TechCareers: Graphic Design

TECHCAREERS:

Graphic Design Mike Jones

Publishing

© 2012 TSTC Publishing ISBN 978-1-934302-90-3 (softback) ISBN 978-1-936603-12-1 (ebook) All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or any portion thereof in any form. Requests for such permissions should be addressed to: TSTC Publishing Texas State Technical College Waco 3801 Campus Drive Waco, Texas 76705 http://publishing.tstc.edu/

Publisher: Mark Long Editor: Ana Wraight Art director: Stacie Buterbaugh Graphics specialist: Grace Arsiagta Marketing: Sheila Boggess Sales: Wes Lowe Office coordinator: Melanie Peterson Indexing: Michelle Graye (indexing@yahoo.com) Printing production: Data Reproductions

Manufactured in the United States of America First edition

Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication (Provided by Quality Books, Inc.) Jones, Michael, 1946 Dec. 20Graphic design / Michael Jones. -- 1st ed. p. cm. -- (TechCareers) Includes index.

ISBN-13: 978-1-934302-90-3 (softback) ISBN-10: 1-934302-90-2 (softback) ISBN-13: 978-1-936603-12-1 (ebook) ISBN-10: 1-936603-12-8 (ebook) 1. Graphic arts--Vocational guidance. 2. Commercial arts--Vocational guidance. I. Title. II. Series: TechCareers.

NC1001.J66 2012

741.6’023 QBI11-600198

Table of Contents

COMMONLY USED ABBREVIATIONS

v

CHAPTER ONE: Graphic Design and Pre-Press Technology Careers

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Overview 1 Employment Outlook 11 Duties and Work Schedules Conclusion 30

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CHAPTER TWO: Education and Certification Preparing for Your Career 32 Degree Programs 37 Technical Certificates 38 Associate of Applied Science Degree

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Bachelor’s Degree in Art, Fine Arts, or Science Master of Fine Arts 61 Conclusion 65

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CHAPTER THREE: Additional Information and Resources Colleges and Universities Online Resources 163 Index

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

About the Author

187

About TSTC Publishing

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TechCareers Series

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Commonly Used Abbreviations

AAAA

American Association of Advertising Agencies

AAF

American Advertising Federation

AIGA

The Professional Association for Design, formerly American Institute of Graphic Arts

ASIFA

Association Internationale du Film d’Animation; International Animated Film Society

CMYK

Cyan, magenta, yellow, (key) black

IAB

Interactive Advertising Bureau

IAPHC

International Association of Printing House Craftsmen

IEEE

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

IIID

International Institute for Information Design

IoPP

Institute of Packaging Professionals

IPA

Association of Graphic Solutions Providers

NAPL

National Association of Printers Leadership

NO!SPEC

A movement to resist the traditional paradigm of producing work on approval

OBD

Organization of Black Designers

OES

Occupational Employment Statistics

OOH

Occupational Outlook Handbook

PHP

Hypertext Preprocessor

PIA

Printing Industries of America

PIAS

Printing Industry Association of the South

PRIMIR

Print Industries Market Information and Research Organization

PSDA

Print Services & Distribution Association

RGB

Red, Green, Blue

ROI

Return on Investment

ROR

Resources on a Resource XML format

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COMMONLY USED ABBREVIATIONS

SIGGRAPH

Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Graphics and Interactive Techniques

SEGD

Society for Environmental Graphic Design

SGIA

Specialty Graphic Imaging Association

SLMM

Society of Layerists in Multimedia

SPD

Society of Publication Designers

SGIA

Specialty Graphic Imaging Association

TAGA

Technical Association of the Graphic Arts

TSTC

Texas State Technical College

UCDA

University and College Designers Association

Warc

World Advertising Research Center

CHAPTER ONE

Graphic Design and Pre-Press Technology Careers

Overview Just about everyone is “connected” these days. Everywhere we look, we see people using their cellphones or working at wireless laptops. How many times a day do we access the Internet for information and entertainment like recipes, music tracks, and rock band tour schedules or to contact friends via social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter, or MySpace?

The more this personal digital evolution expands, the more it works its way into virtually every moment of our lives, and the more it will also expand your exposure to advertisements, pop-up graphics, text boxes, and Flash animations. You may not be aware that every bit of advertising you see was crafted by a team of marketing professionals (sometimes even by just one hardworking, talented individual) with the sole objective of grabbing your attention long enough to get their message through to your busy brain. Since so much of the information you see consists of a cool photo, a lively animation, an interesting text font, or a thought-provoking illustration, chances are you’re responding to the work of a graphic designer.

Graphic designers often begin their journeys with a lifelong fascination with color, drawing, photography, storytelling, or the way certain things or music call up an unexpected emotion or memory. As they settle into their 1

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careers, they work with writers, videographers, and clients to create advertising and marketing materials. They may work alone in a small community or with a huge, big city advertising agency, fielding several teams and coordinating to produce everything from “kiddie meal” prizes to billboards, product jingles for TV commercials to glossy symphony concert programs, unforgettable corporate logos to elegant, 400-page annual reports. A single designer may be tasked with a single drawing or with planning and directing the whole design process, from coming up with a fresh concept for achieving the client’s marketing objectives through creating thematically related messages for TV, product packaging, promotional materials, and apparel featuring the client’s unforgettable logo.

Profile: Michael Albee, Freelance Graphic Designer Michael Albee, an accomplished freelance multimedia designer, illustrator, and graphic artist based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, likes to say, “I make things pretty.”

Albee’s initial studies in Visual and Speech Communication at Stephen F. Austin State University led him into the world of professional design. After graduating, he moved from Nacogdoches, Texas, to Dallas, where he began his career with famed department and catalog retailer Neiman Marcus. He gained not only theoretical knowledge in this position but also practical application of design theory at the same time. “The constant challenge to come up with something new and exciting, to promote something as complex as high-end fashion, made me dig even deeper into my work,” he says. He soon was promoted to the position of Design Coordinator for Corporate Visual Planning and Presentation and tasked with designing and producing seasonal promotions, in-store visual displays, signage, and window displays for all of Neiman Marcus’ thirty-six stores. He also received practical experience with duties such as locating source materials, finding vendors, negotiating discounts and budgets, and managing a seasonal budget.

GRAPHIC DESIGN AND PRE-PRESS TECHNOLOGY CAREERS

From Neiman Marcus, he moved on to a position as Creative Director for a small advertising and marketing firm in Dallas, where he had the opportunity to return to some of his roots, including his basic practical skills in design. While with this firm, he illustrated a few books, produced some top-notch print and web collateral, and helped establish company identity, or “branding”, for several small companies in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area.

