Visual Art Careers

Students may find that some descriptions may overlap other art content areas.

Career Choices in Visual Communications Field
(Graphic Design)

Graphic Design encompasses a wide range of media and disciplines. Many schools, universities, and businesses refer to this field of study as – Visual Communications. Years ago we labeled this form of artistic expression as Commercial Design. With the advent of computer technology, this field is often referred to Computer Graphics. Approximately ninety percent of all work is now done using the computer as the main tool. Conceptualization “critical thinking” is most important in this field of study. Advertising and marketing strategies play a key role in this profession. It is therefore, recommended that students who pursue this field of study in college, consider a business and/or marketing minor. Many past students have also minored in graphic design, and majored in business/marketing. Both compliment each other very nicely.

Advertising

Advertising creative director
Copywriter
Layout artist
Mechanical artist
Digital Advertising Photographer

Graphic Design

Computer graphics designer
Graphic designer
Corporate art director
Promotion designer
Exhibit designer
Billboard designer
Display designer
Greeting card designer
Municipal graphic designer
Music/DVD cover designer
Typographer
Web site designer

Publication Design

Editorial art director
Book/book jacket Designer
Magazine art director

Architecture

Architect
Architectural model builder
Architectural graphic designer
Architectural illustrator
Drafter
Environmental designer
Landscape designer

Fashion

Fabric/textile designer
Fashion designer
Fashion Illustrator

Animation

Animator
Audiovisual designer
Game designer
Flash web page designer
Motion picture animator
Special effects animator

Industrial Design

Automotive designer
Furniture designer
Product designer
Package designer
Toy designer
Human-factors designer

Interior & Display Design

Interior designer/decorator
Department store display designer
Exhibit and museum display designer

Filmmaker

Visual effects engineer
Sound engineer
Film graphics/producer

Illustration

Medical illustrator
Scientific illustrator
Botanical illustrator
Industrial illustrator
Fashion illustrator
Book illustrator
Magazine illustrator
Product illustrator

Visual Communications-Related Careers

The business of Visual Communications/Graphic Design is a big business. It's a varied business, and it is a business that is in need of critical thinkers. The outlines in each of the following categories are brief because each area, in whatever place it is found, will have a somewhat different job description. The variety of jobs are illustrated in different design areas so that someone entering the visual communications field will have a broader choice and clearer picture of how their particular background in design training can be used. It is up to the person looking for work in the business world of art and design to get into the field and decide what areas he or she wants to explore.

Students may obtain occupational information pertaining to working conditions, employment qualifications, salary, etc., by logging onto United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics at:

http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos092.htm

VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS
Visual Communications encompasses a wide range of media and disciplines. Many schools, universities, and businesses, refer to this field of study as – Graphic Design. Years ago we labeled this form of artistic expression as Commercial Design. With the advent of computer technology, this field is often referred to Computer Graphics. Approximately ninety percent of all work is now done using the computer as the main tool. Conceptualization “critical thinking” is most important in this field of study. Advertising and marketing strategies play a key role in this profession.

ADVERTISING
Creative Art Director: The role of the Art Director in advertising is to work with the creative director in working with ad campaigns, and it is the most widely held art career in the business. The ability to maintain a steady, creative working relationship with a copywriter is required for this job. As a team, they develop and design advertising campaigns based on demographic market research. This research tells them at what kind of audience to aim their campaign. Then they apply their creative intuition and imagination in order to find original ways to execute their advertising. Once developed, the account executive and the creative director must approve the campaign. Then it is presented to the client. The art director executes the final ad using type with illustration by an artist of his choice.

Copywriter: The strict art career in advertising is that of the Art Director, but a Copywriter's job - dealing with words and writing - is strongly connected to design and visuals. People who write copy are not necessarily writers. Often some of the best copywriters are those whose backgrounds are in commercial art. The copywriter creates the words that accompany the pictures in print advertisements and television visuals. The copywriter is expected to come up with concepts that include both copy and visuals either alone or in working with an art director. It is valuable for a copywriter to know the ins and outs of print production (newspapers, magazines and annual reports) as well as the production aspects of film, radio & video tape.

Layout Artist: Layout Artists create the visual aspects of advertising in magazine and newspaper ads, television commercials, and product packaging. They select photographs, draw illustrations, and decide on the colors and style of type to be used. They also prepare samples of art work for account executives that are planning advertising campaigns with clients and prospective clients.

Mechanical Artist: Using materials received from the Art Director, the person who prepares art for reproduction must be able to follow accurately the art director's instructions. With these materials, a mechanical is prepared. Pasting up type and pictures on an illustration board does this. Sometimes the mechanical artist is asked to execute design elements as well. When finished, the mechanical must appear exactly as the ad will look when reproduced. One who does paste ups and mechanicals must have excellent manual dexterity, drafting skills, and eye for spacing type, thorough knowledge of reproduction techniques, and the ability to work with painstaking precision.

