FAQs for Design Students (DRAFT)
Preface
I often get questions from design students (or those thinking about going into design as a profession). A few months back, one of these students presented me with a fairly comprehensive list of questions, one that seemed to capture many of the typical questions I see. So I thought I’d post my responses to these here, with a goal towards adding more relevant questions that come my way in the future.
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Intervew with Wil Arndt
Would you mind giving me a little background on yourself and how you decided to pursue a career in design?
I initially started out wanting to be an architect. 4 years of architecture school and 2 years working at a firm showed me that I didn’t love it. Early on, I was introduced to aspects of graphic design via the 3d program at architecture school and found that I was pretty good at it. After school, I worked for a large company in Philadelphia, designing ad layouts and working with CD-ROM graphics (this was the early-mid 90’s). (There was a detour in the music business for a while, but more on that another time.) Then, while on a trip to Vancouver to scope out the Masters of Arch program at UBC, I saw the work coming out of the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, and I realized that *this* was what I wanted to be doing. By ‘99 I graduated from ECIAD with a Bachelor of Communication Design and I started my own design firm. I also teach at ECIAD now.
What does a typical work day look like for you.
There are no typical days in a small design firm like this, especially when you’re the owner. I have to anything and everything and it all depends on the project and also whether or not it’s the “season” to hit the pavement to go get more work. In general, I am far more hands-on at my position than anyone else I know, for better or worse. Here’s what yesterday looked like for me:
8 am - 10am:
Answer email, do payroll and other administrative duties (I get about 50 “real” emails a day and 400 junk emails).
10am - 10.15:
Fix a problem with the server that took our network down and couldn’t let us work.
10.15 - 1pm:
Application development and Flash programming for client work
1pm - 2 pm:
Business lunch with potential client
2pm - 4pm:
More development and programming
4pm - 4.30pm:
Meeting with junior designer to provide direction and feedback on project
4.30pm - 5.30pm:
Organizing industry event.
6.00pm - about midnight:
Attend local awards show.
What are your duties.
Art Direction
Client Liaison
Project Management
Office Administration
New Business & Sales
Production Artist
Flash Development
PHP Programming
Database Design
Human Resources
Take out the garbage
Behind the scenes at the office
Who is your client base?
Our clients range from small business to large corporations. We try to focus on a few key industries: Video Games, Entertainment & Media, Education, Architecture, Humanitarian, Retail. But the reality is that we do all kinds of work and it really depends on if I’m interested in doing the work. That’s one of the advantages of being small — you can turn work away that doesn’t interest you (if you’re good and you’re busy).
Most of our work is project-based, but despite that we have a very good percentage of repeat-clients.
How do you go about obtaining clients?
Lots of different ways: word-of-mouth, winning awards, network events, getting the name out there, repeat business. We don’t have fulltime sales staff, so it’s important to understand that every job will be your representative and every client can be your sales person. Keeping good client relationships is critical for getting new work.
What services do you offer?
Our official focus is interactive design and motion graphics. But our clients realize that we have strengths in strategic thinking and design in general, so they will ask us to do a variety of work. Right now, for instance, we’re doing some packaging design for a client. A few months ago, we were doing brochures and signage for another client.
How many projects are you working on (average)?
Right now, we’re trying to push 7 projects out the door. At any given time, we’ll have anywhere from 5 to 15 projects going on simultaneously. This is split between myself and another designer.
Your thoughts of the industry
How’s the water in the Design Industry right now?
At a high level, design is in a funny place right now. 10-15 years ago there was this unbound optimism in the power of design to change the world. Unfortunately, I think this has led to a generation of designers that are elitist, self-important, and quite arrogant. In some cases, design actually saves lives (a friend of mine recently completed a heart-transplant database that enables wait-lists to be effectively managed by need), but in most cases design is taken far too seriously which I believe has led to a bit of a backlash by a public that doesn’t really care.
In terms of job-prospects, I see that the nature of design has splintered into dozens of very specialized roles. It’s rare these days that a successful company will have design-commando-style generalists. This is especially true in interactive design, where much work has been done in standardizing roles across the industry. Perhaps for this reason, there’s lots of jobs out there, but they are for more senior-level and specialized people.