In 2009, he seized an opportunity to work on a completely freelance basis, where he is now able to “make things pretty” and choose the projects he wants to work on, which still include everything from web design to illustration to branding. As a freelancer, he says he can “work with the clients he wants to work with and who appreciate his diverse talents.”

Albee uses Adobe Creative Suite, Corel Painter, a few different text-editing programs, and iWork on a regular basis, and he is constantly looking for areas where he can grow. “If I’m not learning something new,” he says, “I’m not doing it right. Whether it’s freehand sketching, web coding, or working with software applications, there are always ways to improve your techniques and to stay current with trends.”

“It’s important to stay on top of the latest advertising trends and tools because if you don’t, someone else will – and they might lure away your best customers in the process.” On the other hand, Albee advises aspiring designers, “Be careful not to oversell yourself. If you don’t know how to use a program or application, don’t say you can.”

Regarding upsurge in electronic and digital advertising, Albee states, “I’ve had quite a few clients requesting more and more print materials now the Internet seems over-saturated with ads, popups, drop downs, and intrusive, unwanted distractions. I think the difference now, and maybe for the next five years or so, is we’ll see an increase in the amount and quality of print media.” Clients are more aware of different print processes, techniques, paper quality, and other choices; many are even asking about “green” printing options. “The per-item cost of such printed material is higher, but so is the return on investment (ROI).”

Albee knows from personal experience about how savvy

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employers and clients can be these days and how they come from almost anywhere. “I received a call from a client, asking to arrange a meeting to discuss a new business opportunity. He wanted me to help with some design work. We scheduled a meeting at a local coffee house, and I realized the client had brought his two daughters to the meeting. We got settled at a table, introductions were passed around, and then my client excused himself and left the table.” The young daughters then took over the meeting: “The ten-year-old, the older daughter, turned to me and said, ‘Okay, let’s get this meeting started!’ Of course, my response was ‘uh…shouldn’t we wait for your dad?’ “‘Nope, this is our business!’ the older daughter exclaimed while motioning to her five-year-old sister. “‘Okay then...’ I muttered, hoping for her father’s return. ‘Tell me about this business.’”

“The ten-year-old proceeded to tell me about her third grade economics project on supply and demand. She was asked to create, produce, and market a product to sell at their school carnival. She decided she and her sister would like to actually start a web business with these products, and she needed some help to design a logo and basic website.

“The product was handmade, one-of-a-kind bead bracelets,” Albee chuckles, adding, “I was astounded by the amount of thought these two kids had put into their project. At one point the five-yearold was talking about their target demographic – not her words – and how they would like to somehow give back to the community with their efforts. The ten-year-old chimed in, saying they could donate 20 percent of their net profits to a local charity because that would be great PR – at which point she turned to me and said, ‘Can we put that on the website?’”

After a single week in business, the girls had recovered the entire cost of their logo and website, and they still had enough for spending money. “Just proves a great idea doesn’t have to come from someone with marketing experience,” Albee says. “It just needs to be a great idea.”

GRAPHIC DESIGN AND PRE-PRESS TECHNOLOGY CAREERS

With graphic design, you can concentrate on fashion design, food photography, automobile design, or technical manuals. Your career can take you around the world or let you stay in your own hometown. Indulge your passion for anime or 3-D cartoon character animation, or help to create superimposed chroma key sequences to bring filmed versions of graphic novels to the screen.

Graphic Design If you have ever stapled a homemade sign to a telephone pole to attract garage-sale browsers or set up a lemonade stand at the curb with a big sign to lure thirsty passersby, you have created a graphic design. When you look at it that way, it is easy to see graphic design has been around almost as long as civilization.

Graphic design arose as an ancillary product of face-toface persuasion or selling. Rather than try to remember and recite all the product points Seller A wants his customers to know, he prints up a little card, brochure, or sales sheet as a hand-out. When a medieval baker took a batch of buns out of the oven, he would put out a sign to let passersby know the best buns in the village were “Hot and ready to nosh! For the low, low price of just one farthing!”

Of course, chronicling the history of graphic design, either as a custom or an art form, would require volumes. In America alone, it has run the gamut from the line drawings and formal descriptions of early catalogs or newspaper ads to the outrageous and noisy messages of twenty-first century mass communications. It has always been the saga of entrepreneurs desperate to find the best means of attracting the most customers, as well as the ways in which their methods have persuaded, delighted, or annoyed target audiences. Graphic design has been responsible for entirely new arts and sciences, such as digital image manipulation, computerized animation, and text font design.

The history of graphic design is also a revealing record of our social history, preserving for future generations artifacts revealing the way people have dressed over the years; their

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political, social ideas, and customs; and their ideas about beauty and functionality. Look at any old magazine or catalog from previous decades, and it will quickly become apparent how most things continuously change (for better or worse) and how some remain relatively the same. By nature, advertising messages are disposable, fleeting, and topical.

They have one purpose, and once the purpose is either realized or not, they are usually tossed out like yesterday’s newspaper. On the other hand, graphic designers and writers occasionally attain immortality – or at least their concepts do.

New designers and old hands alike are fascinated with the elegant, evocative print ads for legendary American automobiles like Tucker, Studebaker, Packard, and Deusenberg. The surviving advertisements – in magazines, catalogs or newspapers, on primitive recordings, and in kinescopes and videotapes – reveal a lot about the American character. They are not, however, usually included as part of traditional American History classes. In studying them today, graphic design students, and professionals learn not only about advertising techniques of the past, but also how they have shaped our culture.

Most people don’t realize it, but one of the giant figures in American advertising was Benjamin Franklin. Not the least of his many endeavors were The Philadelphia Gazette and The Farmer’s Almanac, in which he helped revolutionize simple advertisements by including relevant engravings or enlarged text to catch the reader’s eye. He was also a pioneer in providing attractive details and benefits of the object for sale.

When the slave trade was thriving in the eighteenth century, newspaper ads, flyers, and posters advertised the transportation of slaves and products like sugar and cotton along the Triangle Trade route in the Atlantic Ocean. As a result of the slave trade, coveted merchandise like rum or molasses from the Caribbean could be offered for sale in Boston or Philadelphia, who would then send their own products to England for sale or manufacture. Advertisements both in the colonies and in Europe helped spread the word and increase sales for Triangle Trade merchants.

GRAPHIC DESIGN AND PRE-PRESS TECHNOLOGY CAREERS

It wasn’t until the beginning of the twentieth century that branding began, as manufacturers started putting their names on products like crackers, candy, hand soap, or apparel. By the 1950s and 1960s, marketers were putting brand names and logos on bottled water, fresh and canned fruits and vegetables, and consumables like diapers, detergents, and diet drinks. As branding evolved into one of the basics of marketing, competing brands began touting their superiority over others. The ultimate branding achievement was, and still is, seeing a company’s brand name become synonymous with the product type, such as Kleenex, BAND-AID ®, Thermos, and Frisbee.

