Some tips of the trade on graphic design school scholarships Everyone has received tips on how to do something faster or better.
In this two-part series we’ll present some advice on the topic of scholarships and grants for graphic design college and how to avoid some of the red tape and pitfalls associated with scholarship applications.
1. Apply locally There are literally millions of dollars in scholarship money available to those who are diligent, talented or in need of financial assistance. But keep in mind that national scholarship contests or grants are highly competitive.
You can still apply but expect a wide field of other applicants vying for the same resources.
However, another way to approach this situation is to apply for local scholarships at graphic design schools or various other organizations in your city or state.
While there will still be competition for local scholarships, the number of applicants to these programs will be substantially smaller and will give you better odds of being noticed.
2. Avoid paying for scholarship or grant informationservices Scholarship information is always free. But there are new companies cropping up on the Internet that promise to fill out all the paperwork out for you.
Several companies offer assistance (for a fee) in applying for FAFSA (Free Application for Student Aid) from the government or other scholarship programs; steer clear of these scams.
Are these companies legitimate? Would you pay another person to go to the library to find certain books for you? Probably not, and neither should you pay companies to do the legwork for you in seeking out scholarships and filling out applications.
Applying for a scholarship is serious business and leaving your future to a company where there is no oversight on what it is doing for you is wasted money, and most likely a confidence swindle.
Graphic design school scholarships and financial aid Getting the education you need to qualify for jobs in graphic design may be an important door opener for your career. Many entry level positions require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree and proper training in graphic design principles is a must.
Graphic design college expenses can be offset in part by scholarships or grants. These are provided by government agencies, colleges, and private firms. Be sure to look into these for possible assistance.
Next time… We’ll tell you about an industrious and persistent student who was able to pay for his entire college education through scholarships. We’ll also cover some of the things you should avoid when applying for scholarship money and grants.
The melancholy and choleric personalities In parts one and two of Graphic Designer Personalities: What Type Are You, we presented the sanguine and phlegmatic personality temperaments.
While Samantha Sanguine is characterized as a bubbly and extremely sociable animal that loves attention and excels in telling stories and enjoying life, Phil Phlegmatic, by contrast, is subdued, even tempered, and non-excitable.
In part three we conclude this series with the choleric and melancholy and we’ll see how these personality types behave in their roles of a graphic designer. . Curt Choleric: A study in motion and work ethics If you have a choleric personality you are driven by being productive, meeting deadlines and possess a “take no prisoners” attitude towards project goals and work.
People who are choleric are typically described by others as natural leaders, highly organized, workaholics, driven, stubborn, bossy, and domineering.
If you are a graphic designer who has a choleric personality, you are known as someone who can always meet closing dates and will work around the clock in order to complete a project.
But at the same time, you are known for being argumentative and impatient with those who cannot keep up with you.
Choleric graphic designers can be great leads in projects because they are motivated to meet their goals at almost any expense. But this is sometimes to the detriment of other coworkers who get in their way.
Some of the personality attributes of cholerics are:
* Strong leadership abilities * Self righteous * Highly organized * Self sufficient * High work ethics * Goal oriented * Direct and blunt * Bossy * Impatient * Strongly opinionated * Insensitive to others feelings
Meet Matt Melancholy If there is one trait that describes the melancholy personality best, it would be “thinker.” They have a high degree of intellect and will usually be the first to point out the flaws in a design proposal.
Melancholy graphic designers are seen as either realists or pessimists–very talented, serious, logical perfectionists. Mr. Spock of Star Trek could have been the poster child for melancholy personalities.
The melancholy tends to be withdrawn but can fully appreciate the aesthetic qualities in design. They have a deep sense of what it takes to create visually inspired graphics.
Because they are perfectionists, melancholy personality types can get mired in details that they cannot let go of.
Everything they create must be flawless and as a result, work-flow can sometimes suffer.
Melancholy individuals exhibit these personality traits:
Now What? After investigating the four personality types (sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric, and melancholy) it should be pointed out that no one is typically 100 percent of any type but actually a combination of all four.
