Art Degree - career start or 3 years out of your life?
Discussion
Depends on the field. Art Degree is a broad term, it can encompass fashion, fine arts, photography, graphics.
I did a Graphic Design degree. Almost all my Uni friends are employed throughout the UK within the industry raging from web to magazine work and logo design.
Due to family circumstances (I was a mature student with kids) I didn't go into employment after completing the degree but I do work occasionally as an Art Technician in a local school organising their exhibitions etc.
I did a Graphic Design degree. Almost all my Uni friends are employed throughout the UK within the industry raging from web to magazine work and logo design.
Due to family circumstances (I was a mature student with kids) I didn't go into employment after completing the degree but I do work occasionally as an Art Technician in a local school organising their exhibitions etc.
Most art graduates I know do one thing.... teach art.
I always thought things like a degree in fine art or a degree in photography were mostly useless. I mean you're either good with a brush or your aren't or you just have the eye for photography or you don't. But its a little less straightforward than that, as usual.
One of the best artists I know is actually an engineer I studied with. The art was his hobby. Art is subjective I know, but his stuff could have been hung on the wall with the rest of the art grads and you wouldn't know. One the best photographers I know studied Spanish and now some how works for Tesla!
However...
Another arty person I know does actually get paid to do art installations. They're not my cuppa like; you could hand anyone a brush and do what she does and if you can fly a kite into a green house full of paint then you've got her sculpture work down too. Still, people with lots of money do like to spend it on weird things and if they want to pay her to make a room look like some decorators had a bun fight then, sweet!
I myself studied engineering right up to PhD level, but I like photography. Just learning and doing it as a hobby has netted me a few gigs, some of them paid. Yet I have no "formal" training such as a photography degree. Someone just decided that I seem to know how to wield a camera and they liked how my pictures looked so I got asked to do the work!
I always thought things like a degree in fine art or a degree in photography were mostly useless. I mean you're either good with a brush or your aren't or you just have the eye for photography or you don't. But its a little less straightforward than that, as usual.
One of the best artists I know is actually an engineer I studied with. The art was his hobby. Art is subjective I know, but his stuff could have been hung on the wall with the rest of the art grads and you wouldn't know. One the best photographers I know studied Spanish and now some how works for Tesla!
However...
Another arty person I know does actually get paid to do art installations. They're not my cuppa like; you could hand anyone a brush and do what she does and if you can fly a kite into a green house full of paint then you've got her sculpture work down too. Still, people with lots of money do like to spend it on weird things and if they want to pay her to make a room look like some decorators had a bun fight then, sweet!
I myself studied engineering right up to PhD level, but I like photography. Just learning and doing it as a hobby has netted me a few gigs, some of them paid. Yet I have no "formal" training such as a photography degree. Someone just decided that I seem to know how to wield a camera and they liked how my pictures looked so I got asked to do the work!
SistersofPercy said:
Depends on the field. Art Degree is a broad term, it can encompass fashion, fine arts, photography, graphics.
I did a Graphic Design degree. Almost all my Uni friends are employed throughout the UK within the industry raging from web to magazine work and logo design.
Due to family circumstances (I was a mature student with kids) I didn't go into employment after completing the degree but I do work occasionally as an Art Technician in a local school organising their exhibitions etc.
Graphics and Industrial Design is something that should be mixed more with some of the engineering degrees at uni. There is too much of a disconnect IMO. You end up with some fantastic but totally fanciful designs that would be impossible to make or difficult to make and be reliable/strong enough from the ID guys and you end up with bland functional boxes from the engineers. For some reason they end up being completely unconcerned about aesthetics.I did a Graphic Design degree. Almost all my Uni friends are employed throughout the UK within the industry raging from web to magazine work and logo design.
Due to family circumstances (I was a mature student with kids) I didn't go into employment after completing the degree but I do work occasionally as an Art Technician in a local school organising their exhibitions etc.
You only have to look at Apple to see how successful the merging of engineering and industrial design can be.
Otispunkmeyer said:
Graphics and Industrial Design is something that should be mixed more with some of the engineering degrees at uni. There is too much of a disconnect IMO. You end up with some fantastic but totally fanciful designs that would be impossible to make or difficult to make and be reliable/strong enough from the ID guys and you end up with bland functional boxes from the engineers. For some reason they end up being completely unconcerned about aesthetics.
You only have to look at Apple to see how successful the merging of engineering and industrial design can be.
People with the aptitude for both are rare. Rarer, I would say, than you would expect if possession of the two attributes were random and unrelated.You only have to look at Apple to see how successful the merging of engineering and industrial design can be.
My Art Degree was 4 years. A month after I graduated, I cut my hair, bought a suit and walked into a financial advice job. It was much more important that I had a Degree rather than the subject.
Studying Art gave me a good appreciation of critical thinking and being able to see new opportunities or approaches. Aged 18 I had the choice between studying Business or Art. Many people at time said there is no way to get a 'proper' job with and art background. This is simply not true. I now work in the field of Artificial Intelligence in NYC and am happy with the path I took.
How you apply yourself to life/work and the general decisions you make will become more important than any individual area of study. There are a very successful people without degrees and people who've failed with a first class degree from a top university.
Studying Art gave me a good appreciation of critical thinking and being able to see new opportunities or approaches. Aged 18 I had the choice between studying Business or Art. Many people at time said there is no way to get a 'proper' job with and art background. This is simply not true. I now work in the field of Artificial Intelligence in NYC and am happy with the path I took.
How you apply yourself to life/work and the general decisions you make will become more important than any individual area of study. There are a very successful people without degrees and people who've failed with a first class degree from a top university.
Edited by Olivero on Monday 10th August 17:23
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