Self-Taught Graphic Designer
People often ask me if I went to University to become a Graphic Designer, when I say I didn’t, they say…
Oh, then you’re self-taught?
I never see myself as self-taught, ever. The industry has taught me, the high standards that other designers set teach me, people that have exhausted every design possibility before me shape my thinking and teach me to drive forward and improve.
Self-taught is an odd phrase and I know people only really mean not getting a degree but it still sounds quite odd. When I went into the industry as a teenager I knew very little, I had very basic skills and it was the people around me that shaped my skills as a designer and other designers in the industry that made we want to and have to improve my design skills.
This infographic from the Web Designer Depot explains the subject quite well:
1 Comments August 8, 2014
I certainly would agree with you for Web Design – this does seem a very “self-taught” area. I include myself in that but I did study to be a Graphic Designer. I would say it is more common for a Graphic Designer to be formally trained than a Web Designer. During my Graphic Design training Web Design, as a discipline, was only touched upon – I was left feeling like a knew even less than I did before and I new nothing before about Web Design.
The area of Web Development is also heavily self-taught. Technology moves on so fast that you have to keep learning yourself, you cannot rely on formal methods or your employer providing training. You have to keep yourself ahead of the game.