The key to your door of opportunity
If you are planning to enroll at a graphic design school you already know that part of the hurdle is meeting educational expenses such as tuition, supplies, living expenses and other amenities.

The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) understands the role for economic assistance in education and states:

“Imagine you had everything you needed to share your vision with the world: talent, skill, dedication, desire.

“Everything, that is, except money.

“Worldstudio AIGA Scholarships allow young people from minority and economically disadvantaged backgrounds not only to realize their artistic dreams, but also to give back to their communities.”

Scholarship details
The individuals who are selected for the Worldstudio AIGA Scholarships are based upon their talent, ability, and need for financial assistance.

The recipients must also demonstrate their commitment to give back to their community through their work.

* Scholarships range from $2,000-$3,000
* Individuals may qualify for up to two more awards totaling up to ….$5,000
* Honorable mention prizes of $500 are also awarded
* The scholarship awards are paid directly to the recipient’s school ….for tuition costs

Application guidelines
There are several important points that all potential applicants need to know about:

* Eligibility requirements state that you must be a citizen of the U.S. or hold a green card ….(Permanent resident card/ Form I-551)
* Applicants must pursue an undergraduate or graduate degree in advertising (art direction only), ….fine arts, graphic design, illustration, interactive design/ motion graphics, or photography.

Entries will be screened by a jury of creative professionals. Winners will be notified in June 2011.

Scholarship links and other information
The deadline for all applications is April 1, 2011. See the complete guidelines and links below for crucial information about this scholarship program:

AIGA scholarship website
Complete application guidelines
About AIGA

Graphic design school and scholarships
Your wish to attend a graphic design college may be fulfilled with financial help through various grants and scholarships offered by these liberal arts schools.

There are also other scholarship opportunities or loans available through government agencies or graphic design organizations such as AIGA.

Find out more about these opportunities by speaking with your local graphic design school representative.

Do your homework
If you want to receive a good education at a graphic design school it makes perfect sense to ’shop around’ before you decide on the one that is right for you. In other words, you have to do your homework.

But you may ask, ‘How can I tell a good graphic design college from a bad one?’

In this installment of ‘5 top things you should know about graphic design schools’ we’ll offer some advice and tips on this.

#3 What is the quality of the teaching staff?
It’s probably not stretching the truth much when we say you’ve probably had a few bad teachers during your educational life. On the flip-side you probably can remember one or two teachers that were very talented.

The teachers you fondly remember are the ones who brought something more than just facts when you walked into the classroom. These people were able to inspire you and may have even changed the direction of your life.

When seeking out a good graphic design college the teaching staff is one of the first things you should look into. Your teachers may have been in the graphic design industry, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they can teach.

Are they qualified? How long were they in the industry? What sort of portfolio or awards do they have? Can they communicate effectively? These are the questions you should be asking about the staff.

The staff, as a whole, should reflect high values in education. Of course there will be a few ‘bad apples’ but what you seek is a staff that is committed to helping its students learn the craft of design.

#2 The Equipment
A well-equipped graphic design college needs to have modern computers, design hardware, and the latest software applications.

The graphic design school you want to attend should offer courses in Photoshop, Maya, Illustrator and other industry standard programs.

You should also expect to see graphics tablets, scanners, and flat panel display monitors.

Back-in-the-day a good cache of art supplies and drawing materials was all that was needed to tackle the jobs a graphic designer was working on.

But in today’s job market, computer skills and the ability to use design software is important, if not mandatory, in being a successful graphic designer.

#1 Do you fit in?
Have you ever gone shopping for a car and the salesperson asks, ‘Are you ready to buy today?’ Your answer was probably, ‘I’m just looking around, thank you.’ You can approach the selection of a graphic design school in the same way.

Don’t feel pressured to ‘buy today.’ Look at all the options, including online education, and make your choice carefully.

Your education is your first priority at graphic design college but make sure you feel at home there.

Graphic design school and your career
If you have a natural sense for proper color schemes, have a good eye for aesthetic values, and find yourself thinking, ‘I wish I could do graphic design for a living,’ you may be the right person for a career in graphic design.

