Creative Career

[colinst14]

Hey Everyone,

Came to this site to pose a question about finding something suitable for me to do with my life in the future. I'm a real creative person, and if money didn't matter then I think I would go get a degree in Graphic Design or Communications, and work either freelance or with a Design Studio. I'm also really into Architecture and Home Interiors, specifically modern apartment/loft/townhome kind of areas. I think I would go into Architecture if I didn't have such a strong hatred for math + physics.

The thing with me enjoying modern houses and apartments is costs. All places I find online that I could see myself living in are upwards of 350k. I don't really know if I can afford that kind of house off of a graphic design salary, but I doubt it. I know some might say that if you love what you do then money doesn't matter, and I realize this. I do love design and I could easily see myself pursuing a career in this. However, living somewhere I really enjoy is something very important to me. I really don't know where I should go in regards to a career choice. I want to go to university, but I don't really know what degree I would go for. Some things I've thought of:

Graphic Design
Communications
Marketing
Advertising
Architecture
Environmental Design
Urban Planning

Any help is greatly appreciated. If anyone happens to be in the same boat as me, or if you're older and living in a modern home like I've talked about, that's a bonus. Also, if anyone on here happens to be a creative director in a Design/Advertising/Architecture firm that'd be perfect !

Again thank you, looking forward to any and all responses.

[CleeIB]

colinst14 - You can afford anything if you become the best in the world at it (and you market yourself).

What do you want to be the best in the world at?

You need to figure that out. No one else can figure that out for you. It sounds like you've ruled out architecture. It also sounds like interior design or graphic design may be for you.

But you need to narrow down the list. You need more information on all those areas, so that you know which to reject and which to pursue. Meet people in those professions. Do research. Get internships. Do informational interviews. As you gather more information, you can whittle down your list.

Good luck!

[colinst14]

Thank you for the reply, I really like that first sentence, cool way to put it into perspective. I would right now consider myself a graphic designer+illustrator, I've been contacted to do some work, and I like to just doodle around and come up with stuff for myself. Anything from logo/identity-print-packaging. It's what I'm leaning towards going into at school, but I'm still not to sure. Thanks again for your positive response though.

[scoyne88]

If you run a successful design business you can defiantly afford those houses. Don't waste your time getting into a career you know you will not like just for the money, you will quickly regret it. You can work on getting your name out their now, setup a free business (If your in the US you can Google "get EIN") and start looking for freelance gigs online or post ads on Craigslist.

[peanutbutter]

To me, it sounds like you would get the most satisfaction out of a graphic design career. Start designing for online freelance sites and friends (and check what you need to do this legally for all things tax-related) while you learn more tricks of the trade.

[Mackengift]

From what you say its clear that you only see life from a materialistic angle but as you encounter the issues of life your views will change about money because money can be a motivating factor as well as a misdirecting factor if you use it as the only factor to measure the kind of success you dream of. Its good you have noticed your talent and where it fits into, but you need to zero in on the career that contain much of you values you have, in so doing you will find satisfaction and fulfillment in it.

[BeJoblessNoMore]

For anyone else who may have been having reservations about getting into Graphic Design, it really is a well paying job, more paying than most actually. For instance consider how many millions of websites there are on the Internet right now (555 million according to 2011 figures) and how many more are being churned out every day, and do you suppose that Web Design is somewhat synonymous with Graphic Design? I'll leave you to do the Math