Digital Advertising Photographer: This photographer works with an agency art director to fulfill the demands of a layout for the advertisement. The layouts may be for proposed magazine or newspaper page. It indicates all important details so the photographer has guidelines to create the finished photograph. The photographer hires models, finds locations for the photographs or helps design sets when necessary. Lighting, props, costumes are also essential parts of his/her responsibility. The technical and artistic skills to take the photographs are, of course, the major responsibility. Technology is a vital link to this profession. The photographer must have a thorough knowledge of digital manipulation and Photoshop, and be able to work closely with the graphic designer, if not, be the graphic designer as well.

GRAPHIC DESIGN
Graphic Designer: The graphic designer often works on a free-lance basis designing magazines, ads, and promotional material. The job requires familiarity with type, color, layout and methods of reproduction. Strong emphasis and knowledge of computer graphics is a must. One must be able to work with illustrators, photographers, letterers, typesetters, and printers because a job must be supervised through every phase from rough sketch to final production. A high degree of organizational ability is necessary.

Corporate Art Director: The corporate art director established an image for a company and maintains it in all printed work which represents the organization. Using type, design, and color, the artist devises a logotype or symbol, which provides immediate recognition for the company. This may appear on business forms, stationery, brochures, delivery trucks, the office door or wall, in the lobby of the building, and on product packaging.

Promotion Designer: This designer works for a specific company and designs the material necessary to sell the company's services or products, with the exception of consumer advertising. The output may include brochures, slide presentations, catalogues, posters and direct mailing pieces. He/she then assigns work to free-lance photographers, illustrators and letterers and must establish and maintain satisfactory working relationships with many others. One needs to be able to design, layout, create rough drawings, use type and color well, and be thoroughly familiar with production methods and reproduction techniques.

Municipal Graphic Designer: This person designs signs and symbols for a city in order to make travel directions and locations clearly understood even to people unfamiliar with the city and its language. the work appears in parks, municipal buildings, on city vehicles, subway systems and in bus stations.

Music Cover Designer: This designer does the graphic design of CD and DVD covers, designing the visual counterpart of the musical mood of the music. A design decision is arrived at with the input of the record company sales department, respecting wishes of the featured recording artist. This person must be aware of the current musical trends.

Typographer: The letter designer (typographer) must understand and execute both build-up and calligraphic letter forms and be able to design new lettering. Knowledge of the history of lettering is necessary. In most instances, the letterer would work on a free-lance basis for advertising agencies, promotion departments, and package designers. With typesetting being done on the computer, typographers need a thorough understanding of Quark, FreeHand, Illustrator, InDesign, and other computer software programs.

PUBLICATION DESIGN
Editorial Art Director: The Editorial Art Director works for magazines and newspapers. working in a format established with an editor or publisher, the artist must have the capacity to find the salient points of an article or story and conceptualize them with the illustrator or photographer who is hired to pictorialize the assignment. The editorial art director designs each page, balancing type, art, and photography.

Book Designer: Expertise in the use of typography is required for this job. Book design requires the ability to take a typewritten manuscript and transform it into a typeset book. Knowledge of bookbinding is helpful. The job requires highly refined judgment with the ability to balance type and illustration on a page in order to product the most effective publication possible.

Book Jacket Designer: This artist may be employed by a studio specializing in book jacket design, or may work on a free-lance basis. The purpose of a book jacket design is to promote the sale of the book, using type either alone or in conjunction with photography or illustration. The book jacket designer needs a strong sense of design and knowledge of the latest developments in typography and lettering. The designer assigns work to photographers and illustrators.

ARCHITECTURE
Architect: An architect designs buildings and other structures - anything from a private home to a large office building or an entire city's re-development. He/she must oversee all phases of the project from initial idea to completed structure, and must solve complex, technical problems while retaining artistic design.

Architectural Graphic Designer: Working with architects, this artist uses type and color to design the graphic symbols that identify buildings. Depending on the purpose of a building or complex of buildings, he may also design presentation brochures, stationery, marquees, or shopping bags. The job requires color reproduction skill, knowledge of typography, and an understanding of contemporary architecture and building materials.

Architectural Renderer: This artist creates a realistic, accurate drawing or painting of a building or interior for presentation by the architect to the client. The renderer usually works for an architectural firm, but he might also deal with city planners and independent site developers. Among the basic skills necessary is the ability to accurately pictorials building and indoor furnishing materials in pen and ink, colored pencil, and watercolor. Precise drawing and painting are required, as well as attractive architectural lettering.

