This is general career advice, and I think it applies to your situation. It's always easier to change title *within* a compan, especially if you've built up some credibility. My advice would be to take a graphic design job in an interactive company, prove your chops, help out as often as possible, and earn your way to the interactive work. It means planning 2-5 years out, but if you are looking at school you've already got that mindset.
~c Brian wrote: > Hi list, I just joined a couple of days ago, and I'm really glad I did. I > love the in-depth conversations about all aspects of IXD. I have some > observations and theories I'll be bringing up soon. Anyway, I'll try and > make these questions as quick and concise as possible. > > I'm a 28 year old graphic designer with his associates from a community > college in...graphic design. My current job (which I've held for about 5 > years now) has been designing print catalog and flyer creation systems in > Access/VBA/InDesign. (I've done some automation of page layout work here I'm > really proud of.) About a year ago, I was trying to create an interface for > one of my programs and I realized my "calling" is Interaction Design. Not > having any real experience or formal study in IXD, I went back to school, > hoping to get into NYU's independent study so I could take courses in their > ITP grad program. As a backup, I applied to the program that looked like it > would get me my bachelors the quickest: an independent study, liberal arts > program at the New School in NYC. That's where I ended up and I'm in my > first semester at the New School, taking 3 classes there. > > That's where I am. These are my questions: > > 1. (I realize this is somewhat similar to the freelance question asked a > couple of days ago, but while those answers were helpful they weren't quite > for me.) I am getting ready to move on at my job. However, I realize that I > am in no way ready to take on an IXD job. At least not at a level comparable > to my current salary. Every IXD ad has requirements of 6-9 years > experience/degree in IXD, etc. How do I get a low-level, possibly part-time > start? If I weren't supporting myself, I'd apply for an internship but I > can't spare that time. > > 2. How can I document my interfaces in my portfolio? It seems like it would > require screen shots with heavy notation and a long summary of the > background of the system. Also, it's done in Access so while the interface > is decent looking, I was severely limited in the form creation and so, all > of the "quality" is in the behavior. > > 3. I'm unsure if my school will have the proper courses. I'm somewhat on my > own for picking classes; when I spoke with my adviser, he just pointed me > toward the psychology classes. I will (in theory) be able to take courses at > Parsons School of Design (part of New School), but I can't yet. I'd love to > hear some advice on what classes gave you the theoretical background you > reference on a day-to-day basis. I'm more worried about not knowing the > concepts than scrambling to learn a new technology. > > Thanks for all your suggestions! > Brian Carter > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > List Guidelines ............ http://beta.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .................. http://beta.ixda.org/help > Unsubscribe ................ http://beta.ixda.org/unsubscribe > Questions .................. [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Home ....................... http://beta.ixda.org > -- Christina Wodtke Principal Instigator 415-577-2550 Business :: http://www.cucinamedia.com Magazine :: http://www.boxesandarrows.com Product :: http://www.publicsquarehq.com Personal :: http://www.eleganthack.com Book :: http://www.blueprintsfortheweb.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] List Guidelines ............ http://beta.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://beta.ixda.org/help Unsubscribe ................ http://beta.ixda.org/unsubscribe Questions .................. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Home ....................... http://beta.ixda.org
