Into the Wee Hours of the Night
Many are the gamers who have pulled “all-nighters” in their quest to win their campaigns against the formidable races of the  Zerg, Protoss or Terrans.

To any serious PC gamer, StarCraft represents one of the finest RTS (real-time strategy) game franchises around. The gameplay is simple enough for virtually anyone to understand, while also allowing a surprising amount of depth for advanced players.

If you are a graphic designer or talented artist and are also a fan of StarCraft, you can put your skills to the test in Blizzard’s StarCraft II Poster Contest.

Create a “Propaganda” Poster
The embattled sentient races of the Zerg, Protoss and Terrans need help in creating posters that will help each of their respective military forces to generate local support for their war efforts.

Are you able to design a propaganda poster that can incite a call-to-arms for new recruits and rally the troops? If so, read on soldier!

The Details
Your poster theme should convey a sense of patriotism and support for one of the warring races, instill fear and suspicion of the enemy and gain support for the war against the adversary.

Your ideas need to be based upon Blizzard’s video game StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty^TM.

Submitted entries should be no larger in file size than 5MB. The dimensions of your poster need to be 1024 x 768 in size.

Winner Selection and Prizes
Submitted posters that fulfill all contest guidelines will be displayed on the official contest Web site. The public will have an opportunity to vote for their favorite posters. The entries that receive the highest vote counts will be declared the winners. Eight runner up prizes will also be distributed.

According to the Web site the following prizes will be awarded:

Grand Prize Winner

* One Alienware M11x Laptop
* One Alienware OptX 2310 3D 120Hz LCD monitor
* One NVIDIA® 3D Vision^TM Kit
* One Razer Mamba^TM gaming mouse
* One Razer Sphex^TM gaming grade desktop skin

Second Place Winner

* One Alienware M11x Laptop
* One Razer Mamba^TM gaming mouse
* One Razer Sphex^TM gaming grade desktop skin

Third Place Winner

* One Alienware OptX 2310 3D 120Hz LCD
* One NVIDIA® 3D Vision^TM Kit
* One Razer Mamba^TM gaming mouse
* One (Razer Sphex^TM gaming grade desktop

Runner Up Winners (8)

* One  Razer Mamba^TM gaming mouse
* One  Razer Sphex^TM gaming grade desktop skin

Important Contest Links and Other Information
Go to these Web pages for additional details about this contest:

Official Contest Website
Poster Examples and Ideas
Contest FAQs
Complete Contest Rules and Guidelines

The deadline for this contest is July 8, 2010. There is no entry fee.

Knowledge and Talent and Skills, Oh My!
Showing up to a job interview for a graphic design position is similar to tightrope walking; you have to be balanced if you want to finish successfully.

Talent is important, education from a graphic design school is important, and social skills are important.

However, interviewers also look for other essential qualities in prospective graphic designers that are key additions to the career training they receive from their design center, university or graphic design college.

In part one of this series we’ll go over some of the actual questions hiring managers use and why they ask them during the screening process of  candidates for design job openings.

We’ll also point out a few tips when going to your job interview to give you a leg up on the competition.

Interview the Interviewer
Many job candidates assume that a job interview is a one-way street—the human resources person asks questions and the job seeker answers. True, these are the mechanics of a typical job interview situation, but you should also be proactive in your approach during your session.

Ask questions during your interview to get a grasp of what the graphic design firm is really looking for because the job ad is sometimes only the tip of the iceberg.

Are they looking for someone with strong, specific types of skills such as animation or web design? Do they want someone that can work lots of overtime? How high is the turnover rate at the firm? (This may indicate how well the management treats their employees.)

The idea of asking questions opens up a portal to see what sort of a company you may be working for. Asking questions can place you in a positive light because you are being inquisitive and thoughtful.

Asking questions can also help put your interviewer at ease. Just make sure you don’t go overboard with them.

Not Your Father’s Interview Questions
The job interview has evolved to a great degree over the past several decades. Antiquated questions such as “What can you bring to the company?” and “Why should we hire you?” are queries that evoke stock answers from job candidates.

The interview process now takes into consideration a person’s overall character, creativity, and problem solving skills. Here are some interesting “trick” questions you may hear from your interviewer.

“If you could be any superhero (animal, cartoon character, etc.) who would you be and why?”

This type of question is asked to see how creative you are and how well you can come up with a solution to an unexpected problem or circumstance.

In this case “the problem” is dealing with a question that has nothing to do with your graphic design experience (At least we don’t think so!) It tests your ability to adapt to unexpected change and how you deal with pressure.
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Hiring managers also ask this question to see if you have a good sense of humor—an important quality to have when deadlines change and are moved up.

“Where do you get your inspiration for your designs?”

Or to put it another way, your interviewer is asking what your thought processes and methodologies are when designing a graphic piece.