The world of graphic design is broad; you can branch off into the areas of animation, web design, multimedia, illustration, and other fields. It all depends on what your skills and interests are.

Your graphic design college representative can guide you in selecting the right courses and answer any questions you have about earning your associate or bachelor’s degree in graphic design.

The inside info
If you are contemplating or curious about graphic design colleges, you want more information and answers to the questions you have about these educational institutions.

In this series we’ll explore the 5 top things that people want to know about graphic design school life and whether pursuing a graphic design education is right for you.
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5. Prepare to judge and be judged
No matter how much talent you have, the rude awakening in graphic design school is there are actually people with more talent than you! On the flip-side you have more talent than others.

In any liberal arts college, talent is the coin of the realm and if you have a well-balanced, realistic image about your abilities and skills, you won’t be fixating about comparing yourself to others.

On the other hand, if you believe you have superior skills, Michelangelo said, “I am still learning.” If the great Renaissance master understood this principle about talent, you can also remain open in your education experiences.

4. Lean on me
Bill Withers, composer of the song “Lean on me,” has a lyric that speaks about the need for relying on others:

Lean on me when you’re not strong,
I’ll be your friend,
I’ll help you to carry on…

In graphic design school your classmates can be a tremendous help in providing you with honest feedback, moral support, and in some cases the beginnings of lifelong friendships.

Whether you are outgoing or not, due to the natural camaraderie that exists in liberal arts colleges, you’ll find opportunities to develop good social networks.

Be sure to enrich your college education with student support in addition to your academic life.

Graphic design school and your future
It doesn’t matter if you are a graphic designer or someone who is contemplating an education in graphic design-the need for solid career training is essential for today’s job market.

The fast pace in this industry means keeping up-to-date with the latest trends, software applications, and design hardware in order to remain competitive and qualified for new job opportunities.

Speak to a graphic design school representative to find out what your education options are.

Next time…
How do you select a good graphic design college? Is a graphic design career right for you? We’ll answer these questions in our next installment of ‘5 top things you should know about graphic design schools.’

Look, laugh and listen
In this article we’ll show more of the graphic design mistakes that slipped through the cracks during the production phase. Were these errors made under tight deadlines or too much pressure? These are the times when visual gaffes happen.

Some slip-ups are understandable while others could have been entirely preventable. Whatever the case, we hope that the mistakes of others can help all of us to be more careful when producing our images.

Have a good laugh and file these “lessons” away until you need them…especially when you only have a few hours left till deadline. Our thanks go to the members of photodisasteters.com for finding all of these gems or should we say lumps of coal?

Sweat the little stuff
Sometimes it’s the little stuff that gets past the gatekeepers during production. The errors aren’t big ones but they do point out that someone didn’t take the time to be more precise in the editing of the images.

In this case, an ad for the Audi A5 dashboard looks elegant and sporty except for one little detail.
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If you look closely between the 5 and 6 on the tachometer (left dial) you’ll see that the image has the rpm markers missing.

Yes, it’s just a little detail but car fans will immediately notice the omission.

This would be OK for the general public but to a car fan it’s a definite no-no.
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Was it really worth it?
Large businesses and companies spend a great deal of ad money to get the word out on their products; the ads cost a princely sum to produce.

Scarlett Johansson has represented Moët beverages for several years and this photo is one of the many she posed for in the Moët magazine ads.

But if you consider that Moët probably spent hundreds of thousands, if not millions, to have this ad produced, you may have said to yourself, “I could have done that…and probably a lot cheaper too.”
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This ad is about as “cut and paste” as you can get and we don’t mean that in a good way.

The balloons were shot separately in a studio (note the double highlights on many of them), while Ms. Johansson was photographed on a couch during another photo session.

The background (out of focus) was used as the backdrop for this image. Drop out the green screen behind the balloons and Ms. Johansson, do a few layers and voila, you have a composite image.