Profile: James Brown, Lead Graphic Designer James Brown’s love of design started at a young age. “I took various art classes while I was in public school, along with some additional courses in painting and illustration at North Lake College in Irving,” he says. “I had a number of works shown through middle school competitions at the Irving Art Center.”

Brown was constantly creating artwork for school events and apparel for the Lexington Eagles clubs and teams. After graduating in 2001, he moved to Waco to enter the Advertising Design and Printing (now called Graphic Design & Advertising) program at Texas State Technical College (TSTC). “TSTC provided the technical skills necessary to turn a love of art into an actual career. I was involved in the TSTC Graphic Design Club, and I spent time as an intern for TSTC Publishing under Publisher Mark Long. I still serve on the TSTC advisory board as a professional reviewer of student portfolios.”

“Advertising appealed to me because it took my passion for traditional art and applied problem solving, innovation, and many other dynamics to the mix,” says Brown, now the Lead Graphic Designer for The Dwyer Group in Waco, Texas. “Using my artistic skills to create and maintain a professional look for our business owners, to increase their income, and to help them expand is rewarding.”

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“I design many different types of marketing and advertising materials for franchisees,” Brown says. “It may be for their local or national market advertising or for materials intended for internal use by employees. My teams produce seven different magazines for the eight separate companies under The Dwyer Group franchise umbrella.”

The service-based franchise groups Brown and his teams are responsible for include Rainbow International, Mr. Appliance Corporation, Mr. Rooter, Aire Serv, Mr. Electric, Glass Doctor, Portland Glass, and The Ground Guys – each a nationally ranked company with its own registered trademark, branding, and client base. According to The Dwyer Group’s website, the company provides services to more than 900 franchises in the United States and Canada, as well as international master licensees servicing more than 300 franchise locations in seven other countries. “I also serve as quality control to ensure good design by proofing all work before it goes to the clients,” Brown adds.

Brown currently serves on the Board of the American Advertising Federation of Waco and as a Board member of the Waco Community Cancer Association of Waco, helping others with their marketing and advertising. Brown also takes on freelance projects for various Waco companies.

“I have passions for many things. Family, music, disc golf, automobile design, cooking – to name a few, but design has always been an interest of mine. I’ve always been eager for opportunities to try my hand at traditional art techniques that are new to me. I also try to learn new ways to broaden what I know about creating good graphic design. I’ve spent time with a few 3D modeling programs, and I use many different drawing programs for specific effects that can’t be achieved with just one program.” Brown is most familiar with Adobe Acrobat, Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Bridge, Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and “a couple of proprietary software packages as well.”

Most importantly, “I’ve learned mountains about the marketing aspect of advertising to complement and direct my design. Every project is different; nothing is really routine. This lack of monotony keeps things fresh.”

GRAPHIC DESIGN AND PRE-PRESS TECHNOLOGY CAREERS

Memorable branding successes of the twentieth century include character “spokes-critters” like Tony the Tiger, Elsie the Cow, the talking Geico gecko, and the poppin’ fresh Pillsbury Doughboy. Pretty much any American of a certain age can remember and sing every word of the “Snap! Crackle!

Pop!” jingle introduced by Kellogg’s in the early history of TV. These characters, created by imaginative graphic designers and marketing specialists, stick with us, keeping their brands ever-present in our consciousness.

Pre-Press Technology In many respects, the history of printing and technical printing processes is a large part of the history of Western Europe. The German inventor and goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg came up with the idea for a new type of press in the mid-fifteenth century, using the mechanical system for the screw presses already in use. He added important new inventions of his own, including a hand mould to cast the letters for a system of movable, interchangeable type. This combination of the old and the new made it possible to streamline the printing process, thereby making it a lot more profitable to print books and circulars.

The mechanization of printing allowed for the mass production of books for the first time. A single printing press during the Renaissance could produce as many as 3,600 pages a day, compared to around 40 using hand presses.

As a result, best-selling authors like the Reformation leader Martin Luther and the philosopher Erasmus were able to sell hundreds of thousands of their books while they were still living. The relatively fast and easy dissemination of information greatly impacted Western culture and thought.

By 1500, Gutenberg’s movable type presses throughout Europe had produced more than 20 million books; a hundred years later the number was 150 to 200 million. Press operators became so identified with their occupation, the term by which they were referred to became the name for an entirely new branch of the media, the press.

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From its beginnings, the science of printing was closely related to the art of graphic design. Early printers created a highly artistic and aesthetic standard. Nevertheless, the eventual availability and affordability of printed materials made information and knowledge available to the “common man,� in unprecedented numbers and with astounding effect, essentially laying the foundation for today’s information-based global economy. The arrival of mechanized printing introduced the era of mass communications, which forever changed the socio-political structures of Western Europe. The sudden circulation of information and often revolutionary ideas transcended borders, informed the common masses by greatly increasing literacy, and challenged the power of the religious and political leadership, who had previously guarded education and learning as treasures to be shared only among the nobility and members of the Church.

By the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the mechanics of the Gutenberg-type press had not changed much, except for the different, more durable materials used in its construction. By the nineteenth century, a new press had appeared made entirely of cast iron, which reduced

GRAPHIC DESIGN AND PRE-PRESS TECHNOLOGY CAREERS

the amount of force required to print a page by 90 percent and doubled the size of the printing area. The use of steam power to run the machinery and the replacement of the flat bed of the press with the rotary motion of an inked cylinder radically altered the design of the printing press.

The steam powered rotary press was invented in 1843

by Richard M. Hoe, an American. His press was capable of printing millions of copies of a page in a single day. The transition to rolled paper with a continuous feed allowed the presses to run at a much faster pace. By the late 1930s and early 1940s, efficiency had increased even more, with some models capable of printing up to 3,000 impressions per hour.

Other important advancements included color printing, lithography, offset printing, and, most recently, desktop and electronic publishing.

Employment Outlook Graphic Design According to the U.S. Department of Labor, graphic design positions numbered roughly 286,100 nationally in 2008. Most graphic designers worked for advertising/ marketing related services; specialized design; printing and related support activities; or newspaper, magazine, book, and directory publishers. A small percentage of them were employed by computer systems design firms producing computer graphics. A good number of designers marketed their talents and expertise as freelancers, taking on projects part-time – outside of their regular hours of salaried employment – or full-time, as independent artists, illustrators, or digital project designers.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that, in the near future, employment in the graphic design field is expected to grow “about as fast as average,” meaning at an increase of 7 to 13 percent – which matches the average for all occupations from 2008 through 2018. There will also be increased competition for fewer jobs. Designers with website design and animation experience will find a much higher

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demand for their skills with design projects for interactive media, including smartphones, tablets, and other new personal communication technology. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, “Graphic designers with a broad liberal arts education and experience in marketing and business management will be best suited for positions developing communication strategies.�

Graphic design ďŹ rms are expected to continue producing print, broadcast, and Internet marketing and promotional materials, paralleling the growth in the sheer numbers of “new and improvedâ€? products and services, particularly on the Web. However, growth statistics may move into negative numbers because of reduced demand for print publishing designers.

