Five Signs You Should Not Major in Graphic Design

(An adaptation from Peter Vogt’s, “Five Signs you Should Change Your Major”.)

Give yourself a point for each question below you answer ‘yes’ to:

1. You’d rather be surfing Facebook or playing online games during a lecture or presentation or you can’t stop web surfing during class breaks.

Let’s face it, it’s not really the teacher’s lecture that has you so bored because you’re bored our of your mind when doing homework for graphics courses as well. Maybe you’re also having a hard time convincing yourself that you should keep trying to read that textbook or project description? We both know that it’s not that you don’t like to read, but more so that you would rather be reading something else like emails and new posts on your myspace page. It doesn’t have to be this way, you know? You shouldn’t have to try so hard to find something about graphic design that you’re interested in enough to let go of the myspace and dig, really dig, into graphic design on a deeper level. Couldn’t it be that you really don’t like design as much as you’re trying to convince yourself and everyone else you do?

2. You’re doing poorly in your current major courses.

No more excuses. If you really loved design enough you would never have a problem finding the time to take your work beyond minimal expectations for class. It’s not about how much time you have, but how much time you’re willing to spend on the things you love. Any “Cs” on your report card? Well guess what a “C” really means in this industry — someone who only meets minimal expectations — someone who’s unemployable. If you’re not excited enough to stay up late and sacrifice playtime beyond what is being asked of you for assignments, then it’s time you stopped claiming to love design. People who really love design carry things like sketchbooks or cameras around with them just waiting to be inspired by mundane things, are constantly reading up on the topic and spend every bit of spare time perfecting their skills. They’re the ones you try to convince yourself are ‘naturally more talented than you are’ when really all they are is someone who loves design enough to spend the time needed to become GREAT instead of settling for GOOD.

3. You chose your current major because you think it will make you rich one day.

Every designer, art director, creative director in the industry will tell you that being a designer will not make you rich. It takes a certain combination of drive, enthusiasm and sacrifice to get past the entry level pay to getting paid well. Funny thing is that this is true for just about EVERY type of job someone would expect to land just out of college. In many industries this is called, “paying your dues” however, I prefer to call it, “a rite of passage”. Whomever has been telling you all these years that graphic designers get paid well to do “fun” things or worse, they’ve been telling you that getting a degree in graphic design will get you a job in graphic design is sorely mistaken. Degrees don’t get you the job, YOU get you the job. And if you don’t have the strong portfolio, drive, enthusiasm and willingness to sacrifice your time when you’re getting started in the industry your career will go nowhere.

4. You keep reading about other majors of interest and/or think you might be better at something else.

Want to get set on the right foot starting today? Then make sure your school goals are to LEARN and not just to get a degree. No matter what career it is you end up finally choosing, make sure you’re goal is to learn everything you can possibly learn while you have the opportunity and the benefit of someone who is there to mentor you and teach you what it is you need to learn. Although it is the responsibility of a teacher to teach, it is the responsibility of the student to make sure he/she is actually learning. Keep in mind, however, that if you’ve selected a career direction that you aren’t excited about, you will be reluctant to want to learn that content. Oh, and I just can’t resist right now — stop blaming the teacher for your reluctance to learn because that bad habit will get you in a heap of a mess when it comes to one of the most important job skills you could ever hope to have — independent learning beyond what is taught in a classroom.

5. You just can’t stop wondering whether or not you should be majoring in graphic design.

Generally this type of wondering comes from no being satisfied with your reasons for choosing to be a graphic designer. If your reasons aren’t making a whole lot of sense to you, then change your plan and change your major. Choosing a major is an important life decision that brings with it peer pressure and other types of obligatory pressure (such as the desire to finish what you’ve started) that are often not good enough reasons to continue on the wrong path. Make sure you haven’t chosen to be a graphic designer based upon what someone else wants with your life and also make sure you haven’t made your decision based upon your need to satisfy societal or other pressures. As was mentioned before, and really it doesn’t just apply to being a designer — if you’re not excited and happy doing what you’re going to school for, you’re not going to be happy or successful as a professional either.

So nows the time to total up your score. If you have given yourself three points or more, then make up your mind to change your major today. If you’ve given yourself two points, then you will probably want to run your ideas by one of your professors or a career counselor. You might even want to try some soul searching by logging into your atlas account and checking out “My LifeMap” and “My Career Planner” for alternate career options that would best suit your desires and abilities. If you gave yourself one point or no points, don’t go changing your major just yet, it could just be that you’re really close to finding that one thing about graphic design that will have you hooked for life.