There’s nothing wrong, inherently with the concept, but considering the cost of this ad we think that Moët received the short end of the stick when the contract was signed with this ad agency.

Sweat the little stuff, again…
Sometimes it’s cost effective to use an old graphic for an event that happens annually. All you have to do is to change the year or date and you’re done.

Not so fast, bud. You have to be careful that you’ve changed all the important graphics in the image to make sure none of the old dates are still present. Can you spot the error in this image?
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The year “09” appears correct but if you look at its reflection you can see that it says “08” from the previous year’s ad.

You can see the enlarged ad here and the actual mistake here.

Graphic design school
Talent can help you attain a career in graphic design; graphic design schools help you to master the techniques of using various elements to produce professional graphics.

If you are a graphic designer, continued education classes are available at your graphic design college. These courses can bring you up to speed on the latest software and hardware applications.

If you are planning to attend a graphic design school, speak to your school counselor about the various career training options available to you in this fast-moving industry.

Next time…
Not everything that is a “mistake” is a mistake. In some cases graphic designers and art directors break the rules to make a point or draw attention to the subject at hand.

Stay tuned for examples in next week’s article on Graphic design mistakes and blunders.

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.
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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:

* Analytical
* Self -sacrificing
* Gifted with talent
* High aesthetic values
* Idealistic
* Perfectionist
* Intellectual
* Low self-esteem
* Pessimistic
* Unrealistically high standards
* Withdrawn
* Inflexible
* Cynical

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.

It’s more than just work
If all there was to work was work, this would make many of our lives easier. But in the real world we need to communicate and work with others.

And that means dealing with everyone’s various foibles and quirks. Understanding what makes you and others tick can help you to be a better graphic designer and team member.
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Meet Sam Sanguine
In part one of Graphic Designer Personalities: What Type Are You? we explored the first personality type of four: the phlegmatic. She’s dependable, low-key, amicable, and a bit shy; a person who cares but resists change.

In part two of this series we meet Sam or Samantha Sanguine. You’ll recognize these types of people immediately because they are always telling stories and talking. They are the optimist’s optimist and are always positive.

In the workplace, they are usually more concerned about how they are liked rather than what is at hand; work and deadlines. Sanguines are extroverts and love to be the center of attention.

Sanguines are extremely talented in getting along with everyone and revel in meeting new people. They love attention, are fun loving, and feel lonely when people are not around them. They are ultimate social animals.

Since sanguines are generally well liked by everyone, they have the ability to motivate and encourage people to do tasks or projects. But because they are so socially motivated they often get lost in project details or forget them altogether.

The sanguine graphic designer
Graphic designers who fall into this personality type will excel at customer relations. Their bubbly personality puts clients at ease.

They are natural born salespeople and can usually persuade clients to accept their design ideas.

But on the downside, since this personality type abhors details and deadlines they often find that they are behind in projects or fail to meet project specifications.
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Sanguine traits: The good and the bad
Typical traits for the sanguine personality are:
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* Extroverted, charismatic personality
* Expresses emotions easily
* Warm and friendly; loves people
* Loves to talk and tell stories
* Confident
* Persuasive
* Doesn’t Worry. Carefree
* Apologizes easily and quickly
* Always needs to be the center of attention
* Can be undisciplined and unproductive
* Tends to exaggerate
* Not detail oriented
* Overly concerned about being liked
* Restless; cannot sit still
* Can be easily angered
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Graphic design school and coworkers
A good graphic design school will not only provide you with the necessary education in graphic design and computer graphic techniques, it will also help you develop skills in working in a team setting.

In graphic design college you will meet many personality types. By understanding what personality categories they fall into, you’ll have a heads up on how to work and get along with others.

Next time…
For more information on how the theory of the Four Personality Types developed, see part one of Graphic Designer Personalities: What Type Are You?

When we meet again we’ll take a look at the personality type of the choleric graphic designer. These individuals live and die by keeping schedules. You’ll recognize them by their fierce yelling. Calm is not in their vocabularies!

So until then, keep on designing!