Landscape Architects: Landscape Architects design the built environment of our neighborhoods, towns and cities while they protect and manage the natural environment of our forests, fields, rivers, and coasts. They have a special commitment to improving the quality of our lives through the best design of places for people.

FASHION
Fashion Designers: Fashion and clothing designers create new styles or adjust and change existing styles. They may work in men's, women's, or children's clothing design. Designers work with sketches or directly with fabric in creating a design. They must understand color, fabrics, production processes and costs, as well as the public's tastes and preferences. Many designers work on one type of apparel such as sports clothes or evening wear. People who want a career in designing often take any job they can in the fashion field to get a start. The field is popular and always has more new talent than it can adequately support.

Fashion Illustrators: Fashion illustrators draw models wearing the latest fashions. they also do accessories such as gloves, handbags and hats. Their art work appears in catalogs, newspapers, magazines and television commercials. Most are free-lancers. Others are staff members of clothing manufacturers, fashion designers, mail-order firms or department stores. A definitive style and excellent technique are required.

Fashion Art Director: The fashion art director is employed by an advertising agency, which may be devoted solely to fashion, producing ads showing fashion items for department stores and for fabric, jewelry, or clothing manufacturers. This art director must choose photographs, models and illustrators with whom to work in the production stage of the ad. The fashion art director sees the ad through the reproduction phase, using type and layout. A concern for what is "au-courant" in dress is necessary.

Fabric Designer: Fabric designers are the ones who create the printed patterns that appear on dress fabrics, blouses, scarves, upholstery, curtains and dozens of other things we wear or buy for our homes. They may also create wallpaper, develop decorative patterns on wall and floor tiles, and design rugs, knitted and embroidered fabrics, shower curtains, lamp shades, towels, linens for the bedroom and dining room, wrapping paper, decorative screens and wall hangings, wallboard and any surface that might be enriched by design.

Animator: Careers in animation are a blending of the disciplines of graphic arts and film. Designers and illustrators often create the still visuals. From this, the animator creates the movement, i.e., gives life or "animation" to the character. The illustration and design skills are most important to the creation of characters that will animate well. Serious animation professionals are computer graphic artists, as well as creative film makers.

Audio Visual Designer: In audio visual design, the artist generally creates educational or sales presentation. A client submits a script, which must be illustrated with a series of drawings, collages, or typographic images calculated to reproduce well in slide form. These pictures symbolically or illustratively present the ideas put forth in the script. The designer sees the slides through the production phase, organizes them to follow the script, and adds the sound track necessary to complete the presentation. A talent for balancing imagery and sound, such as is required in film making, is important.

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
Industrial design is the imaginative development of manufactured products and product systems, which satisfy the physical needs, and psychological desires of people.

Product Designer: Product design requires a background in art and engineering. This designer must know the proper application of specific materials to particular functions, and must be able to design a proud which performs well, is attractive to the consumer, and is economical to manufacture. Design ability, precision draftsmanship, model-building, and knowledge of type and color are required.

Package Designer: Most products need a package, and every package must be designed. The package creates graphic design in three dimensions. All new developments in materials that have an application to packaging must be studied. The ability to create new and different ways to package things is important. The package designer must be familiar with production and printing methods, and know how to use color and type for maximum effect in attracting a consumer to a product. He must be able to relate the package design to the nature of the product it holds. Precision drawing with tools and excellent lettering skills are required.

Toy Designer: A toy designer must function in many areas. He must know something about the proper use of materials in relation to safety, durability, and ease of maintenance. He must possess mechanical skill and a love of gadgetry. He should be able to work with experts in the field of child psychology and be knowledgeable about the levels of skill development in children at specific ages. In addition, he must be able to use graphic design, type, mechanical drawing, and color effectively. Imagination and a sensitivity to color are specifically valuable.

Furniture Designer: The pursuit of this profession requires some knowledge of the areas of architectural design, interior design, and carpentry. In addition, a furniture designer should be familiar with the history of furnishings, and should be aware of new developments in structural and decorative materials. Expertise in the use of color and textiles is necessary.

INTERIOR & DISPLAY DESIGN
Interior Designer: Interior designers used to be called interior decorators. But the profession is rapidly abandoning the work decorator. as you'll soon see, decoration is just one of the designer's responsibilities. Interior designers select and organize the furnishings of homes and offices, as well as hotels, banks, restaurants, hospital, schools and other public places. They determine what furnishings are needed, then decide where these will be located. They determine color schemes and choose furniture, fabrics, carpeting, wallpaper, lighting fixtures, and other items to fit into the plan. Designers prepare plans like those drawn by an architect, make sketches in color, and may even build scale models of fully furnished interiors to explain ideas to the client.