According to the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES), published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wages for graphic designers were $42,400 in May of 2008. Earnings for the middle 50 percent were between $32,600 and $56,620. On the low end, 10 percent earned less than $26,110, and on the high end, 10 percent earned more than $74,660. Median annual wages in May 2008 in industries employing the largest numbers of graphic designers were: &RPSXWHU V\VWHPV GHVLJQ DQG UHODWHG VHUYLFHV

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According to the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), the average income for entry-level designers in 2008 (not including beneďŹ ts) was $35,000. Staff-level graphic designers earned an average of $45,000. Senior designers, who normally supervise lower-level staff and/or enjoy a degree of decision-making authority, earned an average of $60,000. Freelance designers and those who worked on a perjob or contract basis for single clients or companies reported

GRAPHIC DESIGN AND PRE-PRESS TECHNOLOGY CAREERS

average earnings of $57,000. Individuals with job titles such as Design Director, Creative Director, and Art Director – the creative heads of design firms or in-house corporate design departments – earned $95,000. Graphic designers who owned their own businesses, alone or with partners, or who were principals with a design firm in some other capacity earned an average of $95,000.

The information available online from the Texas Industry Profiles website, provided by the Texas Workforce Commission, indicates graphic designers working in the state of Texas can expect to earn an average salary of $40,200 ($19.33 per hour). The middle 50 percent of the employees in this occupational category earn between $31,099 ($14.95 per hour) and $53,135 ($25.55 per hour). Entry level workers can expect to earn around $27,235 ($13.09 per hour), while an experienced worker may earn closer to $52,907 ($25.44 per hour). This information is based on a research sample of 1,747.

On the other hand, the same source also indicates that, based on a much smaller sample of 180, multimedia artists and animators working in Texas generally earn an average, annual salary of $51,672 ($24.84 per hour). An entry-level worker can expect in the range of $28,999 ($13.94 per hour), while an experienced worker can expect to earn $68,604 ($32.98 per hour). Based on a survey sample of 324, Texas employees with the job title Art Director earn an average of $76,712, with a less-experienced worker with the same title earning $43,746 and an experienced Art Director earning the high-end average of $103,974.

Salaries and freelance earnings vary substantially based on where you work, your job title, the amount and type of experience and training you have, and the extent of your job-related responsibilities, irrespective of the title on your door or business card. Earnings typically tend to be higher in metropolitan areas and on both coasts, but their respective costs of living – including higher costs for transportation around sprawling metropolitan areas – are also higher.

Graphic design encompasses a broad range of job titles,

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activities, and compensation, which gives the professional a great deal of leeway in deciding where he or she wants to be located, particularly if pursuing freelance.

Pre-Press Technology During the past two decades, the advent of personal computers and publishing software being used by individual consumers and some of the smaller printing shops has resulted in a rapid decline in the number of jobs for print technicians. Computer software now allows office workers to easily specify text fonts, styles, and page formats or layouts.

This development shifts traditional pre-press functions away from printing plants and into the hands of advertising and public relations agencies, graphic design firms, and large corporations. As page layout and graphic design capabilities of computer software become less expensive and more userfriendly, many companies are turning to in-house desktop publishing. Some organizations also find it less costly to prepare their own newsletters and other reports. Even at many publishing companies today, writers and editors compose and edit their stories using publishing software to gauge layout needs, though they still generally rely on prepress technicians to perform the actual layout. In addition, new technologies are increasing the amount of automation in printing companies, requiring fewer pre-press workers to do the same work.

Overall employment of pre-press technicians and workers is expected to decline by 13 percent through the year 2018, though prospects are expected to remain favorable for technicians with strong computer and customer service skills. The sudden popularity of hand-held and wireless communications devices has signaled a sea change since 2005 that has increased the consumers’ desire for electronic news, books, marketing, and information by exponential numbers.

Demand for printed material, however, especially product packaging and select magazines and periodicals, should grow along with an increase in demand for manufactured goods and an expanding population.

GRAPHIC DESIGN AND PRE-PRESS TECHNOLOGY CAREERS

At a time when many are predicting the eventual end of the traditional printing industry, some commercial printing companies are working to remain competitive and proďŹ table by offering additional, supplemental services to increase the value of their core product and by providing customers with a one-stop option. Many printers, for example, are hiring database administrators, IT specialists, and website developers to begin offering email distribution and graphic design services to traditional printing customers. Individuals who have completed postsecondary programs in printing technology or graphic communications and can also handle sales or customer service activities will have the best chances to seize the available opportunities.

Average earnings for pre-press technicians and workers depend on factors such as location, the employee’s education and training, and the employer. According to the OES, the May 2008 average hourly wage for pre-press technicians and workers was $16.84. Earnings for the middle 50 percent averaged between $12.74 and $21.80 an hour. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $10.01, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $26.30 an hour. The average hourly wages in printing and related support occupations were $17.39 in May 2008, while employees with newspaper, magazine, book, and directory publishers earned $15.82 an hour.

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For job printers, the average was $16.21 per hour in May 2008. The middle 50 percent earned between $12.59 and $20.57 an hour. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $9.91, while the highest 10 percent were paid more than $25.38 an hour. The average hourly wages for industries employing the largest number of job printers were $16.77 per hour in printing related occupations, and $15.18 in the newspaper, periodical, book, and directory publishers industry.

Indeed.com, an employee recruitment website, in July, 2010, shows an interesting break-down of salaries based on location and position:

City

Entrylevel Designer

Printing Advertising Art Press Director Technician Designer

Printing Process Supervisor

Anchorage

$37,000

$46,000

$46,000

$66,000

$43,000

Atlanta

$47,000

$56,000

$56,000

$84,000

$55,000

Austin

$40,000

$47,000

$47,000

$61,000

$46,000

Baltimore

$46,000

$55,000

$55,000

$81,000

$53,000

Boston

$50,000

$59,000

$59,000

$88,000

$57,000

Chicago

$46,000

$54,000

$54,000

$81,000

$53,000

Dallas

$42,000

$50,000

$50,000

$64,000

$48,000

Denver

$41,000

$48,000

$48,000

$72,000

$47,000

Honolulu

$34,000

$41,000

$41,000

$61,000

$40,000

Houston

$44,000

$52,000

$52,000

$78,000

$51,000

Los Angeles

$45,000

$54,000

$54,000

$80,000

$52,000

Minneapolis

$38,000

$45,000

$45,000

$67,000

$44,000

Nashville

$39,000

$46,000

$46,000

$69,000

$45,000

Orlando

$40,000

$47,000

$47,000

$71,000

$46,000

Philadelphia

$41,000

$49,000

$49,000

$73,000

$48,000

Phoenix

$38,000

$45,000

$45,000

$67,000

$44,000

Portland

$39,000

$46,000

$46,000

$69,000

$45,000

Saint Louis

$42,000

$50,000

$50,000

$74,000

$49,000

San Francisco

$53,000

$63,000

$63,000

$93,000

$61,000

Washington DC $53,000

$63,000

$63,000

$93,000

$61,000

GRAPHIC DESIGN AND PRE-PRESS TECHNOLOGY CAREERS

The State of Oklahoma lists the following statistics for Advertising Design and Printing Technicians, included in the supplying agency’s table for Arts, Audio-Video Technology and Communications:

Job Title

Commercial Artists and Illustrators

Education and Training

Annual Salary

Growth %

Number of openings yearly

Baccalaureate

$38,900 ($18.72/hr)

Not available

20

2 yr A.A.S

$42,000 ($20.18/hr)

10%

Not available

$31,500 ($15,12/hr)

12%

50

$27,500 (12.36/hr)

14%

10

$25,000 ($12.10/hr)

-11%

20

Multimedia Baccalaureate Artists & Animators; Advertising Graphic and 2 yr. A.A.S. Web Designers Printing Pre-Press Technicians

2 yr. A.A.S.

O*Net Online online.onetcenter.org and CareerOneStop www.careerinfo.org

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Pre-press Technicians and Workers in Texas reportedly earn an average salary of $29,746 ($14.30 per hour). The middle half (those in the 25 percent to 75 percent range) earn between $24,301 ($11.68 per hour) and $39,777 ($19.12 per hour). Based on this research sample of 331 respondents, entry-level technicians can expect to earn $22,056 ($10.60 per hour), while an experienced worker can expect to earn $37,807 ($18.18 per hour). The annual wages on the Texas Industry Profiles site (www.texasindustryprofiles.com) are calculated by multiplying the hourly wage by a year-round, full-time, total hour figure of 2,080.

Duties and Work Schedules Graphic Design The job title depends on where you work and in which area of the design “business.” There are a number of choices or specialties, including the following: • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Type Design Magazine Newspaper Layout and Design Book Publishing Catalogs Brochure or Newsletter Design Cover Design For CDs and DVDs Label and Packaging Design Logo Design and Branding Print Advertising Layouts Photography Editing and Manipulation Hand-Drawn or Computer-Assisted Illustrations Technical Drawings

Any one of the employers you find yourself with may require you to work in any or many of these areas, consecutively or simultaneously.

Printing and publishing industry designers typically work for magazine, book, periodical, directory, and newspaper

GRAPHIC DESIGN AND PRE-PRESS TECHNOLOGY CAREERS

publishers in design firms, advertising agencies, business form production companies, PR firms, and in-house creative departments, such as large “department store” or “big box” retailers. There are an increasing number of opportunities for designers of 3D print pieces like signage and signage systems, packaging, designs for trade shows and exhibits, and promotional displays for retailers, restaurants, and auto dealers.

Profile: Jimmy Ball, Art Director Like many graphic design professionals, Jimmy Ball’s career path started when he was very young. “I was always drawing and doodling on any available surface. In junior high and high school, I had an interest in drafting, so I had well-developed fundamental 3D and manual skills when I started college.” By then, he was also drawn to the creative side of marketing and advertising. “At that point, Macs were just starting to get a foot (a mouse?) in the door at agencies, so my first jobs out of school were learning how to transfer what I was taught in school, like pasting down stats and rub-on type, to the Mac instead of on a drafting table with a T-Square.

From there, I kept on challenging myself to learn new software and processes, and take on new design projects to expand my skills and experience and grow in the process.”

Today, Ball is Art Director for LTV Creative, a highly-regarded, nationally recognized marketing and advertising agency in DallasFort Worth area. He’s also President of the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of AIGA, the professional association for designers. Despite the recently lagging economy, Ball says, “I think the job market is picking up. I’ve noticed the [available] job list growing across a range of positions and experience levels, which is good to see. It’s still not easy to get a job, but there are more of them than a year ago.”

According to Ball, the 2010 AIGA/Aquent Consulting Group salary survey for design professionals shows that “on a national scale, annual salaries for entry-level designers start from as low as $32,000 to the low $40,000s, depending on your market.” He added Art

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Director salaries range [nationally] from a low end of $55,000 to $85,000 annually. “Climbing the career ladder can take time, perseverance, and often a lot of moving around from company to company. The typical path is to start out as a production artist or entry-level designer, and with experience move into a senior designer or associate art director role, then art director, and eventually up to creative director – then perhaps to partner/owner. Some company’s job titles will vary, though, and an entry-level designer may end up with an Art Director title but will still perform entry-level work.”

To get a good start, Ball recommends taking on an internship.

“You get real world experience with projects, priorities, and personalities, all critical areas to long-term success in this field. I’ve been in jobs where I was a part of a large team and in others where I was the single company-wide graphics resource.” He says, “As important as being flexible is being able to unlearn and re-learn, because design and media technology changes so quickly. The designer of the future needs to master not only the current needs, but adapt to the changes in media and in the technical and cultural environments.”

Ball is a strong advocate of AIGA and other professional clubs and resources. “In addition to AIGA, I recommend attending other industry-related events and clubs focusing on design, interactive technology, search engine marketing and optimization, international business, and so on – anything and everything you can do to stay on top of changes and trends in the wide world of international marketing and design. Becoming a member of AIGA has been most helpful to me.” In addition to maintaining an online, searchable archive of award-winning design work, AIGA provides members with AIGA Voice, a design journal with some of the best past and present writers in design, as well as member portfolios and a search engine to locate design professionals based on geographical area or design specialties.

Ball says, in his experience, “New hires are pretty well-equipped in terms of software and design theory, but most are somewhat surprised with the pace of things and that new projects don’t always come wrapped up nicely with a detailed brief and crystal

GRAPHIC DESIGN AND PRE-PRESS TECHNOLOGY CAREERS

clear requirements and objectives. Newly hired designers can prove their value quickly by being able to move efficiently and accurately through the project maze and exceed client expectations.”

If your taste and talents lie more in the direction of electronic or multimedia design, you may find yourself creating film and TV titles or credits, TV graphics, video games, computer motion graphics, animation, website design, and interactive media. Your employer might be a local or national TV station, a film studio, motion picture production houses, computer systems design firm, internet media company, or an online publisher or retailer. Some of the most lucrative and secure jobs are with government agencies, universities and colleges, and nonprofit organizations.