Usually one or two traits are prominent with the others acting in a lesser role. Understanding which personality type you are, as well as those of others, may help you to work better as a graphic designer and with your colleagues.
Graphic design schools and the real world Standard college courses usually deal with theory and facts. But at a graphic design school you’ll have hands-on creative sessions that can help you prepare for future career positions.
Graphic design colleges provide you with many opportunities to interact with your clients (teachers) and your coworkers (other students) which can be translated into the real world of graphic design.
You will experience the pressures of meeting deadlines and producing professional quality graphics.
To find out more about a career in graphic design, visit your local graphic design college or visit one online.
The workplace zoo Anyone who has worked as a graphic designer or in a job that requires creativity knows how difficult it can sometimes be when working under tight deadlines.
During these times you’ll notice how certain individuals, and even yourself, react under pressure. It is during these occasions that personality traits, some negative and some positive, rise to the surface for all to see.
In What Type of Graphic Designer Are You? Part I we’ll explore four personality categories. These will act as an informal knowledge base to help you understand yourself and others in the workplace better. . It’s Greek to me The Four Temperaments or Four Personality Groups (Phlegmatic, Choleric, Melancholy, and Sanguine) was developed by Hippocrates and Plato in their efforts to understand human nature and personalities.
According to the Four Temperaments scenario people’s personalities are made up of a combination of the four basic traits-with one or two being the most prominent.
Variations of these original concepts have been updated by various psychologists and authors but at the heart of them all lay many of the ideas proposed by the two Greek luminaries of medicine and philosophy.
The Phlegmatic: slow and steady Is there someone at your workplace that seems to remain cool and calm in spite of the world crashing down all around everyone? Does this individual seem to get along with just about anyone?
Do these people procrastinate on their projects while making witty and humorous remarks about the situation? Are these people sometimes stubborn and obstinate?
Does it seem as if these people are almost like Mr. Spock of Star Trek; they show very little variance of emotion or excitability?
If you answered yes to most of these questions you have just met the phlegmatic personality.
Here is a short list of the strengths and weaknesses of Mr. or Ms. Phlegmatic:
* Low key personality * Easy going * Relaxed * Patient * Competent and steady * Quiet and witty * Sympathetic and kind * Gets along with everyone * Finds the easiest way to get the job done * Likes routine; avoids change * Indecisive * Avoids leadership * Self-doubt * Avoids conflict * Resents being pushed * Procrastinates
Understanding what motivates Mr. or Ms. phlegmatic can help you to get along better with these reliable and sometimes obstinate people. They are the people that will work the best under pressure so be glad that they are there!
Graphic design school and design principles No matter what personality type you fall under, the need for a good education in graphic design is important in qualifying for various career opportunities.
If you are thinking about branching out into other graphic design fields such as web design, animation, multimedia or other avenues, a qualified graphic design college can help.
Next time… Our next personality will be Mr. or Ms. Sanguine. You’ll recognize these individuals by their affinity for telling stories and jokes, being the first one to say “Hi!” to everyone and their generally happy mood.
But they are also known for speaking before they think and being unproductive and emotional. Find out more next week about this coworker.
Lights, Camera, Action! Life Just Is, an independent feature film that completed shooting this November and is now in post production. The film is about four recent university student graduates and their struggles to adapt to the “real world.”
The Life Just Is - Poster Design Competition is seeking entries from design students and college graduates that can interpret the spirit of the film and be used as a vehicle to promote it.
After you have been approved you will be notified by email and will be provided a link to specific marketing images, information about the film, and other pertinent details for use in the creation of your poster design.
Judging and Prizes The poster designs will be available on the film’s Facebook page where individuals may vote for their favorite poster. The top three posters from the highest vote counts plus a top three list by a panel of judges will be used to select the winner.
There are no cash awards for this contest, however the winning entry will be used “…for marketing the film and potentially for the DVD cover. The [artist] will be credited for their design.”
For those who want to beef up their resume/CV this is a great opportunity to add more credentials to your list of accomplishments.
Contest Links and Additional Information The following links will provide more details about the contest and movie:
There’s No Place Like GNOME Yes, that was an incredibly bad pun but as they say, it was too good to pass up. Aside from the pun, there is a graphic design competition that may appeal to your artistic senses; the Gnome T-shirt Design Contest.
