My First Interview

Recently a college student e-mailed me and asked me to complete a series of interview questions for an assignment about the profession of graphic design. I happily obliged. Please ignore any spelling or grammer discrepancies. It was my first interview after all. Below is the text:


What made you want to become a graphic designer?
When I was younger I was always wanted to become a cartoonist. I always really liked the idea of getting paid to draw pictures. But soon I became increasingly more interested in the lettering and the type that went into my cartoons, thus spawning my love of typography.

Then in high school I started making a lot of T-shirts and program covers for different athletic teams, not knowing that what I was doing was called graphic design. It wasn't until later, after I had met a few older college design students, that I realized I wanted to become a professional graphic designer myself.


What courses did you study in school/university?
If you are going to be studying graphic design as a profession, you first need to develop your "chops" so to speak. So, before I really got into the core graphic design classes, I took subjects like painting, drawing, photography and sculpture to learn the basics of form, color, texture, etc. After that I took classes that focused on typography, illustration, information graphics and Web design.

I was also fortunate enough to attend a school that made students take general education classes to make them well-rounded. This is key, because most of the time when you are designing in the real world, the content of the piece is not about graphic design. So knowing about science or literature would really help you if you were designing a science text book or a novel.


What does your job involve?
I serve as an in-house graphic designer for Webster University's marketing department. Basically, I design print and online materials like newsletters, postcards, brochures, flyers, programs and invitations for the different departments at Webster.

When I get a job in I usually have a meeting or at least a phone call with the client who tells me the purpose of the piece I'm designing and gives me the content. Then I design the piece and show it to them to see if they have any revisions. Once the piece is ready to go, I work with the printers to actually produce it.


What advice would you give to anyone wanting to follow the same career path?
-Work as hard as you possibly can
-Develop good drawing and sketching skills
-Learn how to conceptually think about a subject
-Study art and design history. Learn from those who came before you
-Stay in touch with what is going on in the current design scene
-Develop other interests
-Think about things from someone else's perspective
-Learn about printing and production
-Learn about business and sales


What has been your greatest career achievement?
I'm just happy I am able to living at graphic design. I get paid to do what I love for a living. It's the best.


Cool huh? I was off all last week too. I drank some, got a sweedish massage and went out to dinner almost every night. But alas it back to work now. Arg!

Now We Are Talking

One of my new favorite design sites is typeradio, a collection of radio interviews from various graphic designers and typographers. I have to too, of course, mention the interview with my creative hero Stefan Sagmeister. Very insightful.

On a personal note, I would like to thank Scott and Sarah for letting me be in their wedding party. I had a blast and wish you all the best in the future.