Career decision??

Hope this the right place for this topic..I Apolagise if i posted it in the wrong forum..

Well i'm a drafting technician and self taught graphic artist working for a firm which pays well for now but will be leaving in the near future to persue a higher level education. basically to get a batchelors degree.

My crossroad is..I'm a devoted CAD person and draw both from autocad and archicad fluently..I enjoy 3d designs and graphic designs more and actually that's my job where i work..graphic designer.

Besides the field of architect..i was wondering wether to persue my studies in graphic designs..but when i look them up online most of the courses are plublishing courses...i'm interested in cad modelling, animations and artistic impressions well basically the type of finished work shown here on this site..

What are the main courses i can persue if i want to be a graphic artist...is it a wiser choice than studing architecture especially in todays rising need for 3d or cg artist...

any advice will be greatly welcomed,....or any links on such topics

Nooxy...

You might want to look at the Savannah College of Art and Design SCAD which is where I hope to get my masters. They have ALOT of programs in graphic design as well as architectur/architecture related fields and I believe they have BS studies as well. I have been told they have a good reputation AND I can get my Master entirely online. Not cheap but I have yet to find any graphic design program that is very cheap AND accredited.

I've checked out SCAD and reading on it...is there any institutions with similar courses offered in the UK

On my point of view. If your planning to shift on CG i'ts advisable to

take up Architecture. If you plan to continue as a Graphics Artist,

I recommend you take up Fine Arts.

Architecture Built Me! Not the Software

Hi all,

This is an interesting topic for me also. I looked up the Savannah College of Art and Design SCAD. Which course within here would be recommended for our field of expertise any recommendations.

Cheers,

M.

Well there are two things I would like to chime in about on this topic. First is scad is a great school, and I have seen many great people coming from scad. On the other hand, Art Center in San Fran is a really amazing school as well. It is a much more competitive than scad and very focused on design. Both schools have things to offer and since no one is mentioning other design schools, I thought I would offer some alternatives. Sorry, I don't know of any design schools in the UK.

Also, I want to speak as someone ones that is probably over-educated (having done nearly 8 years of upper education), and having done a career chance. It is not impossible to make the transition without the extra education. While I loved being in school, and I love teaching, the key thing that college teaches you is how to learn. If you already know that, learn on your own.

I changed from a career of architecture where it required me to have a degree in architecture which took me through a journey of 4 years on undergrad, and 3.5 years of a MArch. Now I work in VFX and I make 2.5x more then I did in architecture (probably close to what jr VPs make at my old company), and I am 10x more challenged as well. I also work with a variety of artist with all sorts of education, and education levels. From PhDs in CS, to people that got their GED and got a degree from ITT Tech. My credentials mean crap. The key is what I can do. There is something very cool and challenging of having to prove yourself technically and aesthetically every day.

What about Vancouver Film School... Some of the best CG I’ve seen online has come from their students.. I think that says a lot.. Probably very competitive...

-Joe

What about Vancouver Film School... Some of the best CG I’ve seen online has come from their students.. I think that says a lot.. Probably very competitive...

 

-Joe

I think he is looking for Graphics Design not CGI or Film work.

I realise that being a 3d artist is something u get from experience and pushing and teaching yourself is a key aspect..i don't want to go as far as films but simple animations walkthroughs etc...and photorealistic cad renderings...

I'm in the process of learning as much C4D as i can cause basically it's the software i find very flexible, fun and easy to learn...and i just love it.

normally colleges and universities don't teach specific modelling software or u might have to learn a completely different software when going for a higher level education at auniversity.

i'm squeezing between art desgn & architecture. I already have a good background knowledge of both cause i work for an achitectural firm for a about 6 years.

Learning a software to its capabilities and producing professional work or going for a higher level education to start a career..i know both is good but which path will one choose......I'LL love uall thoughts on this one please...

I would say that if you are simply trying to get into arch vis and be better at it, you will get a lot more just teaching yourself. On the other hand, if you want to go into VFX a more specialized school may help you as there is a huge amount that you could learn that is not needed for arch viz such as cinematography, tracking, roto, compositing, shader writting, color timing, animation, character rigging, etc... Same is true for graphic design in terms of color theory, typography, graphic animation, etc...

In this possible career change, where do you see yourself working in 5 to 10 years. This may help us guide you where you want to be. Be as specific as you can... I know that this is hard.

I think combining skills in architecture and graphic design (as you appear to be doing already) would be the best course of action. Going all-out and becoming a fully-fledged architect takes an incredible amount of time and is rarely worth the hassle in the end. For example an architect in the UK who has just emerged from 2 years working in a practice can only expect to earn around £25k-£30k ($50,000) p/a. Whereas a skilled visualisation artist can easily get £30k to £40k, don't forget of course that an architecture degree here can take 5 years.

Its pretty much the same story with graphic design. I suppose it comes down to too many talented people chasing too few jobs.

I'm not personally convinced about the validity of doing to many courses. Obviously if you want to become an architect then you have to have a degree in architecture, but in respect to 3d, i don't think it's worth while.

I totally agree with what CN says about university/collage just teaching you how to learn, and allowing you then to learn by yourself.

I've started thinking like that more and more as the amount of my income generated by 3d has risen and risen... and I got my degree in Economics!

Tom,

are your earnings for a visualiser based on being freelance / self employed or working for a company? and if its working for a company, what type of company - a visualisation studio or directly for an architect, maybe even for marketing company?

i ask working as a visualisier in britain and i don't earn anywhere near the figures quoted and have yet to see any jobs advertised at that salery range. only the other day i was looking at a advert for a relatively large viz studio offering £21000 for a job runner.

the salery was demining imho as there was an advert for year out arch student next to it offering £23,500!

James

I think i'll start of with an art and design course to learn the fundamentals in colrs and lighting techniqs...it think it will be a good base to start from..

thanks all you guys for advice and opinions..i know it's a broad topic and i've learnt a bit from u all esponces..

more advice is greatly welcomed.

I think i'll start of with an art and design course to learn the fundamentals in colrs and lighting techniqs...it think it will be a good base to start from..

 

thanks all you guys for advice and opinions..i know it's a broad topic and i've learnt a bit from u all esponces..

 

more advice is greatly welcomed.

Again... you may not need to go to school for that. Again, I'm a senior color and lighting technical director, and I never went to school in that. I fact I know of few people that did. I do know of quite a few ex-architects in my field on the other hand.