Becoming a Graphic Designer: A Guide to Careers in Design [Paperback]

Steven Heller (Author), Teresa Fernandes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 1999

Here is the complete guide to today's graphic design careers - a clear and concise survey of the many types of opportunities available in the field. Filled with interviews and advice from leading designers, it covers graphic design media, work types and settings, educational training, portfolio preparation, getting a job, and much more.

The world of graphic design now boasts more opportunities in more industries using a broader range of media than ever before. Becoming a Graphic Designer gives you the information you need to start taking advantage of them - with a clear and comprehensive survey of today's graphic design careers filled with thoughts and advice from top working designers.

Drawing on years of experience in the business, veteran designers Steven Heller and Teresa Fernandes cover everything from education and training, design specialties, and work settings to preparing an effective portfolio and finding a job. They profile the major industries employing graphic designers and explore advertising, corporate, editorial, and other key design disciplines.

Both traditional and electronic media are examined in detail - including print, film titles, TV graphics, Web design, motion graphics, and more. Dozens of up-front interviews with leading graphic designers let you see how companies such as Wired magazine, Martha Stewart Living magazine, and MTV hire and work with employees. These inside perspectives offer invaluable real-world insights on what different industries and positions are really like. And a resource guide to design publications and organizations points the way to further information and guidance. Complete with easy-to-use, compact sections, useful sidebars, and sample design pieces, this outstanding guide is invaluable for anyone interested in launching or developing a career in graphic design.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Becoming a Graphic Designer provides a comprehensive survey of the graphic design market, including complete coverage of print and electronic media and the evolving digital design disciplines that offer today’s most sought-after jobs. This visual guide has more than 600 striking illustrations and features the latest mate-rial on interactive design, information design, motion, and more.

Drawing on years of experience in the business, veteran designers Steven Heller and Teresa Fernandes cover everything from education and training, design specialties, and work settings to preparing an effective portfolio and finding a job. They profile major industries employing graphic designers and explore advertising, corporate, editorial, and other key design disciplines.

The major industries covered here include architecture, interactive design, television and film design, publishing, and more. Dozens of up-front interviews with leading graphic designers let you see how companies such as Wired magazine, Martha Stewart Living magazine, and MTV hire and work with employees. These inside perspectives offer invaluable real-world insights on what different industries and positions are really like. And a resource guide to design publications and organizations points the way to further information and guidance.

Complete with easy-to-use, compact sections, useful sidebars, and sample design pieces, this outstanding guide is invaluable for anyone interested in launching or developing a career in graphic design. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

Here is the complete guide to today's graphic design careers - a clear and concise survey of the many types of opportunities available in the field. Filled with interviews and advice from leading designers, it covers graphic design media, work types and settings, educational training, portfolio preparation, getting a job, and much more.

The world of graphic design now boasts more opportunities in more industries using a broader range of media than ever before. Becoming a Graphic Designer gives you the information you need to start taking advantage of them - with a clear and comprehensive survey of today's graphic design careers filled with thoughts and advice from top working designers.

Drawing on years of experience in the business, veteran designers Steven Heller and Teresa Fernandes cover everything from education and training, design specialties, and work settings to preparing an effective portfolio and finding a job. They profile the major industries employing graphic designers and explore advertising, corporate, editorial, and other key design disciplines.

Both traditional and electronic media are examined in detail - including print, film titles, TV graphics, Web design, motion graphics, and more. Dozens of up-front interviews with leading graphic designers let you see how companies such as Wired magazine, Martha Stewart Living magazine, and MTV hire and work with employees. These inside perspectives offer invaluable real-world insights on what different industries and positions are really like. And a resource guide to design publications and organizations points the way to further information and guidance. Complete with easy-to-use, compact sections, useful sidebars, and sample design pieces, this outstanding guide is invaluable for anyone interested in launching or developing a career in graphic design.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (June 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471292990
• ISBN-13: 978-0471292999
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,646,970 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #43 in Books > Computers & Technology > Business & Culture > Careers

More About the Author

Steven Heller, author and editor of over 130 books on graphic design, satiric art and popular culture, is the co-founder and co-chair of the MFA Designer as Author program at the School of Visual Arts, New York. He is also co-founder of the MFA in Design Criticism, MFA in Interaction Design, MFA Social Documentary Film and MPS Branding programs. Although he does not hold an undergraduate or graduate degree he has devoted much of his career to fostering design education venues, opportunities and environments.

On the editorial side, for over 40 years he has been an art director for various underground and mainstream periodicals. For 33 years he was an art director at the New York Times (28 of them as senior art director New York Times Book Review). He currently writes the "Visuals" column for the Book Review and "Graphic Content" for the T-Style/The Moment blog (http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/author/steven-heller/). He is editor of AIGA VOICE: Online Journal of Design, a contributing editor to Print, EYE, and Baseline, and a frequent contributor to Metropolis and ID magazines. He contributes regularly to Design Observer and writes the DAILY HELLER blog for Print Magazine (http://blog.printmag.com/dailyheller/). His 135 books include "Design Literacy, " "Paul Rand," "Graphic Style" (with Seymour Chwast), "Stylepedia" (with Louise Fili), "The Design Entrepreneur" and "Design School Confidential" (both with Lita Talarico), "Iron Fists: Branding the Twentieth Century Totalitarian State", and the most recent, "Born Modern: The Life and Design of Alvin Lustig."

He is the recipient of the 1999 AIGA Medal for Lifetime Achievement. His website is www.hellerbooks.com and his blog, The Daily Heller sponsored by Print magazine is http://imprint.printmag.com/daily-heller/

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Design Career Guide, November 20, 1999

By 

Simulacrum - See all my reviews

This review is from: Becoming a Graphic Designer: A Guide to Careers in Design (Paperback)

Everyday, more and more university students are choosing some area of design as a career field. This guidebook is divided into four major information sections: Design Specialties, Design Businesses, Design Options and Design Education, followed by a Resource Guide, which consists of the names and addresses of design-related organizations and publications. Interwoven with these sections are portions of interviews with about 90 design professionals on such subjects as How I Became a Graphic Designer; Advice to Designers; On Personal Style; Major Influences; and The Future of Graphic Design. Other informative features include How Many Graphic Designers Are There? What Do They Earn? and The Optimum Portfolio. For the curious but uninformed, this is very likely the best introduction available. (Copyright by Roy R. Behrens from Ballast Quarterly Review, Vol. 15, No. 1, Autumn 1999.)

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Becoming a Graphic Designer : A Guide to Careers in Design, December 6, 1999

By 

Jason Rueckert (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Becoming a Graphic Designer: A Guide to Careers in Design (Paperback)

Coming from a graphic design student in my senior year, this book has been so helpful in pointing me in the direction of where I want to go after I graduate in the spring. BUY THIS BOOK! You won't be disappointed. The insight of the designers featured in this book is very informative.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow, June 22, 2000

By 

Aimee Hamilton - See all my reviews

This review is from: Becoming a Graphic Designer: A Guide to Careers in Design (Paperback)

I can't believe this book. It encompasses everything an aspiring graphic designer needs to know, including art schools, design organizations, and what you need in a portfolio. My teacher lent me this book, and I didn't want to give it back! Get this book!