Where do you see yourself going in the next five years?
Personally, I’m hoping to be doing more work in content generation and IP development. Things like production and programming are becoming more of a commodity. I believe real opportunities lie in being able to craft content that entertains and informs people — the so-called ‘Creative Economy”. That’s the stuff I’m becoming more interested in doing.
Advice for me
What do you look for in a portfolio?
It depends on what the position you’re applying for. For someone straight out of school, people have tendency to put EVERYTHING they’ve ever done into their book, because they think “just in case that’s they’re looking for X, they can see that I’ve done that once”. But this usually results in some poor work being presented, and it dilutes the impact of the 3 or 4 really good pieces that might be there.
I usually suggest showing your very best work and leave it at that. If it’s only 3 pieces, then so be it. Being your own critic is very difficult, but you need to be strategic and very self-critical when it comes to showing you work.
Other than that, I look for very specific things when I look at potential hires, but this is totally dependant on the position I’m looking to fill.
I would identify what you really want to do, then tailor your portfolio to fit that. I’ve seen portfolios that are very specific. They are very impressive because they scream “I am an [X]”. No question about the person’s ambition. They may not get the job with me because I’m looking for a [Y], but they do get a job somewhere and usually fairly quickly.
Also, it’s sometimes not a bad idea (if you have a lot of different kinds of work) to tailor your portfolio to suit each potential employer. Look at their work, find out what they really need, then work on presenting yourself in a way that meets that need.
What qualifies someone as a ‘good hire’?
A strong portfolio is helpful, but just as important is a person’s work ethic. Are they good to work with? Can I trust them with deadlines? Are they positive but not cocky? Are they able to work as part of a team? Are they willing to grow and learn and expand? Are they able to communicate themselves clearly? Will they act like babies or will they act like professionals?
Skills, of course, are important — but the ability to quickly learn new skills is more important. And, above all, I value resourcefulness — the ability to get a job done without complaining and with dependable self-reliance.
People straight out of school rarely have a good portfolio that demonstrates experience. If you do, then great. But I focus more on these other things with new grads. It’s mostly a “gut feeling” combined with evidence I might pick up via questions and their resume.
My personal pet peeve is bad spellers. A designer should know how to write and use grammar above a 4th-grade level, and in an age of spelling and grammar checkers, there’s no excuse for some of the horrid spelling I see. Verbal communication is important and I don’t want these people representing our company to clients. Most employers I know feel the same way.
What are important skills that a designer should hone in the final year of school?
Start working on your “network” of peers and industry contacts. Be organized and systematic about it. It’s probably the last thing on your mind as you’re just trying to get through school, but you’ll be that much more ahead when you graduate.
Try to stay informed in your industry — trends, what’s the latest version of whatever, when’s the next BETA of X coming out, etc. Even if you’re not an expert in these areas, at least you’ll know what someone is talking about.
Stay up on current events. Some interviewers are big on small talk. It will make you sound informed and intelligent if you can have a light conversation on what’s new in the news, or the latest movie, etc.
Anything I might have left off but you think I should know?
It’s important to realize a few things about finding a job:
- Most of the best jobs come through people you know — so work on broadening your industry network. You never know where that next job might be coming from.
- Just because your application might be rejected by a company doesn’t mean your work is bad. Sometimes the situation just isn’t right and the company is just looking for something very specific.
- If you don’t know what you want to do (interactive design? graphic design? packaging? media?), then I would recommend getting a job that will give you exposure to a wide variety of roles. Even if it means working for less. This will help you to figure out what you might be good at in a professional setting. It will save you a lot of hassle later on.
Other than that, I would also try to remember that, in the end, you’re designing for people. So life experience is important to a designer’s repertoire. To be qualified to speak on behalf of the human race, and if you really care about design, you need be able to empathize with other points of view. Live life and value experience — play soccer, start a band, teach Sunday school, bake muffins, take a painting class, volunteer at a senior’s home, go backpacking, get married, go to the movies, build a house, talk to children, visit a rally, take a tour. And perfect your craft.
Easy, right?