Education (renamed because the other title was stupid)

[Drewbacca]

I thought I'd start an art school thread because I'm sure there're some people thinking about going to art school, or who have gone through the low rungs of the job ladder and could contribute to a productive thread.

Right now I'm going to school for a diploma in Graphic Design. I like the feild, but the school stink. One of my teachers even said: "I can't teach you how to be a better designer." (to the entire class, generally, not me specifically). After that I'm going to school for animation and technical directing at a well known college nearby with a huge reputation.

I need the 3 year diploma from design to enter the feild and my hopes are that someday I'll end up in the gaming feild for technical directing, character design and animation.

I know Fury Fox went to the Art Institute, I believe. And I just wanted to know what it was like. Right now, it's so expensive to go there. It's expensive to go to the Game Art and Design school in Toronto that's opening up as well, but not that expensive. I was wondering if anybody could fill me in on a good course of action?

[JM]

Sorry I can't be of any help here. I went to school briefly for graphic design. but I didn't even finish that. (Hasn't stopped me from working as a graphic designer for four years though. )

I really do plan on taking some drawing classes sometime. I've been meaning to for years, but with a full time job & a 2 year old son, time isn't as abundant as I'd like it to be.

As for your teacher saying he couldn't make his students better designers, it is kinda true. My old GD teacher was great. She was very sharp, but all a teacher can do is expose you to good design, & make info on techniques available to you. Like I said, she was great, but there were plenty of people in the class who were just hopeless. A good teacher isn't a substitue for talent. The best teachers in the world couldn't have made those hacks any more creative. You can be a super wiz at all the current design programs, but without true creativity, it doesn't do any good. For some reason a lot of people who have no creative drive go to school for commercial art, thinking that they will come out of it with a trade to ply. It is kind of perplexing.

JM

[rama]

JM, my old friend, you hit the nail right in the balls. i'm at the art institute of washington. i've been here for almost 3 years now. came here wanting to be an animator but now....not so much. i'd rather do graphic design or photography or just plain illustration. i wouldn't have figured that out though if i didn't go to school. sometimes going to school can really open your eyes to allot of things and take you into totally new directions. it'd be a good experience to attend an art school...but yeah, allot of 'em are super expensive. do your homework and choose wisely.

[Drewbacca]

JM: I am usually enclined to agree with you, but it's simply not true. I had the best teacher of my life in Grade 11 and 12 art and design class. There was one kid who everyone thought was hopeless. He didn't get form, he didn't understand how to draw and had very little talent.

But half way through that course he made pencil picture on a huge sheet of paper by himself with that teachers coaching and made a good picture. A really good picture. You wouldn't of thought he had no talent if you looked at it.

That's a good teacher.

Now I realize not ALL teachers are gifted, but if your job is to teach people graphic design and you can't teach them how to be better (not perfect, just better) then you're wasting space in the classroom.

The Art Institute is so expensive as well. It's like, 12,500 a year. That's pricey.

[Tones]

I think that we have an excellent art teacher, especially for a high school. He has over 20 years of experience (my guess), and he has done private work on the side, which looks excellent. A great thing about him is that he can truly break down an image into its basic elements, and make it easy to explain to the class. I remember my class last year (basically the same people in the second year class), and the amount of improvement is just phenomenal.

Not only does he teach drawing, but he dips us into other forms of art: pottery, architecture, printing, scratchboard, simple graphic design, simple metalwork (later this year), photography (also later this year), etc., instead of just focusing on a few different mediums. This way, the students will learn what they truly love to create, and this is what they will concentrate on in the higher level art classes (IB and AP).

[loki]

I went through 2 years of college art school and it did open my eyes to a lot of possibilities I hadnt thought of. But theres no reason anybody cant do that type of research without the aid of a professor. Sometimes a teacher can give you good feedback on your work/progress but for the most part you learn by experience. The one thing the school did really help me with was getting an internship with a small design firm. very beneficial to see how the business side of graphic design is like.

A strong portfolio should be enough to get a decent entry level design job. At least thats what I keep telling myself. but it doesnt hurt to have a fat resume.

[Drewbacca]

Well.. I'm actually not going to be a graphic designer in the end. I need a 3 year visual arts credit (aka graphic design) to even be able to apply to the Animation course.

Then after that I need the Animation course to do Character Modelling (or effects) and after that Technical Direction.

[rama]

damn......that's allot of shit. that is gonna be expensive. how long's all this gonna take?

[Drewbacca]

I'll be 24 - 25 by the time I'm done.

I'm now 19. I agree it's a long time. But when you look back on it and look to the future, you'll know it would have been the right thing to do in the end for yourself. (atleast for me). 24 isn't old, and I will have the education to work at someplace like Pixar or Electronic Arts of Canada. Maybe even open up my own business with 5 - 10 year in the business feild.

Where would I be without this? Probably working a shitty graphic design job I have no thrill of doing. So it just makes sense to devote my future to what I want.

[FirstBlood]

Tyler School of Art, baby... in two weeks.

I can't wait to blow through the gen-ed classes and spend the rest of my time drawing/painting