Department Store Display Designer: Large department stores sometimes maintain a staff artist to design interior and window displays. In other cases, the work may be done on a free-lance basis. Mechanical drafting ability, carpentry skills, color study, and some knowledge of the history of art, furnishings and decoration are required. It is necessary to keep abreast of all new trends in textiles, furnishings and fine arts.

Exhibit and Museum Display Designer: This kind of designer needs basic knowledge of graphic design, type, lettering, and color. Drafting, model building and carpentry skills are necessary. An understanding of architectural design is helpful, particularly in determining how best to move people through the display. A museum display designer must be able to design for any period in art history. An exhibit display designer must be versatile enough to produce displays for conventions, exhibits, and department stores to be used both inside and out-of-doors.

ILLUSTRATION
Illustrators are graphic artists who have strong drawing and design skills. Their work appears in books, magazines, papers and television ads. They illustrate posters, calendars, greeting cards, and comic books. They draw pictures for various commercial products; they illustrate catalogs, technical manuals, and medical texts; they draw for children's storybooks and school history books. Your style, your interests, and the "breaks" will determine what field of illustration you choose.

Fashion Illustrators: Fashion Illustrators are among others who work only in one subject. They draw models wearing the latest fashions. They also do accessories such as gloves, handbags, and hats. Their artwork appears in catalogs, newspapers, magazines, and television commercials. Most are free-lancers. Others are staff members of clothing manufacturers, fashion designers, mail-order firms, or department stores.

Editorial Illustrator: Generally, this is free-lance work. The artist illustrates magazine and newspaper articles as well as advertisements. The art director and the illustrator decide which important point in the copy should be illustrated. The illustrator then executes a drawing, painting, or collage in unique personal style to illustrate the focal point of the copy.

Product Illustrator: Most often this is free-lance work. The artist usually works with advertising agencies. In order to create a finished drawing or painting of a product, precision, drafting ability, and the capacity to render varied materials realistically are required.

Storyboard Illustrator: This illustrator may be employed in large ad agencies or may work free-lance. Taking the agency art director's roughs, he develops finished drawings for presentation of a potential TV commercial or industrial film to a client. This series of drawings, which illustrates the progress of the action, is called a storyboard. The appropriate dialogue is typed underneath each drawing. This gives the client an idea of how a film might look before the client undertakes the expense of production. This technique can also be used to illustrate a potential TV pilot. Since multiple drawings must be produced within a short period of time, the artist must work rapidly and carefully, using economy of means to suggest detail.

Cartooning: This field of illustration is familiar to everyone. There are as many variations in style as there are cartoonists. Each has a unique humorous or dramatic point of view and the ability to illustrate it in a direct and economical pen and ink technique. In most cases, the ability to write is essential. The cartoonist may do spot drawings or gag or satirical cartoons on a free-lance basis. He may have a staff job for a publication, or he may be syndicated as a comic strip artist or political cartoonist. In any case, the ability to sustain a high level of humor or drama over a long period of time is vital.

Caricature: The caricaturist is primarily a free-lance artist who works for newspapers and magazines, but he may also be called upon to illustrate advertising. While similar to the cartoonist in skill, the caricaturist also has a special ability to emphasize facial and body features in a drawing in order to create a comic but completely recognizable drawing of a particular individual.

Free-Lance Illustrators: Free-lance illustrators may do many kinds of artwork or they may produce only one kind. Most illustrators do not start in staff positions doing illustrations. Many begin free-lance work right after graduation. Some may get staff jobs in related fields as they build up their portfolios. As a rule, illustrators work for many clients, instead of one company. They line up jobs and plan their work so that they will be busy but not rushed. Some artists call on art directors, show samples of their work, and get assignments. Other artists hire agents (called reps) to get work for them. Well-known free-lance illustrators have clients who come to them. Free-lancing is the aim of many illustrators. This work lets them do the kind of illustrations they like best and allows them to schedule their own workload. Many of them travel or do assignments such as develop a unique style and do only one kind of illustration such as animals, children, home furnishings, or fashions. Free-lancers do all the tasks of an assignment. They get the job, buy supplies, hire models, do the project (from rough sketch to finished illustration), and deliver it. Some have aides who fill in color or background, add lettering, or do other tasks. Some free-lancers have agents who acquire jobs for them to do.

Technical Illustrators: Technical illustrators, who do most of their work in black and white, also use drafting tools and machines. Their work may consist of layouts showing how to install equipment, diagrams for wiring, or perspective and cutaway views of machines. They study blueprints, models, engineers' drawings and equipment to make sketches. They often use computer-aided design techniques.

Medical Illustrators: Medical illustration is used in textbooks, magazines, charts, and advertising directed to the medical profession. This work demands both a scientific and an artistic knowledge of anatomy. Precise and accurate draftsmanship combined with a realistic style is necessary.