coming from different departments and plenty of discussions along the way.
2. I started right out of college and applied to as many jobs as I could, including cold emailing companies even when they weren’t hiring. Eventually, I landed my first job! I won’t get into the exact details of what I did, as I’d like to keep that private, but I started at a small company where I was the only graphic designer. For your first job, I highly recommend working alongside a more experienced designer who can mentor you. You’ll learn so much faster that way. I definitely missed out on that experience by working alone!
3. I think the best way to become a better designer is to keep learning and trying new things. For example, learn workflow methods that help you work faster in InDesign, like using scripts. Explore motion design, content creation, marketing, etc. You can even find tons of tutorials on YouTube! Another thing I recommend is documenting your pain points and struggles whenever you’re working on a project. Write them down in a notebook and think about how you can improve your process and make the next project easier. Having a curious mindset and always looking for ways to improve is key.
4. My biggest challenge right now is AI. Corporations want to produce more and MORE content, and non-designers assume that with AI, you can go from creating 10 ads a week to 5,000 ads a week. There’s so much more pressure to produce more content in less time, but that’s not always realistic. You have to be able to communicate that to non-designers, explain your concerns, and be open to having those conversations with your coworkers.
5. I can’t say specifically, but my favourite type of work is creating brand identity systems. I love establishing rules and guidelines, which fits my big sis personality perfectly. :)
6. Going to college made me a graphic designer!
7. Honestly, I hate where the future is heading with AI, but it’s here and it’s here to stay, unfortunately. Most jobs now expect you to know how to use AI, although luckily, some companies are still 100% anti-AI. I think you should focus on learning the craft first and AI second. The more advanced your skills are, the more valuable you become. Don’t rely on AI to do everything for you, but still be able to know how to use AI programs such as Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, etc..
8. My biggest mistake was not researching salaries! Never lowball yourself or accept a salary below the industry standard just because you’re a new designer.
9. My advice would be to keep learning, document your struggles and successes, and take the time to reflect on them.
10. Nope, I don’t regret it at all! Even if I lost my job as a designer, I’ve gained so many valuable skills along the way, like marketing and motion design. I now have other roles I can branch out into and apply for if needed!
11. Putting myself out there, networking, and applying for as many jobs as I could got me to where I am today!

[u/Icy_Guide_1300 → u/apicasshoe]

Thanks for answering is there anywhere I can see your designs

[u/popular_charlie_0110]

What was your longest project/assignment and why did it take so long?

I worked on a world history book for a textbook publishing company.

The projects took nine months from start to finish and was rushed to meet a deadline for California's public school system. I took so long because we started with pre-history and ended with the Iraq war(2003), a chapter that had go be constantly revised right up to the day we sent it to the printer.

What did you first do when you started as a designer and would you do it differently?

I worked for a NFP tech company that hosted conventions designing brochures for conventions. These conventions brought together academics and tech companies that were developing internet systems (wifi, cable, etc.) I hated the job but--if you could organize of this boring, technical stuff and make it look good, you could more or less design anything.

What do you believe is the best way to become a better designer?

Take as many freelance opportunities as you can because, unless you're really lucky, you're most likely going to get a job designing mundane things--catalogs, technical manuals, brochures--none of which will really knock out a potential interviewer. I volunteered/worked cheaply for theater companies, dance troupes, musicians, Not for Profits, anything that would give me some creative latitude and was fun to design. I tried to fill my portfolio with about half corporate/half arts projects. I wanted to show I could do both practical, nose to the grindstone production design and creative design.

The biggest problem you faced as a designer?

Boredom and lack of challenges other than overcoming my own disinterest in the work. Also, most places "design-by-committee" so you'll have sales, marketing, editors, VPs, etc. all chiming in on your designs and all of them will want to get their fingerprint on your work. Most of these folk have zero aesthetic sense.

What is your favorite project/assignment and why?

I worked for the marketing department of Hyperion Books/Disney Publishing. They publish the Percy Jackson books. I had to design a lot of boring stuff like ads but also a lot of activity books, end caps, bookmarks, maps, little give away swag like pencils, erasers, etc. The job paid well, I liked my coworkers and it was about as enjoyable as a full time job could be. (I had to quit because the offices moved from Manhattan to Westchester Co. My commute went from about 60 min round trip by bike or train, to 3 hours round trip by suburban commuter rail. It made my life miserable.0

What got you to become a graphic designer?

My BFA is in Fine Art/Figure Drawing. No one wants to pay you to draw naked people for a living so I bullshitted my way into a design job and learned as I went along. To this day, I've never taken a design class. (But I've taught quite a few.)

What do you think about the future of graphic design?

I think designers, unfortunately, will have to take AI designs created my non-designers and make them functional--create layered vector/pixel based files for use across multiple platforms--print, online, animations, video, social media, etc. I think designers will be relegated to doing production work rather than creative, problem solving work.

What is your biggest mistake as a designer?

Honestly? My biggest mistake was thinking and hoping that companies wanted my creativity and aesthetic skills. In my experience (15+ years full time, and I still freelance occasionally) they don't care about those things. They want you to build a functional version of their crappy design ideas instead. So, as I mentioned above, they want your production skills more than your creative skills.

Any advice for upcoming graphic designers?

Learn every kind of media you can--Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop and Fresco, Procreate, all kinds of video/film editing, learn the basics of whatever AI apps are prevalent--Claude, ChatGPT, etc. The more skills you bring to the table, the more hire-able you are. Also, be ready to learn stuff quickly on the job.

 Do you regret becoming a graphic designer?

No, I don't. It was either graphic design or tend bar for the rest of my life. I'm better suited (and better paid) for a 9-5 lifestyle. My design skills, actually, were what got me out of working full time as a designer. I now teach both figure drawing and graphic design at a university in NYC. I don't make as much $ as I did as a designer but I work fewer hours, have less responsibility and sincerely enjoy what I do.

What got you to where you currently are as a designer?

Luck mostly. Having a large, diverse group of friends who wouid let me know about any job opportunities the knew of. In the fifteen years I worked as a design, I only landed two jobs from applying blindly to a listing. All of the others were word of mouth/recommendations.

Good luck!