what could I be when I grow up?
May 29, 2006 10:23 AM   Subscribe

I need suggestions for arts/design related careers.

In september I'll be starting the last year of my masters of architecture program. I'm pretty ambivalent about architecture. Love some things about it, hate others. And I worry that if I was going to practice it, I'd have to deal with more of the stuff I don't enjoy -- endless detail drawings, countless revisions, etc. I may go into architecture. Or! I may not.

But!

If I don't.. what the 'ell do I do with meself? I'm just as, if not more, interested in visual art as I am in architecture. But for a few reasons I've always felt like I didn't have the chops to really hack it as an artisté (a conclusion which may or may not be true, but for the moment, let's not question it).

I can be a decent writer, but, again, I definitely don't think I'm within range of best-of-the-best.

I'm a pretty good graphic designer. Reasonably handy, decent with computers, bit of programming experience.

I'm interested in a wide range of topics, but I also get bored with things fairly quickly. So, I'm a generalist.

What does a generalist with a keen interest in visual culture and arty-farty shit and an expensive design education do, if he decides he doesn't want to practice architecture?
posted by slipperywhenwet to Work & Money (13 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Web design - front end. You'd use photoshop, illustrator, fireworks or imageready, flash, and you'd satisfy your programming bug, too.
posted by kaseijin at 10:49 AM on May 29, 2006


Isn't a masters in architecture the equivalent of a pHd in other fields? which could qualify you to teach at college level.... It's not for everybody but I've met a lot of arts/design professors who seem to have carved out really interesting niches for themselves with their research/writing areas; i'm sure it gets old after awhile but I would think planning new classes each semester & interacting with new students could be fairly stimulating.
posted by octavia at 11:22 AM on May 29, 2006


As a former Web designer/developer, now artiste?/professor-to-be, I can say that the wide-open nature of the Web combined with its freelance economies works well for a generalist.

A really broad, hopefully not condescending bit of advice related to what you said about boredom : I don't think people who succeed in a given area are people who don't get bored in that area. I think they work through that boredom or see that boredom as a challenge. I often found myself "bored" with designing the same kind of sites over and over again ("clean! crisp! fun!" those words make my stomach turn to this day). I decided that I would either quit or take it as a challenge : How would I do c!c!f! in a different way? I was not big on "getting the client to see the light" or "making them be adventurous" so I didn't even have persuasion or manipulation to help me. I had to rethink the building blocks (form, color, shape, composition, text, image, etc.) of the visual end of the Web quite often to keep developing new solutions to the same lame problems.
posted by Slothrop at 11:31 AM on May 29, 2006


If you're ambivalent about architecture, you'll not feel any better about graphic design. Just more of the same...except the clients aren't nearly as pleasant.
I'd stay away from web design except as a fall-back. It's rapidly become a commodity field, much like graphic design.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:34 AM on May 29, 2006


Response by poster: Thorzdad, could you expand on that a little?
posted by slipperywhenwet at 11:38 AM on May 29, 2006


Well, the things you list about not liking in architecture...countless revisions, etc...are pretty much part-and-parcel to graphic design. Added to that is the attitude of many clients that they, in fact, know better than you when it comes to design and art.
The commodity part comes from the fact that the market in both graphic and web design has become saturated with endless numbers of people who, armed with a copy of Photoshop and Dreamweaver (or worse...Frontpage), sell themselves as designers. It's like every kid in high school does "web design". Clients, sadly, see only the bottom line.

This is, of course, worst-case. But, it's not uncommon, either. All fields have within them aspects you will dislike. There is the mundane in everything.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:53 AM on May 29, 2006


Couldn't agree more, Thorzdad. Nothing takes the fun out of art like making a living at it.
posted by doctor_negative at 12:17 PM on May 29, 2006


Here's a thought: comic book design and scripting. In fact, Mohawk College has a one year Comic Design and Scripting course in Brantford (about an hour or so drive from you).
posted by rinkjustice at 12:31 PM on May 29, 2006


He asked. I replied. You shit on it. Thanks for playing.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:33 PM on May 29, 2006


Graphic design will probably be worse than architecture when it comes to revisions, etc, as Thorzdad says. The barrier to entry is lower, and clients all think they can do it too, so they have no problem sticking their noses into every element instead of thinking about you as a craftsman whom they should entrust to make appropriate decisions based upon your experience.

Thorzdad: I read doc's reply as non-sarcastic.
posted by beerbajay at 1:53 PM on May 29, 2006


Why be bored by architecture? Just step back and take another look...what else can you do with a masters in AD? architecture historian, Architectural preservation, Interior design from a structural perspective, Public architecture and street furniture, Volunteer for Habitat, Urban planning, Jesus Jumping Christ the list is endless.
posted by Gungho at 2:16 PM on May 29, 2006


Thorzdad, there was no snark intended in my reply. I really do agree with your statements.
posted by doctor_negative at 5:10 PM on May 29, 2006


Furniture design!
posted by miss tea at 4:48 AM on May 30, 2006


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