Some graphic designers are really just technicians; they assemble elements for a project, but fall short in utilizing the inspiration to create interesting graphic designs.

Your interviewer is probing to see if you keep up with the latest design trends, if you are proactive in seeking inspiration through your environment, other designers, and industry developments.

Next Time…
What sorts of technical questions can you expect from your interviewer? Which questions are the toughest to answer?

A successful job interview is like a well-written novel; it has a compelling beginning, a strong plot, and a good ending. Find out more about this in part two of Graphic Design Job Interview Tips and Tricks.

Until then, keep on designing!

A Job That Didn’t Exist Before
Although the word “multimedia” is familiar to virtually everyone who is involved in graphic design, this vitally important job category in industries such as film and computer software did not exist prior to the digital age.

Jack of All Trades?
Multimedia artists bring a wide variety of talent and skills to the table. They have a good knowledge of computers and graphic design software and use their abilities in illustration and drawing  to produce subject matter for animation or flash presentations.

They are able to incorporate various media elements related to print, film or audio to produce original content.

The Job
The soft skills of communication, both written and verbal, are vitally important because of the enormous amount of back-and-forth that occurs between team members, clients, and producers.

If lines of communication fail, the resulting time lost in having to redo a project can be extremely costly.

Many multimedia artists work in advertising, computer software, television, mobile video game companies, and film. They produce animations and special visual effects that are used for commercials, movies, video games and other industries and businesses that need computer generated multimedia.

Businesses rely on multimedia to inform and train staff on company policies, sales methods or as an aid for presenting business reports. Companies also rely on multimedia artists to assist in designing their websites.

Educational software is popular and multimedia artists help to author the various programs that help children or adults in topics such as language, reading or math. The multimedia artist works closely with writers, educators, and art directors.

Career Training and Education
A four-year degree at a university or graphic design school, with an emphasis in multimedia, is usually required to qualify for entry level job positions.

Core classes should include courses related to 3-D imaging techniques, animation production, multimedia theory, and training in cutting edge software programs.

The most popular design software used today includes Maya, Lightwave, Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, and Corel Draw.

Contact your graphic design college, design center or university for course details and program degrees.

The Career Outlook
Jobs for multimedia artists are expected to increase 12 percent from 2008 through 2018. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) states:

“…talented individuals who have developed a mastery of artistic techniques and skills will have the best job prospects. Multimedia artists and animators should have better job opportunities than other artists but still will experience competition.”

The mean annual wage for multimedia artists and animators was $62,810 (BLS — May 2009).

Do You Have What It Takes?
In our previous article, Graphic Design Spotlight: Animators and Animation Part I, we listed several important traits inherent in successful animation professionals.

In the conclusion of this series we’ll see what types of jobs are available for animators, the career outlook for this type of work, and the importance of adapting to quick-changing situations.

Can You Walk and Chew Gum?
This old saying is synonymous with the more recent phrase, “Can you multitask?” Although the term has become a hot buzzword in the past few years, those who are in a position to hire are even more interested in how flexible potential job candidates are.

Virtually every job in graphic design requires a certain amount of flexibility. As an animator, assignments will change during the course of a project, requests come in to help another department or you are asked to do something that isn’t necessarily part of your immediate project goals.

While being flexible isn’t usually mentioned as a desirable trait in the job description of animators, this is an important attribute to have in the pressure cooker world of tight deadlines.

Animation Jobs
During the times preceding the wide use of computer generated graphics, if you were an animator, it meant you were in the cartoon industry.

Today the use of animation has expanded to education, the film industry, video games, advertising, medical instruction, healthcare, television, special visual effects, the Internet, television and of course, animated cartoons and special features.

Receiving the best possible education at a graphic design school or design center can provide you with the needed career training in the animation industry.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics job growth for positions in animation look favorable:

“…Demand for multimedia artists and animators will increase as consumers continue to demand more realistic video games, movie and television special effects, and 3D animated movies.

“Additional job openings will arise from an increasing need for computer graphics in the growing number of mobile technologies. The demand for animators is also increasing in alternative areas such as scientific research and design services…”

Animation Salary Ranges
The salary for animation jobs fluctuates widely due to the type of work done, how high profile the job is, and the years of experience an animator has.

Taking this into consideration the mean annual salary of animators is $62,380 according to May 2008 figures from the BLS.

The top 10% of earners in animation jobs made $48.27 per hour in 2008–an annual wage of $100,390.

Are You Ready?
Recent blockbuster animated films such as Avatar, Up, and Shrek have captured the imagination and critical praise of movie goers from around the world.

These entertaining films have also given millions of individuals a glimpse of what animation and animators are capable of.