If you feel drawn to the world of commercial or advertising art and design, you should first be sure you understand what you’re letting yourself in for in terms of work duties. The short version is graphic designers research, plan, analyze, and create visual solutions to communications

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problems, sometimes on their own and sometimes as part of a team including copy writers, other designers, and a client account representative. Very often in a pressurepacked environment and working simultaneously on several projects or campaigns in varying states of completion, you will use a wide variety of print, electronic, and film media and technologies (chosen by your employers and usually not as up-to-date as the ones you trained on) to execute designs that meet your clients’ communication needs. This may entail developing promotional displays, marketing brochures, logos, 2D and 3D signage systems, and websites.

Graphic designers’ duties are as varied as the types of advertising and information they produce and the different platforms and other tools they use. Work schedules, especially for middle- to higher-level employees, tend to be somewhat more relaxed than for other types of “white collar” workers. Creative people who employ other creative people tend to see the benefits of providing a looser, more unconventional work environment, including relatively flexible working schedules. Professionals in this broad field, however, must be disciplined enough to do for themselves, whether or not these activities and attitudes are required by their employers.

Profile: Stacie Buterbaugh, Art Director Stacie Buterbaugh is a classic example of the motivated young artist who is turning an Associate of Applied Arts degree into a career in graphic design.

“Growing up I always had an interest in art,” Buterbaugh recalls.

“It was a passion of mine that I pursued both in and out of school.

As I was finishing high school, I knew a career in art was something I wanted to pursue. However, since there are not a lot of fine artists making a living these days, I realized I would have to go to college for a degree that would be practical. When I came across TSTC in

GRAPHIC DESIGN AND PRE-PRESS TECHNOLOGY CAREERS

Waco and the Advertising Design and Printing Technology (now Graphic Design & Advertising) program, I decided I could not only feed my inner artist but also transition myself into a career as a professional designer.”

Buterbaugh loved her time at TSTC. She feels the Advertising Design and Printing Technology program did a wonderful job in helping her to prepare for her career. “During my time at TSTC, I completed quite a few internships,” she says, “beginning my second semester and continuing on after graduation. My first one was with TSTC Publishing, and it was during those two semesters I was able to make the connections between learning the Adobe programs and applying them to real, paying projects.” She then moved on to an internship with TSTC’s Marketing and Communications department, where she helped to produce the student newspaper and assisted in creating materials for the College’s 2008 New Student Orientation events. “The internship with the student newspaper really put my designing abilities to the test,” she says. “After all, the entire student body would be able to see my design work month after month!”

Buterbaugh’s final internship was with Waco-based WRS Group, Ltd., described on its website as “a nationwide leader in health and childbirth education as well as promotional products.” Its offerings to Internet and catalog sales customers worldwide include “diverse products and services that cover nutrition, exercise, tobacco, alcohol, drugs, HIV/AIDS, STDs, patient care, anatomy, pregnancy, and many other subjects.”

“At WRS, I was placed in a professional work atmosphere and worked as a design intern for the art director. This experience in particular taught me attention to detail.” All of her interning experiences, along with the classroom and lab instruction at TSTC, prepared her for her future as a busy freelance designer. She was already busy with freelance designing projects prior to her graduation in January of 2009 and found her full-time position the following September.

As Graphic Designer for the Waco office of 360 Solutions, a high-profile international provider of employee training and

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business consulting services, Buterbaugh says she learned that “different target markets respond better to different things. The most challenging thing is developing innovative concepts quickly. I’ve learned a lot of new techniques and tools from other designers about the programs I’ve been using since college, but it never stops, and you really have to be quick on your feet.”

When asked her advice for advertising design students or new employees, Buterbaugh has plenty of ideas. “I recommend taking as many computer classes you can so you can really get a feel for using different operating systems. When you start learning the design programs in college, it can be overwhelming and requires a lot of time and concentration. If you’re still trying to learn how to navigate through your operating system, it makes things much more difficult.”

She advises students to strive for excellence at all times. “I would advise interested students to go beyond expectation. Design is competitive, so challenge yourself at all times. Try to be innovative.

Do not pass any opportunity big or small, because you never know who you’re going to meet or where it may lead you.”

“The skills new hires most often lack are related to experience,” she believes. “Of course everyone has to start somewhere, but being able to list a few internships on your résumé shows employers you’re dependable, that you know how to work as a designer in a professional setting.” On her own journey so far, Buterbaugh has noticed “More and more students are working their way through college. It’s hard enough to earn enough to support yourself while being a full-time student, let alone taking on another twenty hours a week for an internship. It can be done, though, and the ones who can do all that seem to have the better chance of getting hired because of the experience they have.”

Buterbaugh says the learning process never ends, and it is important to remain in the know about the field. “I always try to learn one new thing a day about design. I also try to see what’s going on in the industry. There are all types of design, some you’ve never even dreamed of, and trends are changing every day. It’s good

GRAPHIC DESIGN AND PRE-PRESS TECHNOLOGY CAREERS

to see how your designs look compared with others. It’s important to network with other designers, bounce ideas off each other, then go back and try something different with your layouts. Sometimes to see where you are in your development, you have to take one step back before you can take two steps forward.”

Approximately 30 percent of graphic designers are self-employed. Freelance designers must not only develop effective networking, sales, and self-educational abilities and strategies, but also develop strong work habits, high levels of professional ethics and honesty, excellent understanding of copyright and “fair use” guidelines, and a determination to work within an iron-clad budget.

Professionals in graphic communications understand, no matter how much experience or education they have, they must be prepared to take an entry-level job and work their way up in the company. This is especially true if you are entering a new market or a larger company. Even if you are hired as an art director, you’ll be expected to prove yourself by hitting the ground running. Make sure your product and project portfolio is always up-to-date. If your most recent showcase materials are more than a year old, replace them with something new and dynamic.

Develop a tough skin. Designers in any medium and any sized company or market must be able to tolerate and learn from criticism of their work and guidance from supervisors, directors, and clients. The objective is always to create a product that meets your employer’s or client’s expectations and needs. Every experienced designer can tell you plenty of stories about the designs they loved and were convinced would win every regional award, but then were reviewed by the customer with a shrug and an unimpressed “what else have you got?” Designers mitigate this by understanding the customer’s product, the target audience, and the medium by which the message is to be communicated.

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Make sure you have a good foundation in communications theory, as well. The most creative, imaginative, and memorable work you come up with must still be able to solve the customer’s problem – meeting the sales quota, establishing brand, or changing the public’s mind about the product.

Make sure you have developed and fine-tuned your interpersonal and organizational skills. You may find yourself on a team or project working with a number of other creative, unorthodox, and sometimes temperamental individuals. Develop a positive attitude and a give-and-take relationship with your team. Ask for advice when you need it, and accept advice or criticism constructively. Always keep your boss or supervisor informed about your progress, decisions, and problems.

