January 2011 Archives

Student Competition Q&A: Grad Students & December Grads

As our Student Competition deadline quickly approaches (March 4, 2013), we're answering your questions to help you figure out all the details, rules, and guidelines. If YOU have a question, email us at mail@spd.org, and we may answer it here.

I'm in grad school for design. Can I enter your Student Design Competition? What if I just graduated with my Bachelor's degree this past December?


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Awesome Advice:

"Don't Be A D*ck"

Okay, those aren't our words exactly, but it's a good rule to follow, courtesy of typographer/illustrator Jessica Hische. Yes, we've featured her before. Many times. What can we say ... we're head-over heels in love with Jessica and her super-honest yet helpful advice. We've featured her insightful list of FAQs before, as well as her recent "Should I Work for Free?" Flowchart like most of the design blog world, not to mention her Daily Drop Cap blog, so really, if you haven't already seen this link we're about to give ya, then you're not paying attention.

Yesterday on her blog, Jessica answered the common question "How do I get freelance work?", and while her advice is spot-on for aspiring freelancers, it's also essential for full-time job hunters. Aside from some awesomely practical words of wisdom, the big takeaway in our own more conservative wording: Be Nice to Work With.

Design Lessons From the NFL

While newspapers have their own particular set of design rules and guidelines, they also share a lot with magazines and editorial design in general. News designer and blogger Charles Apple reviews some of the front pages of the day that feature yesterday's NFL championship games and gives a nice little lesson in what can make for good and bad design decisions. Check out the full post here.

Student Design Competition: Entries Due March 7

Want a sure-fire way to start your editorial design career off on the fast track? Then enter our Student Design Competition and you could win an internship at a top magazine in NYC and more!
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Working for Free, Take 2

Hopefully you enjoyed Jessica Hische's "Should I Work For Free?" flowchart that we posted the other day. But if it got you thinking, "hey, wait a minute! what about all these unpaid internships I'm applying for?", then head over to David Airey's blog post on the topic to see him argue the pros and cons. Be sure to read the comments there too, for a fuller perspective on the topic.

Should You Work For Free?

As aspiring designers (and really all of us designer-types), you probably get hit up often to use your talents on behalf of someone else for the huge lump sum of "experience" and "portfolio pieces". Sometimes working for free is worth it. Most of the time, it isn't. But what's a student designer to do when they've got limited experience to get the paying jobs? Well, check out this awesome and hilarious flow-chart, courtesy of typographer/illustrator-extrordinaire Jessica Hische. It'll be your guide the next time you get offered the generous payment of "future work". 

Student Competition Q&A: Do I Have to Be in a Publication Design Class?

As our Student Competition deadline quickly approaches (March 7), we're answering your questions to help you figure out all the details, rules, and guidelines. If YOU have a question, email us at mail@spd.org, and we may answer it here.

I'm an art student interested in graphic design and I think I could design a pretty awesome magazine spread, but I haven't taken any publication design classes. Can I still enter your competition?


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#34: Talent isn't much without Ambition

All of us want to be good at our jobs, but how good do we really want to be? ... Talent helps, but it won't take you as far as ambition. Everybody wants to be good, but not many are prepared to make the sacrifices it takes to be great. Most people are looking for a solution, a way to become good. There is no instant solution, the only way to learn is through experience and mistakes. You will become whoever you want to be.
 
--Paul Arden, excerpted from his book It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want To Be