If you have a keen interest in animation, this career field may be an interesting job route to explore. Check with your graphic design college or university to see what types of courses are offered in animation and mulitmedia and see if these classes are right for you.

From Flip Books to a Career
For some of us, the earliest memories of being fascinated with the process of animation was when we assembled our first cartoon flip book in elementary school.

It was probably a simple attempt to animate a stick figure or bouncing ball, but once the project was completed, it seemed almost magical in scope.

If you are a graphic designer or a student attending graphic design school and still have a deep interest in animation, you may have wondered what sorts of job opportunities are available in this industry. In this series of articles we’ll explore what abilities and skills are inherent in successful animators, the different sectors animators work in, and what the job outlook is for jobs in animation.

Animation Isn’t Mickey Mouse
When someone says the phrase, “Oh, that’s so Mickey Mouse,” what they are really saying is something is simplistic or ill conceived.

While the first cartoon with synchronized sound did star Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse, the process of creating the 8-minute animation feature was far from being “Mickey Mouse.”

It took six animators to hand draw more than 12,000 separate cells to complete the project. This monumental task also included pre and post production processes such as filming, sound, inking, storyboarding, and other related procedures.

Aside from producing cartoons, the services of animators are now used in business, the film industry, websites, video games, education, advertising, television and any application where the addition of animation is needed.

The Qualities of a Good Animator
While the ability to draw and illustrate is certainly at the top of an animator’s skill sets, there are other qualities that a successful animator should have:

* Instinctive Ability to Understand Acting and Performance - While this seems to be a rather odd set of abilities for a good animator to have, it makes sense because you are, in fact, acting and entertaining through the characters or situations in your animations.

A sense of how action flows, how characters or environments interact, and how to entertain through the imaginative use of animation techniques can be important elements in a successful animator’s bag of tricks.

* Practice, Practice, Practice — One hopeful animator was seeking employment with a major animation company. He routinely sent demo reels to the firm every year but received the same comment about his work: “You haven’t got it yet, but you’re close.”

This cryptic message didn’t quite make sense to him but he assumed correctly that his work didn’t have the professional quality they were looking for.

The animator continued to practice and hone his style and technique. Several years later the firm felt that he was ready to go pro and offered him a job.

He had the basic skills but he needed to practice his craft to work out all the rough spots. Good animators aren’t necessarily born, but are created through hard work and practice, practice, practice.

* Strong Computer Skills — In the days prior to the widespread use of computers, all animations were hand drawn. Today many animations are made through the use of animation software and graphic packages such as Illustrator, Flash, 3D Studio Max, Photoshop, LightWave, and Maya.

Graphic design colleges, universities, and design centers offer programs and instruction on how to use these animation tools so you can build the skills and expertise you need to prepare for a career in animation.
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Next Time…
Do you have what it takes to be a successful animator? What is the job outlook for animators? What types of jobs are available for animators? To find out join us for part two of Graphic Design Spotlight: Careers in Animation. Until then, take care!

Less Bling—Works Great
In our previous articles about creative resumes for graphic designers, we’ve seen some imaginative and inspired examples of resumes that are “outside the box.”

Some of the resumes were quite flamboyant, but not everyone wants to design their resumes that way.

You can put the design principles you have learned from your graphic design school to use by creating a professional looking resume that is more subdued, but can distinguish itself from other “plain Jane” resumes.
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In part 2 of this series, we’ll show you some examples that are distinctive but more low-key when compared to high-profile resume designs.

Click on each image to see a larger version of the graphic.

Just a Face

Kenji Enos designed his resume with just a bit of color plus a graphic that sets his resume apart from others by including a caricature of himself in the upper left-hand corner.

Its simple and effective.
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Simple Graphics

What can you do to make a standard looking resume more noticeable without going over the top?

Ryan Gilden, a graphic designer, has added a simple circle motif to highlight the general appearance of the document.

The pastel colors work well and the contact information is offset through the use of maroon colored text and his logo.
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What, No Color?

Colin Nederkoom put together this resume template with only black text.

The placement of text, selection of different fonts and sizes, the effective use of negative space and the inclusion of a small graphic design element in the upper right-hand corner gives a very clean and professional presentation, which is pleasing to the eye.
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Where Everyone Knows Your Name

Managers and human resource representatives conduct interviews and see many people a day. Sometimes remembering a person’s name can be a problem because of the volume of applicants.

Sara Rohacik has elected to use her name as a stylized graphic element in her resume.

Although the concept is simple, it is an effective method in setting her resume apart from others, while also making her name memorable.
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Resumes Unlimited

There are thousands of examples on the Internet for resume ideas.

Get inspiration from these unique creations and modify them to your own tastes and needs.

If you have the proper career training from a graphic design college, some job experience under your belt, and a resume that is professional looking and unique, you may be able to  increase your chances of a successful and memorable job interview.
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