Spec Work

I believe there are several issues that arise when designers get involved in spec work. It can not only be a negative situation for the designer, but for the client as well. Of course though not all work done without a fee is spec work, such as for an internship, competitions, or volunteer work. I believe those kinds of situations are okay to do without the designer getting paid. But, if it truly is spec work then there can be consequences. For the designer, it could mean getting taken advantage of with the client getting free work in return, as well as losing credit for the work they have done. For the client, it could mean a lesser quality of work because the designer didn’t take the position seriously. For both the designer and the client legal risks could arise over the work.

If professionals get involved in spec work it could impact the creative professions industry. It can do so by devaluing professional work and diminishing the true economic value of the contribution designers make toward client’s objectives, as stated by AIGA. It could also damage the image of professional designers. Clients may begin to not take them seriously and see them as people who can be taken advantage of. It could give the name of graphic design a bad connotation. That is why most designers that consider themselves professional designers have a tendency to back away from this type of work. I think it is mostly less skilled designers that tend to lean towards spec work or students that are getting out of college and haven’t found a career yet.

Even though it may be hard to stop a lot of spec work, professional designers can help curb it by telling their clients what they expect from them, and by not taking clients who expect so little of them as to do free work. However, this doesn’t stop less qualified designers from doing it or the sites online that promote it. Spec work will probably never totally stop, and it could possibly only increase in times that the economy is bad. So it’s not really of matter of trying to stop it, but it’s a matter of whether a designer wants to engage themselves in that type of work since they already know of the possible situations that could come from such work and the negative association it could give them and other designers.

My Career Path

After reading chapter three of Andy Rutledge’s book, Design Professionalism, which is about career paths I was able to confirm the journey I would like to take during my career path. It didn’t really change from what I wanted before because most of the concepts he talked about I had previously been told about. But, he did introduce several good opinions and recommendations.
 

I am getting ready to graduate with an Associate’s Degree in visual communications specializing in graphic design. I would like to start off my career path by getting a summer internship so that I can first get my feet wet at an agency. That way I can do what Andy recommend and learn how to become a design professional and everything that includes such as working as part of a team, developing my skills, forming professional standards, and establishing trustworthiness and a reputation. I would also rather make mistakes working for a company rather than make them as a freelancer so they don’t reflect back on me.
 

While working as an intern, I would also like to continue my education at a four-year school so that I can strive towards a Bachelor’s Degree. If I don’t end up staying at the internship long-term I know my odds of getting a career will increase if I have a Bachelor’s Degree.

I don’t plan on relocating to find a successful career, but if need be I will. Evansville, Indiana is a good start to finding a successful career, but I know there are even greater opportunities in bigger cities.
 

As far as freelance work, I don’t think I will be doing that for a long time, if at all. I don’t know very much about the business side of graphic design or running my own business for that matter. If I were to one day have my own freelance business I would first need to take business classes or minor in business management.

Preparation for Professionalism

In chapter 2 of Design Professionalism by Andy Rutledge, Andy addresses the issue on the lack of education taught in colleges and that education is something a person must pursue on their own. He feels that most schools aren’t adequately teaching the fundamentals of design which include the elements and principle of design which he believes are key to being a good designer. He states that even if someone is taught something in school that they must further their knowledge on the subject to actually learn. Education is a person’s own responsibility, not the teacher’s. Also, Andy states that a person should never stop pursuing an education because if they do they will become obsolete.

I fully believe in what Andy has to say. I, myself was taught the fundamentals of design, but I agree that a person must always pursue their own education whether they’re in college or not. Whatever someone teaches you it is important to expound on that knowledge so that you can understand to the fullest of your ability. What I loved the most on what he had to say was that if you don’t keep pursing an education you will become obsolete. Concepts are always changing and new ones are being introduced. It is good to keep updating and educating yourself. If you don’t, no one else will. Your education is up to you and you only.

In the article by Gadi Amit titled “American Design Schools Are a Mess, and Produce Weak Graduates,” Amit also talks about how colleges lack the education that should be taught to students. He believes that the curriculums across the different colleges are too diverse, and he doesn’t know what to look for when reviewing portfolios to hire people for his company. He feels many portfolios he reviews lack the ability to integrate seamlessly all levels of creativity and only show 3D CAD work and process work.

Well, after reading this blog by Amit, I researched the company he is president of and his company is a design agency that creates products across the physical and digital business categories. He isn’t looking for graphic design as much as he is product design. This was of a little more comfort to me after previously reading that he believes the design education system today is failing many aspiring young students and that he’s finding that the impressive academic credentials of most students don't add up to the basic skills he requires in a junior designer. It is not to say though that colleges need to make their curriculums more alike and up to standards. That’s why I still believe it is important to pursue your own education outside of college and learn all you can from wherever you can. You can never stop learning!