Subscribe to and read graphic communication materials such as trade journals and magazines, online blogs, and news sites. Join professional design organizations such as the AIGA and Print Industries of America (PIA). As soon as they become available, find out all you can about updates or upgrades in your computer hardware or design software. Make sure you’re familiar with the design programs you don’t use on a regular basis. Scour blogs, newsletters, and developers’ sites for tips, shortcuts, new techniques, and features. Make sure to stay abreast of new developments in your field, such as “green” design, open-source tools and information databases, and the intricacies of working with interactive web designs and customer information tracking.

Finally, the finest graphic designers know they must keep track of current social, political, and cultural trends and events. In most cases, your employer or clients will expect you not only to stay on top of current trends, but also to produce some cutting-edge work for them yourself. Develop good research skills; be curious and knowledgeable about the whole world, not just the world of advertising, web design, or design software.

GRAPHIC DESIGN AND PRE-PRESS TECHNOLOGY CAREERS

Pre-Press Technology The range of duties for pre-press technicians vary according to the job title and associated responsibilities.

The Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) provides an extensive overview of the jobs a pre-press technician can expect to carry out. For instance, preight technicians take the information sent from the customer, such as the graphics of a direct mail piece or text of a manuscript, and verify everything is complete, including whether there seem to be any omitted elements or if the speciďŹ cations are not quite right. Technicians then produce a printed proof to send to their clients to verify everything is correct before beginning to print; sometimes an electronic proof is all that is needed,

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and other times the proof is a hard copy. Once everything is approved, the technicians use laser imagesetters to imprint the digital images onto thin, metal printing plates or upload everything directly to the digital press.

Technicians are expected to have strong communication skills and be able to troubleshoot, in a professional manner, any problems that may arise with clients. As the field turns more digital, technicians must have strong computer skills and be willing and able to keep up-to-date with any software and equipment updates. A good eye for color is also necessary, as it helps technicians spot mistakes and fix potential problems in a print run.

Profile: Kevin B. Cassis, Printing Company President Printing runs in Kevin B. Cassis’ family, which he believes may explain his life-long interest in printing. “I recalled talking to my grandfather on his ninety-fourth birthday, not long after I had been transferred to work on a printing plant acquisition in Cleveland, Ohio. He told me how ironic it was that I was now just ninety miles from where his father had owned a printing plant, where he also worked as a child. I was never aware my grandfather or great grandfather had ever worked in the printing industry! Since my father worked as a pressman as a young adult, and later finished his career as a printing sales representative, I realized I was a fourth generation printer and was destined for a career in printing, whether I knew it or not.”

Cassis has been in the printing industry for nearly three decades, working his way up from an apprentice equipment operator to department management to ownership of a printing company. In 1999, despite growing up and establishing his career in the eastern United States, Cassis decided to move to Austin, Texas, joining The Whitley Company, one of the oldest printing firms in central Texas.

After acquiring Whitley in 2006, he decided an older company in a mature and competitive industry needed to diversify, which led him into a partnership with noted higher-education marketer Dennis Whelan to form The Whelan Group, now TWG Plus. The

GRAPHIC DESIGN AND PRE-PRESS TECHNOLOGY CAREERS

company focuses on providing research, branding, creative design, copy writing, photography, interactive products, web development, email and direct mail, text messages, and production of marketing publications for student recruiting and admissions offices at small private colleges and universities.

As an established “old hand” in the printing industry, Cassis knows all about the industry-wide shift from paper-based communication to electronic dissemination of news and information.

“I see a compliment of the two, in cross-channel marketing efforts,” he says. “We have actually increased the value and use of direct mail by providing website ‘destinations’ for customers to use as their way of responding to our direct mail pieces. That permits us to track our marketing activity through the use of micro sites and landing pages.

We also supplement direct mail pieces with follow up emails to reach non-responders and have also provided text messaging as a response method.”

Cassis’ production and development teams use Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, and Dreamweaver. Programming is done in PHP (Hypertext Pre-processor, a widely used, general-purpose scripting language originally designed for web development) and Ruby on Rails (an open source framework for the Ruby programming language, which allows the rapid deployment of websites by utilizing templates and reuse of application pieces), as well as more recognizable tools like Flash and HTML. “Today it’s just as important to understand how clients use marketing materials or technology as it is to know how to produce it,” Cassis declares. “A thorough understanding of marketing and how to use it most effectively makes you more valuable to the client than just another service provider.” To excel in the advertising design and marketing industry, he adds, you need to offer something more than your competition offers. Most companies focus solely on providing quality print or creative services, without regard to the outcome or results of their services. The outcome is the most important thing.

“The economic challenges of the past two years have created an environment in which printers are cutting prices to win or retain

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client relationships, instead of adding value to the relationships.

Drastic price cuts have caused consumers to think of print as a commodity, so they’re less likely to choose between printing providers based on the different levels of quality or service they provide. The damage to the industry has been so severe that few printers will ever be able to make a respectable profit again without adding value in other ways, like increasing their services to include upstream or downstream services.” (By upstream services, Cassis is referring to helping customers with project coordination and resource location prior to printing; by downstream services he means activities related to moving the already printed materials to their intended recipients and then evaluating results which can direct subsequent actions.) “If a large-scale printing customer can get more or all of a process from one vendor,” he concludes, “they find that preferable to maintaining multiple vendor relationships.”

Pre-press technicians typically work in clean, safe environments with little noise. They usually maintain eighthour work days, and those employed by newspapers may work nights. If print jobs are behind schedule, they may be required to come in holidays and weekends.

Conclusion Graphic designers and pre-press technicians work with countless industries and on a wide array of projects. As a result, it is to your advantage to research the field thoroughly, not only to learn about career or ongoing educational options, but also to know as much as possible about various companies’ teams, products, services, and methods. Take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way to attend trade shows, conferences, seminars, and formal or short-term classes or courses. Do all you can to stay ahead of the game.

