I need to interview someone working in the graphic design field...

I'm currently in my last year of college majoring in Graphic Design and for our Senior Seminar class, we have to interview a professional in our field (graphic designer/web designer/etc.). I've tried to contact some of my previous professors, but not one of them would get back to me.

So if there is anyone here thats currently in the graphic design field, I would greatly appreciate if you could answer some of these questions. If you have a website too, I'd be interested in seeing your work as well. Not only will this help me for my class, but it would really help me figure out what the heck I'm going to do with my degree, heh.

Thank you in advance and I'm sorry if this isn't the right forum to post this in.

Interview Questions

· What is your current job title and what are some important aspects and responsibilities of your job?

· What was your first full time graphic design job, and how did you go about acquiring it?

· What other jobs have you held in the graphic design field and which have been the most rewarding and/or enjoyable?

· What are some of the salary ranges in the graphic design field? Are they generally an hourly rate, determined by individual projects, or something else entirely?

· Have you done any freelance design work, and if so, what sort of time frames do you have for project deadlines compared to design work for a full time company?

· Do you prefer doing design work for the web or for print, and why?

· What has been some of the biggest difficulties you've faced as a graphic designer and how have you overcome them?

· How many hours a week, on average, does a full time graphic designer work, and how much work can be done at home?

· I know this must vary, but how much input do clients have on the actual design work?

· Where are some of the best places, in your opinion, to look for design work locally (Southern California) and/or nationwide?

· How important are grades and academic history in the job hiring process?

· Most of the graphic design curriculum at my school is based around branding and corporate identity, but what are some other lucrative graphic design fields?

· Do you have any other advice for someone preparing to enter the graphic design workforce?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I don't have a really "big" graphic design job. But it's my job anyway. Sorry I don't know if I'll be much help...

What is your current job title and what are some important aspects and responsibilities of your job?

Graphic artist (production) for sign/graphics shop. I'm responsible for managing the jobs, sending proofs to customers, and get stuff ready for production. I handle layout and printing all the different things we make - banners, signs, stickers, etc.

· What was your first full time graphic design job, and how did you go about acquiring it?

Graphics production for a box printing company. Applied for on Monster.com

· What other jobs have you held in the graphic design field and which have been the most rewarding and/or enjoyable?

Sign production where I handle printing and graphics.

· What are some of the salary ranges in the graphic design field? Are they generally an hourly rate, determined by individual projects, or something else entirely?

In my experience, hourly rate.

· Have you done any freelance design work, and if so, what sort of time frames do you have for project deadlines compared to design work for a full time company?

No.

· Do you prefer doing design work for the web or for print, and why?

Either. I don't do a lot of professional websites though, just personal ones.

· What has been some of the biggest difficulties you've faced as a graphic designer and how have you overcome them?

Sometimes clients are flakes. Just forget them...

· How many hours a week, on average, does a full time graphic designer work, and how much work can be done at home?

I'm 40 hours a week.

· I know this must vary, but how much input do clients have on the actual design work?

A lot. I think we need to put their wants first and work around them. Usually they defer to us though.

· Where are some of the best places, in your opinion, to look for design work locally (Southern California) and/or nationwide?

Hm, try Monster.com, Signonsandiego.com, and Craig's list.

· How important are grades and academic history in the job hiring process?

I think it's sufficiently important.

· Most of the graphic design curriculum at my school is based around branding and corporate identity, but what are some other lucrative graphic design fields?

Layout designs in all types of mediums and sizes.

· Do you have any other advice for someone preparing to enter the graphic design workforce?

Hmm... verse yourself in a lot of different computer applications, keep building your skills... sorry I can't think of anything better.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

· What is your current job title and what are some important aspects and responsibilities of your job?

Web Designer at Inergize Digital, I design websites for TV stations, as well as reality show and sports online games. I also deal with webmasters from the stations when they have questions dealing with any of our software or design questions.

· What was your first full time graphic design job, and how did you go about acquiring it?

Graphic designer at this small company. It was through a standard interview and portfolio review right out of school.

· What other jobs have you held in the graphic design field and which have been the most rewarding and/or enjoyable?
some freelance work at a Minneapolis design studio doing some cool big-name stuff

· What are some of the salary ranges in the graphic design field? Are they generally an hourly rate, determined by individual projects, or something else entirely?
if you are working in-house, it'll be salaried. Freelance is either by the hour or per-project. Starting salaries depend on the area, but starting out, expect 38-40k.


· Have you done any freelance design work, and if so, what sort of time frames do you have for project deadlines compared to design work for a full time company?

i've done a ton of freelance work, and it varies so wildly that it can't really be answered. Sometimes its a quick job that needs to be done in an afternoon, sometimes it's a huge project that spans years. Sometimes clients are reasonable, and sometimes they ask for the moon, and want even that at a discount.

· Do you prefer doing design work for the web or for print, and why?
web, because i do a lot of flash animation, and I love designing usable interfaces. Also, when I was in school and we had to use Quark Xpress, which at the time hadnt been updated in years and had zero support. that might have made me slightly biased against print. :-)


· What has been some of the biggest difficulties you've faced as a graphic designer and how have you overcome them?
the main thing is that with the exception of a few jobs, there is a lot of non-design work you'll have to do as well. dealing with some of that is actually the hardest. The others are short deadlines (pretty rare), and marketing not knowing really what they want, but what you are producing isn't it. :P


· How many hours a week, on average, does a full time graphic designer work, and how much work can be done at home?
i work 45-50 hours a week, and its all in the office. if i have freelance work, i'll do it from home or during lunchtime.


· I know this must vary, but how much input do clients have on the actual design work?

it varies. ;-) I like to think of my job as taking client's occassionally bad ideas and making them look good. Then again, on some repeating seasonal projects (survivor and dancing with the stars online games, specifically)I've earned enough trust that I can do whatever i want and CBS will just sign off on it as long as there isn't a penis or something in the design.

· Where are some of the best places, in your opinion, to look for design work locally (Southern California) and/or nationwide?

no idea on your local scene, but Minneapolis is great but a bit incestuous. lot of headhunters around here. I hear Chicago is pretty good, and of course New York and LA, but who'd want to live at either place?

· How important are grades and academic history in the job hiring process?
The more of a n00b you are, the more important they are. I graduated in 2002, and i've built up a big enough body of work that i'm considering taking my education section part off my resume.


· Most of the graphic design curriculum at my school is based around branding and corporate identity, but what are some other lucrative graphic design fields?
the TV market is doing pretty well, and becoming more and more reliant on the web

· Do you have any other advice for someone preparing to enter the graphic design workforce?
keep working at it; getting in is the hard part.


EDIT: it was late last night and i wasnt thinking. For starting salary in socal, double what I put.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.