Critique of Photoshop Web Layout Tutorials

When going to the website dzineblog.com and looking under 27 Best Photoshop Web Layout Design Tutorials to Design Decent Web Layouts, I found some I liked and some I disliked. One that I particularly liked was titled Design a Cool Photography Portfolio. This one was really helpful and informational because it went step by step through each step of making the website. It didn’t skip any steps and was very thorough. I wasn’t left wondering how to do something. Another tutorial I liked was titled Design a Hand Drawn Style Website in Photoshop. This tutorial also went into detail how to do step by step. But there were a few times that the designer didn’t explain a step when she told the viewer to do it. You kind of have to guess how they did it. I also liked how she gave the websites to go to for the different elements she used in the tutorial. That was very helpful. One last tutorial I looked at that I didn’t particularly care for was titled Stylish Web Studio Web Layout. I was pretty dissatisfied with it because after getting so far along in the tutorial it’s almost like it just ended. It leaves you hanging. I questioned if I had gotten to the end or not. It was very strange. Over all, when looking at tutorials, it comes down to there are good ones and bad ones. You just have to decipher one from the other.

A survey of web design employment opportunities in my area

When searching to see how many web design jobs are available around Evansville, Indiana I didn’t have a whole lot of luck. I only found a few. Most of them are a couple or several hours away from Evansville. Some of the websites I searched include careerbuilder.com, monster.com, and webdesigners-directory.com. I did find a couple. One of the ones I did find are listed below along with their requirements. Personally, I’m not too interested in web design as a career, although it is useful to have a basic understanding of it. I am more interested in graphic design. But, the following gives you an idea of the requirements and salaries of a career for designing for the web.

Full-time Web Development Senior Analyst in Evansville, Indiana

Required Qualifications:

• 4+ yrs of application development experience
• 4+ yrs SQL Server programming using version 2005 or 2008
• 4+ yrs SSIS development experience
• 4+ yrs .Net framework using Visual Studio.NET
• 1+yrs experience with any of the following: SSRS, DotNetNuke, ASP.NET, JavaScript, VB Script, XML, Visual Source Safe, Active Directory, IIS (these are desirable, but not mandatory)
• Ability to fulfill the requirements of On Call rotations

Job Title Average Salary:

Web Designer Level 1 $47,766

Web Designer Level 2 $59,808

Web Designer Level 3 $74,954

Senior Web Designer $82,207

Interface Designer $83,157

Interface Design Director $143,667

What is SEO?

When you hear the term, SEO, it refers to search engine optimization. What this refers to is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the "natural" or un-paid search results. In general, the higher ranked on the search results page, and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine's users. SEO considers how search engines work, what people search for, the actual search terms typed into search engines and which search engines are preferred by their targeted audience. Optimizing a website may involve editing its content and HTML and associated coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines. SEO is important because it ensures that the people you’re trying to reach get your message since there are other websites looking for the same attention. The more findable your content is, the more likely it will be the commercial success you’d hoped. Findable content equals increased profits for your business and helps the audience find the content they seek within a website. By optimizing you can create more successful websites that will better serve clients’ and their users’ needs. One myth about SEO is that the best websites or most accurate information is at the top of the search engine because websites are supposed to appear in the order of their substance or which one is the most helpful. This is not true because agencies sometimes pay big bucks to move their website to the top of the list even if it isn’t the best website that would suit the audience’s need. This in short is the meaning of SEO, the importance of it, and why you shouldn’t believe that the best websites are always at the top of search engines.

Sources:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization

• http://www.alistapart.com/articles/findabilityorphan/

Defining design, usability, and accessibility on the web

When it comes to using the web there are three important terms that stand out. Those terms include design, usability, and accessibility. When referring to the web, design can be defined as the creation of digital environments that facilitate and encourage human activity; reflect or adapt to individual voices and content; and change gracefully over time while always retaining their identity. The design of a website creates an environment for someone else’s expression and creates planes and grids that aid the dynamic behavior of people. It relinquishes control, and the people who use the design bring out and add to the meaning of the website’s design. When talking about usability on the web, one of the main things this term is pointing to is the navigation of a website. If your website is about selling things or convincing a user to come back, navigation is a key factor visitors use to decide if you’re trustworthy or not. And trustworthiness is critical. If you want the viewer to have a good time, make sure they can get where they want to go and know where they are when they’re there. If you show them a good time, they just might come to visit again. But if you leave them lost and confused they’re likely not to come back. The last term, accessibility, refers to how well people are able to get on the web, especially if they are disabled. Most of us can easily access the internet. That is, if we don’t have disabilities. But what about the people who do have disabilities such as being blind or being paralyzed? With today’s technology advancing every day there are certain materials that enhance the accessibility of the web for people with disabilities. These include voice recognition software, eye-gaze software, headsets, and voice activation when items are scrolled over. Over all, the three terms previously mentioned are all things to consider when using the web, and a good web designer will incorporate all three when creating a website.

Sources:

• http://www.alistapart.com/articles/understandingwebdesign
• http://www.alistapart.com/articles/whereami/
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQT9yVeu_js&feature=related
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDJt-dp--Oo&feature=related