The Gnome Foundation is a non-profit organization that is responsible for GNOME, a computing platform for use in the development of free software applications.
The sponsors (zazzle.com) of the GNOME T-shirt contest want your design ideas for a t-shirt that will celebrate the release of GNOME 3.0, (GNU Network Object Model Environment). . Contest Details You may only submit one entry to this contest. Be sure to visit zazzle.com to see the different t-shirt styles and colors in order to gauge how you design will look on the final product.
Submit your designs as an SVG file or compressed file.
Judging and Prizes Three winners will be selected by a contest jury comprised of GNOME Project experts. According to the contest rules the prizes will be:
* First Place: $100 USD and two t-shirts with your winning design. * Second Place: $50 USD and one t-shirt with your winning design. * Third Place: One t-shirt with your winning design.
Other Information and Contest Links The deadline for entries is January 15, 2011. This contest has no entry fees. All designs for this t-shirt contest must be in English.
Follow these links for additional contest information:
Why Are You a Graphic Designer? Or the question could also be “Why do you want to be a graphic designer?” Although these questions seem to be somewhat simplistic it is an important step in determining if you have what it takes to become one.
But let’s take this a few steps beyond; you may have what it takes to become a successful graphic designer but will you be a fulfilled and happy graphic designer?
Learning from the Best In this series we’ll draw from the insights of designers not only in graphic design but other fields outside the scope of the liberal arts.
Hopefully we’ll be able to glean some sage wisdom from their experiences in the real world of design.
Some of their statements will ring unusually true with us because they are based upon situations that we have either experienced or seen.
But in the long run this series will try to provide solace and wisdom to designers who “put it out there” every day for the love of designing and not necessarily the money.
Failure: The Consequences
“The essential part of creativity is not being afraid to fail.”
–Edwin H. Land
Edwin Land was the inventor and designer of the Polaroid Instant Camera. His invention enabled people to take photographs and have a developed print in hand in less than 60 seconds.
Land’s work ethic was legendary as he would often forget to eat, change his clothes or take needed rest breaks because he was so intent on his research and development.
He would literally wear out his assistants with his incredible focus and energy. To keep up with his marathon work schedule he assigned different teams to assist him. When one team was exhausted, the next team would come in and so on.
Dr. Land understood that failure can either stop you dead in your tracts or afford valuable information and experience on how to improve and find a solution to a problem.
He opted for the later and the result of his efforts was the Instant Camera.
Creativity and Rejection If you are in the creative arts you can probably identify with how failure or rejection can sometimes sting.
But as Edwin Land discovered, failure is sometimes the prerequisite for continued creativity and growth.
Coping with rejection and failure is easier said than done but if we can catch a glimpse of what Edward Land saw in being unafraid of failure; we can keep our creativity alive and well.
First Things First: Graphic Design School The saying goes that you can’t run before you learn to walk. Design is similar; you can’t design before you have the tools. Graphic design colleges can help you to understand design principles and techniques.
Graphic design schools can polish up your raw talent and point you in the right direction for a design career so check with your local graphic design college for its course curriculum and classes.
Next Time… If you are a graphic designer or manager and need your staff or coworkers to help you accomplish a task, have you ever wondered what the best way to motivate them is?
Find out next week in part two of Graphic Design for Love or Money. You may be surprised.
Everyone has received tips on how to do something faster or better.
2. Avoid paying for scholarship or grant information services
Getting the education you need to qualify for jobs in graphic design may be an important door opener for your career. Many entry level positions require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree and proper training in graphic design principles is a must.
The melancholy and choleric personalities
If you have a 
Meet Matt Melancholy
Graphic design schools and the real world
The workplace zoo
It’s Greek to me
Graphic design school and design principles
Lights, Camera, Action!
Judging and Prizes
There’s No Place Like GNOME
Judging and Prizes
Other Information and Contest Links
Why Are You a Graphic Designer?
Learning from the Best
Creativity and Rejection
First Things First: Graphic Design School