INDEX

Index A abbreviations, commonly used, v-vi Albee, Michael (freelance graphic designer), 2-4 American Advertising Federation (AAF), 40 Associate of Applied Science Degree, 43-47 associations (professional). See online resources

B bachelor’s degree in art, fine arts, or science, 47, 49-60 Ball, Jimmy (art director), profile, 19-21 benefits. See salary and benefits branding, 7, 9 Brown, James (lead graphic designer) profile, 7-8 Buterbaugh, Stacie (art director), 22-25

C Cassis, Kevin B. (printing company president), 28-30 certificates, technical. See technical certificates Coates, Nan (screen-printing business owner), 32-35 College of Southern Idaho. See sample degree plans colleges and universities Alabama, 68-69 Arizona, 69-71 Arkansas, 71-72 California, 72-80 Colorado, 80-82 Connecticut, 82-83 Delaware, 83 District of Columbia (D.C.), 84 Florida, 84-87 Georgia, 88-89 Hawaii, 89-90

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Idaho, 90 Illinois, 91-94 Indiana, 94-95 Iowa, 95-98 Kansas, 98-101 Kentucky, 101 Louisiana, 102-103 Maine, 103 Maryland, 103-106 Massachusetts, 106-109 Michigan, 109-113 Minnesota, 114-115 Mississippi, 115-117 Missouri, 117-119 Montana, 119 Nebraska, 119-120 Nevada, 121 New Hampshire, 121-122 New Jersey, 122-125 New Mexico, 125-126 New York, 126-130 North Carolina, 130-134 North Dakota, 134 Ohio, 134-137 Oklahoma, 137-138 Oregon, 139-140 Pennsylvania, 140-145 Rhode Island, 145 South Carolina, 145-146 South Dakota, 146 Tennessee, 147-148 Texas, 148-152 Utah, 152-154 Vermont, 154 Virginia, 154-156 Washington, 156-159 West Virginia, 159-161 Wisconsin, 161-163 Wyoming, 163

INDEX

D-E degree programs, 37-38 design trade publications, 171-174 education Associate of Applied Science Degree, 43-47 bachelor’s degrees, 47-60 colleges and universities, 68-163 Master of Fine Arts, 61-62, 64-65 technical certificates, 38, 40-43 employment outlook graphic design, 11-14 pre-press technology, 14-18

F financial aid & scholarships, 178-179 Franklin, Benjamin, 6-7 freelance designers, 12-13, 25, 34

G graphic design annual wages, 12-13 employment outlook, 11-17 entry-level salaries, 12 history of, 5-7, 9 work duties and schedules, 2, 18-26 See also employment outlook Gutenberg, Johannes, 9

H-I-M Hoe, Richard M. (inventor), 11 internships, benefits of, 23 Master of Fine Arts. See education

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O online resources blogs and resources, 164-169 ďŹ nancial aid and scholarships, 178-179 professional organizations, 174-178 trade publications (advertising), 169-171 trade publications (design), 171-173 trade publications (printing), 173-174

P Parker, Marjorie (production coordinator), 62-63 Pollei, Patrick (graphic designer), 39-40 pre-press technology average earnings, 15-18 future employment projections, 14-15 history of printing, 9-11 range of duties, 27-28 state of the industry, 29-30 training required, 36-37 professional organizations, 174-178 proďŹ les of graphic design professionals James Brown (lead graphic designer), 7-8 Jimmy Ball (art director), 19-21 Kevin B. Cassis (printing company president), 28-30 Marjorie Parker (production coordinator), 62-63 Michael Albee (freelance graphic designer), 2-4 Nan Coates (screen-printing business owner), 32-35 Patrick Pollei (graphic designer), 39-40 Shawna Williams (graphic design business owner), 48-49 Stacie Buterbaugh (art director), 22-25 publications. See online resources

INDEX

S salary and benefits. See under graphic design; pre-press technology sample degree plans Associate of Applied Science TSTC Waco (Graphic Design & Printing), 44-45 TSTC Waco (Printing Specialization), 46-47 bachelor’s degrees Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University, 58-60 Kent State University, 55-56 University of Arkansas, 52-54 Master of Fine Arts University of Baltimore, 64-65 technical certificates College of Southern Idaho, 43 Wayne County Community College, 42

T technical certificates, 38, 39-43 trade publications. See online resources

W work schedules, 18, 22, 49

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TECHCAREERS: GRAPHIC DESIGN

About the Author Mike Jones Mike Jones is a freelance writer based in Waco, Texas.

He is a transplant from New Mexico, where he graduated from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque with training in writing for theatre and broadcast media. He worked extensively in the broadcasting, advertising and marketing ďŹ elds before moving to Texas to work as a writer/ producer of instructional and student recruitment videos for Texas State Technical College. More recently, he has been involved in technical instructional curriculum research and development, as well as freelance media writing and production.

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Publishing Established in 2004, TSTC Publishing is a provider of high-end technical instructional materials and related information to institutions of higher education and private industry. “High end� refers simultaneously to the information delivered, the various delivery formats of that information, and the marketing of materials produced. More information about the products and services offered by TSTC Publishing may be found at its website: publishing.tstc.edu.

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TECHCAREERS: GRAPHIC DESIGN

TechCareers Series TSTC Publishing launched the TechCareers series with Biomedical Equipment Technicians in 2008. TSTC Emerging Technologies initially underwrote the series, created to inform the public about existing technologies and those to come.

Emerging Technologies also provided funding for 500 copies of each book in the series to be distributed throughout Texas to high school career and technical education counselors. In addition to Biomedical Equipment Technicians, the series includes Automotive Technicians, Wind Energy, Avionics, and Computer Gaming Programmers and Artists. Forthcoming titles include: Aviation Maintenance, Aviation Pilots, and Radiation Protection Technology. For information about Emerging Technologies, go to www.forecasting.tstc.edu.

Every TechCareers book features: • Detailed overviews of career pathways, skill sets, and educational requirements • Profiles of professionals, experts, employers, current students, and instructors • Program listings, sample degree plans, and additional industry resources • Salary ranges and benefits

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TechCareers: Wind Energy

By Mike Jones

$14.95 Softback ISBN 978-1-934302-55-2 $9.99 Ebook ISBN 978-1-936603-02-2 1st edition August 2010 Kindle edition available at Amazon.com

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With increasing demand for wind power, there is already a pressing need for wind technicians to maintain the wind turbines.

-TechCareers: Wind Energy

TechCareers: Wind Energy describes the current wind energy market and the explosive growth of the energy field. Due to current interest in green energy, wind energy is now becoming a popular energy source in countries across the world. Increased demand for expert wind energy professionals is expected to continue. This book describes the jobs needed to support this growing career field and the education and necessary skills for success.

TECHCAREERS: GRAPHIC DESIGN

TechCareers: Avionics

By Helen Ginger

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$14.95 Softback ISBN 978-1-934302-47-7 1st edition October 2009

If you’re just beginning to think about this field and a career in avionics, now is the opportune time to begin your training … the good news for those now considering this field is that the super techs are reaching retirement age, creating a job gap and a wide open door for new techs to step through.

-TechCareers: Avionics

TechCareers: Avionics gives a clear description of the growing need for avionics technicians. Avionics deals with the maintenance and repair of all flight instruments, including flight control, weather radar, and missile control. With many of the current avionics technicians reaching retirement, airlines will be looking for new techs to take their places. Featuring necessary information about job opportunities, training, and educational requirements, TechCareers: Avionics is a valuable tool for prospective students entering the field.

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