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

Steven Heller (Author), Teresa Fernandes (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471715069 | ISBN-13: 978-0471715061 | Publication Date: November 11, 2005 | Edition: 3

A revision of the bestselling visual guide to becoming a graphic designer

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. Featuring 65 interviews with today's leading designers, this visual guide has more than 600 illustrations and covers everything from education and training, design specialties, and work settings to preparing an effective portfolio and finding a job. The book offers profiles of major industries and key design disciplines, including all-new coverage of careers in exhibition design and illustration.

Steven Heller (New York, NY) is Art Director of the New York Times Book Review and cochair of the MFA/Design program at the School of Visual Arts. He is the author of over 80 books on design and popular culture. Teresa Fernandes (Greenwich, CT) is a publications designer and art director.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Becoming a Graphic Designer, Third Edition is the definitive guide to careers in the graphic design market, with 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 650 striking illustrations and features the latest material on interactive design, information design, motion graphics, and more.

Drawing on years of experience in the business, veteran designers Steven Heller and Teresa Fernandes cover everything an aspiring graphic designer needs to know, from educational paths, 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 Esquire magazine, Sony Music, and Aveda Corporation, hire and work with employees. These inside perspectives offer invaluable real-world insights on what different industries and positions are really like. A resource guide to design publications and organizations also points the way to further information and guidance.

Complete with compact, easy-to-use sections, useful sidebars, and sample design pieces, this outstanding guide is invaluable for anyone interested in launching or developing a career in graphic design.

From the Back Cover

• magazine design
• advertising
• book design
• corporate identity
• film titles
• tv graphics
• interactive design
• branding
• record design
• environmental design
• web design
• design education
• type design
• motion graphics
• information graphics
• package design

Here is the completely updated guide to today's graphic design careers—a clear and concise survey of the design field, from major design industries to design disciplines. Filled with interviews and advice from leading designers, it covers interactive design, information design, motion, educational training, portfolio preparation, getting a job, and much more.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 3 edition (November 11, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471715069
• ISBN-13: 978-0471715061
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #326,250 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book depending upon your interest, April 10, 2006

By 

Dennie Chan (New York, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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

I do agree with the previous reviewer that this book does not have practical advice in terms of performing graphic design related duties. There are plenty of books out there that you can acquire that will outline the process of designing, design elements etc... such as "The Elements of Graphic Design" by Alex. W. White.

However, this book as its sub-title clearly states is "A Guide to Careers in Design", and in that regards performs very well in outlining the myriad of different fields and industries that Graphic Designers are involved in. Also, they interview many key figures involved in these fields and pick their brain regarding the state of design, dynamics of their respective industry and also how one should best approach beginning a career as a designer.

I found the book invaluable in that it was like having wise uncles in dozens of different design industries and having a talk with you about, "How things really work." Somewhat light reading but still quite informative.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars PERFECT for someone interested in the Graphic Design field., December 14, 2008

By 

J. L. Butler "Book-Maiden" (Portsmouth, VA, USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

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

I've read through (and looked through) this book quite a few times, and each time I find something new. It has pretty much every sub-field in GD to sample the work of a professional in that career. The pages are eye-catching as well as eay-to-read. If you're interested in purchasing a book to help you further explore GD as a career, or if you are trying to decide what kind of sub-field you're looking for, this is the book for you!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative and well written, recommended for young designers, December 31, 2008

By 

Kelsey Jackson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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

I'm currently in college and my professor recommended this book for class. I'm glad she did. It taught a lot about design that I did not get from classes and the interview give insight to the current world of design.